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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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 …


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.


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. …