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Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

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2005

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Child Marriage Briefing: Mali, Population Council Jan 2005

Child Marriage Briefing: Mali, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Mali. Mali is home to 11.6 million people, with 47 percent of its population under age 15. Approximately 73 percent of the population live on less than US$1 a day, and life expectancy is 45 years. Mali has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. The legal age of marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys, but girls may be married as early as age 15 with parental consent. For civil marriages, the law dictates …

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Causas De Bajos Logros Educacionales Y Transición Temprana A La Edad Adulta En Guatemala, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Jennifer Catino, Marta Julia Ruiz Jan 2005

Causas De Bajos Logros Educacionales Y Transición Temprana A La Edad Adulta En Guatemala, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Jennifer Catino, Marta Julia Ruiz

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Aunque la asistencia a la escuela y los logros educacionales en Guatemala son bajos al compararse con otros países de América Latina, son las mujeres mayas quienes experimentan una situación de mayor desventaja. Tradicionalmente, la información detallada sobre demografía, educación y estilo de vida de los adolescentes en Guatemala ha sido escasa. La mayor parte de los estudios sobre bienestar se enfocan a los niños o a las mujeres en edad de crianza, siendo pocos los estudios dedicados a los años intermedios. Aprovechando los datos representativos de una encuesta de hogares, este estudio examina los patrones de escolaridad y matrimonio …

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Culture Of Silence: A Brief On Reproductive Health Of Adolescents And Youth In Pakistan, Munawar Sultana Jan 2005

Culture Of Silence: A Brief On Reproductive Health Of Adolescents And Youth In Pakistan, Munawar Sultana

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Previous research on the reproductive health of adolescents and youth in Pakistan has not addressed the diversity of adolescent experiences based on social status, residence, and gender. To understand the transition from adolescence to adulthood more fully, it is important to assess social, economic, and cultural aspects of that transition. This brief presents the experience of married and unmarried young people (males and females) from different social strata and residence regarding their own attitudes and expectations about reproductive health. More young people aged 15–24 live in Pakistan now than at any other time in its history—an estimated 36 million in …

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Evaluation Of A Savings And Micro-Credit Program For Vulnerable Young Women In Nairobi, Annabel Erulkar, Erica Chong Jan 2005

Evaluation Of A Savings And Micro-Credit Program For Vulnerable Young Women In Nairobi, Annabel Erulkar, Erica Chong

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) was a four-year initiative undertaken by the Population Council and K-Rep Development Agency to reduce adolescents’ vulnerabilities to adverse social and reproductive health outcomes by improving livelihoods options. The project targeted out-of-school adolescent girls and young women aged 16–22 residing in low-income and slum areas of Nairobi. TRY used a modified group-based micro-finance model to extend integrated savings, credit, business support, and mentoring to out-of-school adolescents and young women. A longitudinal study of participants was conducted with a matched comparison group identified through cross-sectional community-based studies, undertaken at baseline and endline to enable an assessment …

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Voices Of Vulnerable And Underserved Adolescents In Guatemala: A Summary Of The Qualitative Study 'Understanding The Lives Of Indigenous Young People In Guatemala', Alejandra Colom, Marta Julia Ruiz, Jennifer Catino, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Kristen M. Shellenberg Jan 2005

Voices Of Vulnerable And Underserved Adolescents In Guatemala: A Summary Of The Qualitative Study 'Understanding The Lives Of Indigenous Young People In Guatemala', Alejandra Colom, Marta Julia Ruiz, Jennifer Catino, Kelly Hallman, Sara Peracca, Kristen M. Shellenberg

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In Guatemala, where poverty, inequality, and ethnic and gender discrimination are prevalent and where over 40 percent of the country’s 11 million inhabitants are under age 15, the transition from childhood to adulthood is often characterized by severe social, economic, and health problems. Existing data indicate that adolescent girls in Guatemala—most specifically indigenous girls—suffer from the highest rates of school desertion, early and unwanted pregnancy, malnutrition, illiteracy, and limited life options. Access to health, education, and other services is lacking or inadequate for indigenous adolescents in Guatemala, and often plagued by barriers including lack of financial resources, language, discrimination, and …

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Trends In The Timing Of First Marriage Among Men And Women In The Developing World, Barbara Mensch, Susheela Singh, John B. Casterline Jan 2005

Trends In The Timing Of First Marriage Among Men And Women In The Developing World, Barbara Mensch, Susheela Singh, John B. Casterline

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The timing of first union merits investigation not only because of the close temporal link between marriage and the onset of childbearing, but also because the age when men and women marry has implications for the organization of family life and for gender relations within society. This paper begins by reviewing the contributions of various social science disciplines to an understanding of the timing of marriage. Using current status data from 73 countries provided by the United Nations Population Division and retrospective data from 52 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2001, we then examine recent trends in …

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The Impact Of Childhood Mortality On Fertility In Six Rural Thanas Of Bangladesh, Mian Bazle Hossain, James F. Phillips, Thomas K. Legrand Jan 2005

The Impact Of Childhood Mortality On Fertility In Six Rural Thanas Of Bangladesh, Mian Bazle Hossain, James F. Phillips, Thomas K. Legrand

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines the causal structure of the relationship between child mortality events and subsequent fertility during a time of rapid decline in fertility in Bangladesh. Results lend support to the hypothesis of an insurance effect, while demonstrating that its demographic significance is likely to be less prominent than that of replacement behavior. Findings indicate that the insurance motive remains intact even after total fertility declined to fewer than three children per woman. The well-documented role of gender bias as a determinant of child health and survival is also a factor in child-replacement decisionmaking. Although the rapid …

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Child Marriage Briefing: Mozambique, Population Council Jan 2005

Child Marriage Briefing: Mozambique, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Mozambique. Mozambique, in southeastern Africa, is home to 17.5 million people, with 45 percent of its population under age 15. More than three-quarters of Mozambicans live on less than US$2 a day. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a devastating effect on the country; approximately 1.3 million adults and children are living with HIV, and 470,000 children have been orphaned because of AIDS. Life expectancy has fallen to 34 years, among the lowest levels in the world. Mozambique has one of the most severe …

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Discrimination Starts At Home: A Brief On Parents' Aspirations For Adolescents And Youth In Pakistan, Minhaj Ul Haque Jan 2005

Discrimination Starts At Home: A Brief On Parents' Aspirations For Adolescents And Youth In Pakistan, Minhaj Ul Haque

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Parents play a critical role in socializing their children and passing on essential information and life skills. The attitudes of parents help determine what young boys and girls do in life, and how they utilize opportunities and develop the skills necessary to make a comfortable transition into adulthood. This brief is based on interviews with Pakistani parents and describes their aspirations, which are likely to influence the lives of young people. More young people aged 15–24 live in Pakistan now than at any other time in its history—an estimated 36 million in 2004. Recognizing the dearth of information on the …

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Accelerating Reproductive And Child Health Program Development: The Navrongo Initiative In Ghana, James F. Phillips, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka Jan 2005

Accelerating Reproductive And Child Health Program Development: The Navrongo Initiative In Ghana, James F. Phillips, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Successive global health and development agendas have been embraced by African governments—Alma Ata in 1978, the Bamako Initiative in 1987, the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, and more recently the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—only to be followed by widespread implementation failure. This paper presents an approach to program development in Ghana that is using research to accelerate policy implementation. Originally launched in 1994 as a participatory pilot project of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, a controlled experimental study was initiated in 1996 to assess the fertility and child-survival impact of alternative community health and family planning service …

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Two Worlds Under The Same Roof: A Brief On Gender Difference In Transitions To Adulthood, Munawar Sultana Jan 2005

Two Worlds Under The Same Roof: A Brief On Gender Difference In Transitions To Adulthood, Munawar Sultana

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Adolescence, a time of transition to adulthood, is different for young men and women in Pakistan; brothers and sisters living under the same roof have different opportunities available in all aspects of life. More young people aged 15–24 live in Pakistan now than at any other time in its history—an estimated 36 million in 2004. Recognizing the dearth of information on the situation of this large group of young people, the Population Council undertook a nationally representative survey from October 2001 to March 2002. The analysis presented in this brief comes from Adolescents and Youth in Pakistan 2001–02: A Nationally …

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Child Marriage Briefing: Zambia, Population Council Jan 2005

Child Marriage Briefing: Zambia, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Zambia. This landlocked southern African nation is home to 10.9 million people, with 47 percent of its population under age 15. Zambia is one of the poorest countries in the world; nearly two out of three Zambians live on less than US$1 a day. The country’s economic growth was hindered by declining copper prices and a prolonged drought in the 1980s and 1990s. More recently, the AIDS epidemic has taken a devastating toll: 920,000 adults and children are living with HIV/AIDS, and 630,000 …

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The Poverty Trap: Leveling The Playing Field For Young People, Azeema Faizunnissa Jan 2005

The Poverty Trap: Leveling The Playing Field For Young People, Azeema Faizunnissa

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Family plays a critical role in young people’s lives and is key in determining the conditions under which young people make important transitions to adulthood. This brief examines the impact of family-level poverty on the educational attainment, economic activity, and marriage patterns of Pakistani youth, and shows how strongly socioeconomic status shapes the lives of future generations. More young people aged 15–24 live in Pakistan now than at any other time in its history—an estimated 36 million in 2004. Recognizing the dearth of information on the situation of this large group of young people, the Population Council undertook a nationally …

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Child Marriage Briefing: Ethiopia, Population Council Jan 2005

Child Marriage Briefing: Ethiopia, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Ethiopia. This landlocked East African nation is home to more than 70 million people, with 44 percent of its population under age 15. Ethiopia is one of the poorest countries in the world; approximately 81 percent of its population live on less than US$2 a day. Life expectancy has fallen to 42 years, owing to recurrent food shortages, ongoing clashes, and a growing HIV epidemic. Ethiopia has one of the most severe crises of child marriage in the world today. The legal age …

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Child Marriage Briefing: Nigeria, Population Council Jan 2005

Child Marriage Briefing: Nigeria, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This brief provides an overview of child marriage as well as the particulars of child marriage in Nigeria, one of the poorest countries in the world. More than two out of three Nigerians live on less than US$1 a day, and life expectancy is 52 years. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has had a devastating effect on the country, and Nigeria has some of the highest rates of early marriage worldwide. The Child Rights Act, passed in 2003, raised the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls. However, federal law may be implemented differently at the state level, and to date …

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Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2005

Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal, Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper presents findings of a Population Council investigation into the effects of living standards and relative poverty on children’s schooling in urban and rural areas of Senegal. The research shows that in Senegal’s urban areas, living standards exert substantial influence on three measures of schooling: whether a child has ever attended school; whether he or she has completed at least four grades of primary school; and whether he or she is currently enrolled. In rural areas of Senegal, however, the effects are weaker and achieve statistical significance only for the wealthiest fifth of rural households. To judge from the …

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Population And Sustainability, Geoffrey Mcnicoll Jan 2005

Population And Sustainability, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Sustainability refers to the preservation of human-valued natural capital—the resources that provide environmental services—at a level sufficient to assure the well-being of future generations. This Population Council working paper assess the effects on the total and per capita availability of those services. The degradation of environmental services—exemplified by the overuse of aquifers or (at a global level) of the atmospheric carbon sink—is a significant threat to sustainable development, one that is often exacerbated by population growth. The critical management issue in such cases is the design of effective governing institutions to restrain service demand and safeguard supply. Uncertainties arising from …

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The Changing Context Of Sexual Initiation In Sub-Saharan Africa, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Ann K. Blanc Jan 2005

The Changing Context Of Sexual Initiation In Sub-Saharan Africa, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Ann K. Blanc

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This working paper investigates the links between changing age at marriage and premarital sexual behavior in 27 sub-Saharan African countries in which Demographic and Health Surveys were conducted between 1994 and 2003. Using multiple-decrement life tables to examine the competing risks of premarital sex and marriage without prior sexual experience, we answer the largely unaddressed question of how reductions in the prevalence of early marriage have affected the likelihood of initiating premarital sex. Our analysis reveals that although the age of first sexual activity has either remained the same or increased, a shift in the context of sexual debut from …

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Building Assets For Safe, Productive Lives: A Report On A Workshop On Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods, Population Council Jan 2005

Building Assets For Safe, Productive Lives: A Report On A Workshop On Adolescent Girls' Livelihoods, Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For the 1.5 billion adolescents currently living in developing countries (325 million of them living on less than US$1 a day), the transition to becoming economically productive is particularly pivotal. Girls face numerous challenges in making this transition successfully, since in many settings females have less access than males to critical resources such as secondary school education, credit, land, training, and technology, and their labor is often unrecognized and unremunerated. A growing number of organizations and institutions have been using a livelihoods approach (which centers around the capabilities, assets, and activities required for gaining a means of living) to reach …

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Women's Participation In Disaster Relief And Recovery, Ayse Yonder, Sengul Akcar, Prema Gopalan Jan 2005

Women's Participation In Disaster Relief And Recovery, Ayse Yonder, Sengul Akcar, Prema Gopalan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Too little attention has been given to the gender-differentiated effects of natural disasters, that is, women’s losses relative to men’s, how women’s work time and conditions change (both in terms of care-giving and income-generating work), or how disaster-related aid and entitlement programs include or marginalize affected women. The detailed case studies from three earthquake-stricken areas in India and Turkey that are contained in this issue of SEEDS help fill this information gap. They provide examples of how low-income women who have lost everything can form groups and become active participants in the relief and recovery process. Readers learn how women …

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Kutibu Majeraha, Kutia Matumaini: Ushirikiano Wa Watanzania Dhidi Ya Fistula Obstetrikia, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Erica Chong Jan 2005

Kutibu Majeraha, Kutia Matumaini: Ushirikiano Wa Watanzania Dhidi Ya Fistula Obstetrikia, Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Erica Chong

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This edition of Quality/Calidad/Qualité describes a partnership formed to combat obstetric fistula in Tanzania. The Bugando Medical Center, the Women’s Dignity Project, the Tanzania Midwives Association, and the government cooperated on an extensive program for surgical repair, prevention, and policy research and activities. Lessons learned: 1) Fistula programs need to address social as well as medical issues. 2) Most repairs are successful, making an enormous difference in women’s lives. 3) Relatively little funding is necessary to start up a fistula program. 4) Fistula programs are vehicles for broader conversations about gender and poverty.

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Education Of Adult Children And Mortality Of Their Elderly Parents In Taiwan, Zachary Zimmer, Linda G. Martin, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Yi-Li Chuang Jan 2005

Education Of Adult Children And Mortality Of Their Elderly Parents In Taiwan, Zachary Zimmer, Linda G. Martin, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Yi-Li Chuang

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Research shows an older adult’s education is strongly associated with mortality. But in societies such as Taiwan, where families are highly integrated, the education of family members may be linked to survival. Such may be the case in settings where there are large gaps in levels of education across generations and high levels of resource transfers between family members. This Population Council study employs 14 years of longitudinal data from Taiwan to examine the combined effects of education of older adults and their adult children on mortality outcomes of older adults. Results indicate that educational levels of both parent and …

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The Quantum And Tempo Of Life-Cycle Events, John Bongaarts, Griffith Feeney Jan 2005

The Quantum And Tempo Of Life-Cycle Events, John Bongaarts, Griffith Feeney

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Research Division working paper develops and applies a general framework for the analysis of the period quantum and tempo of life-cycle events, extending methods developed previously by the authors. The existence of tempo distortions is demonstrated in selected period quantum measures such as the total fertility rate and in period tempo measures such as life expectancy. A tempo distortion is defined as an undesirable inflation or deflation of a period quantum or tempo indicator of a life-cycle event, such as birth, marriage, or death, that results from a rise or fall in the mean age at which the event …

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Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett Jan 2005

Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper presents findings of an investigation into the effects of living standards and relative poverty on children’s schooling in urban and rural areas of Senegal. To measure living standards, we apply a multiple-indicator, multiple-cause (MIMIC) factor-analytic model to a set of proxy variables collected in the 2000 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and extract an estimate of the relative standard of living for each household. Using this estimate, we find that in Senegal’s urban areas, living standards exert substantial influence on three measures of schooling: Whether a child has ever attended school; whether he or she has completed at least …

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The Effect Of Community Nurses And Health Volunteers On Child Mortality: The Navrongo Community Health And Family Planning Project, Brian Wells Pence, Philomena Nyarko, James F. Phillips, Cornelius Debpuur Jan 2005

The Effect Of Community Nurses And Health Volunteers On Child Mortality: The Navrongo Community Health And Family Planning Project, Brian Wells Pence, Philomena Nyarko, James F. Phillips, Cornelius Debpuur

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report presents the child mortality impact of a trial of primary health-care service-delivery strategies in rural Ghana. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, under-five mortality in areas with village-based community-nurse services fell by 16 percent during the five years of program implementation compared with mortality before the intervention. Reductions were observed in infant (6 percent), early child (20 percent), and late child (41 percent) mortality. Community involvement and training of a local health volunteer were associated with an 11 percent increase in mortality, primarily driven by a 124 percent increase in early child mortality. Areas with both nurses and volunteers …

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Trends In The Timing Of First Marriage Among Men And Women In The Developing World [Arabic], Barbara Mensch, Susheela Singh, John B. Casterline Jan 2005

Trends In The Timing Of First Marriage Among Men And Women In The Developing World [Arabic], Barbara Mensch, Susheela Singh, John B. Casterline

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The timing of first union merits investigation not only because of the close temporal link between marriage and the onset of childbearing, but also because the age when men and women marry has implications for the organization of family life and for gender relations within society. This paper begins by reviewing the contributions of various social science disciplines to an understanding of the timing of marriage. Using current status data from 73 countries provided by the United Nations Population Division and retrospective data from 52 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2001, we then examine recent trends in …

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How Many Years Of Life Could Be Saved If Malaria Were Eliminated From A Hyperendemic Area Of Northern Ghana?, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka Jan 2005

How Many Years Of Life Could Be Saved If Malaria Were Eliminated From A Hyperendemic Area Of Northern Ghana?, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For some time, Chinese government policies have treated rural and urban areas very differently, and a by-product of China’s rapid development seems to be an even greater differentiation between urban and rural social and economic life. Over the next several decades, in part because of rapid fertility declines and in part as a result of mortality declines at older ages, China and other developing countries will experience enormous increases in the proportion of older adults and the proportion of the “oldest-old.” It is reasonable to expect that these age structure changes will alter the provision of health care, making an …

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Active Life Expectancy And Functional Limitations Among Older Cambodians: Results From A 2004 Survey, Zachary Zimmer Jan 2005

Active Life Expectancy And Functional Limitations Among Older Cambodians: Results From A 2004 Survey, Zachary Zimmer

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study’s aims are to: (1) determine the prevalence of functional limitations among older adults in Cambodia using activities of daily living (ADLs); (2) compare limitation prevalence with other countries in the region; (3) estimate active life expectancy; (4) examine standard correlates of functional status and assess whether they are associated with limitation in expected ways. Elderly Cambodians appear more likely to report limitations than their counterparts in neighboring countries. A contribution of the analysis is the examination of a basic measure of health among a population that until recently has been isolated from the rest of the world.

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Reciprocal Effects Of Health And Economic Well-Being Among Older Adults In Taiwan And Beijing, Kristine R. Baker, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Zachary Zimmer, Zhe Tang, Yi-Li Chuang Jan 2005

Reciprocal Effects Of Health And Economic Well-Being Among Older Adults In Taiwan And Beijing, Kristine R. Baker, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Zachary Zimmer, Zhe Tang, Yi-Li Chuang

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The objectives of this Population Council study are threefold: 1) to examine whether socioeconomic status disparities in health are found in non-Western settings; 2) to assess whether socioeconomic status gradients in health endure into older ages; and 3) to evaluate the direction of causality between health and socioeconomic status. Findings provide evidence for reciprocal effects of economic well-being and health among older adults in both Taiwan and Beijing. Those with higher levels of economic well-being have lower levels of functional limitation over time, and those with higher levels of functional limitation have lower levels of economic well-being over time. Consistent …

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The Causes Of Stalling Fertility Transitions, John Bongaarts Jan 2005

The Causes Of Stalling Fertility Transitions, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

An examination of fertility trends in countries with multiple DHS surveys found that in the 1990s fertility stalled in mid-transition in seven countries: Bangladesh, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Peru, and Turkey. An analysis of trends in the determinants of fertility revealed a systematic pattern of leveling off or near leveling in a number of determinants, including contraceptive use, the demand for contraception, and wanted fertility. Findings suggest no major deterioration in contraceptive access during the stall, but levels of unmet need and unwanted fertility are relatively high and improvements in access to family planning methods would therefore be desirable. …

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