African Population Studies (UAPS) / Etude de la Population Africaine (UEPA)
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The Role of Social Participation for Women's Ability to Combine Motherhood and Employment Security in Mali and Ghana
Get PDFThis study investigates the role of social participation for the achievements of women in employment security and their fertility choices. In Capability terms, this implies exploring the circumstances in which women combine motherhood and employment security. Employment security is defined as having access to a job with more desirable characteristics, such as stable payment or in a more formal sector of the economy. The DHS and Afrobarometer data are used for two African countries: Ghana and Mali. Estimations from a multilevel model suggest that the resources of the context are a relevant explanatory factor for female employment security. The latent contextual effect for employment security is more pronounced in Mali (33%) than in Ghana (17%). Results confirm that the two countries are very different despite certain common effects. In both countries, social participation seems to play a role in the fertility-labour link, especially for women with more than four children
Political-economic Transitions and the Changing Context of Maternal Health Access in Tanzania: Evidence from DHS Data
Get PDFThis paper highlights how the effect of household socioeconomic status on utilization of maternal health services changes over time concomitant with transformations of the social context, such as political economic transitions in the case of Tanzania. Using pooled data from four rounds of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) from Tanzania, this paper applies multilevel logistic regressions to examine how the effect of household wealth on utilization of medically-assisted birth delivery services (controlling for individual attributes) is mediated by place characteristics (regional wealth and urban/rural residence) and period (liberalization era 1990s vs. Millennium Development Goals era 2000s). With implications on health inequality in transition economies, the analysis finds statistically significant interaction effects between household wealth and place characteristics. The analysis also finds interaction effects between household wealth and period
Modern contraceptive use among women in Uganda: An analysis of trend and patterns (1995-2011)
Get PDFThere is an extensive body of literature concerning modern contraceptive use among women in Uganda. A questionable aspect however is whether the impact of factors associated with modern contraceptive use has remained the same in the recent past. Demographic Health Survey (DHS) data of women in the period 1995-2011 was adopted to establish an understanding of this issue. The focus in the investigations was none pregnant sexually active women. Variations in patterns of modern contraceptive use were assessed by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of women using a logistic regression based on a complex survey design. In the results, an upward trend in modern contraceptive use - from 11.6% in 1995 to 32.1% in 2011 - shows that progress has been made in this regard. Increased odds of modern contraceptive use across the study period were noted among women with primary and post-primary education, those in urban areas, women in the higher wealth quartiles and those with a higher number of surviving children (p < 0.01). Further, reduced odds of modern contraceptive use across the study period were noted among married women and those in cohabiting relationships (p < 0.05). The study however demonstrates variations in the impact of these factors across the study period. All the same, efforts towards enhancing modern contraceptive use in the near future should focus on enhancing: (i) literacy levels of woman particularly, (ii) access to and affordability of the services and (iii) awareness campaigns on family planning use targeting both men and women
Women’s Education, Empowerment, and Contraceptive Use in sub-Saharan Africa: Findings from Recent Demographic and Health Surveys
Get PDFFertility remains higher and contraceptive levels are substantially lower in Sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere in the developing world. In this paper we use information on individuals and couples provided in recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS, fifth wave) undertaken in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, and Zambia. We use bivariate and multivariate techniques to examine the determinants of contraceptive use among married women (aged 15-49), focusing on the impacts of women’s education and empowerment. Our results show that education was an important determinant of contraceptive use, but mattered less in choice of method effectiveness. The impact of education was similar in all the countries studied with the exception of Kenya, where it was non-existent. Empowerment was less important in determining contraceptive use. Efforts to increase contraceptive use in general and the use of modern methods more specifically need to focus on providing basic education for all women and on changing gender roles.
Female Adolescents And Reproductive Change In Ghana: Evidence From An Adolescent Survey Of Two Communities
Get PDFThe study on Female Adolescent Reproductive Change was undertaken as part of the ongoing effort at understanding some of the problems that confront adolescents in Ghana. The study uses a sample of 1,828 female adolescents aged 12-24 years (1,503 from Cape Coast and 325 from Mankrong) in the Central Region of Ghana as a case study. This has the primary purpose of comparing the situation in an urban vis-à-vis a rural area. The general objective of the study is to examine the possible changes in the reproduction among female adolescents within the context of overall fertility decline in Ghana as a way of assessing the progress made in addressing adolescent reproductive health problems following the adoption of a national adolescent reproductive health policy in Ghana. The study examines age at first sex, first marriage, first pregnancy and first birth as a way of finding out any changes that might have occurred in the recent past. It also looks at issues pertaining to pregnancy incidence and wastage as may be related to school attendance. Throughout, comparisons are made with reports from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) and other small-scale studies that have been done in certain areas in Ghana. Overall, the study finds that major positive changes have occurred among female adolescents first with respect to the proportion of female adolescents ever having sexual activity. More and more female adolescents continue to abstain from sex. However, among the small proportion that ever indulges in sex, sexual initiation appears to be earlier when age is controlled for
A Minimum Data Set on Ageing and Older Persons in Sub-Saharan Africa: Process and Outcome
Get PDFRelatively scant knowledge is available on the situations of older persons in sub-Saharan Africa. Reliable and accessible demographic and health statistics are needed to inform policy making for the older population. The process and outcome of a project to create a minimum data set (MDS) on ageing and older persons to provide an evidence base to inform policy are described. The project was initiated by the World Health Organization and conducted in Ghana, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. A set of indicators was established to constitute a sub-regional MDS, populated from data sources in the four countries; a national MDS was produced for each country. Major gaps and deficiencies were identified in the available data and difficulties were experienced in accessing data. Specific gaps and constraints against the production and access of quality data in the sub-region are examined. The project and outcome are evaluated and lessons are drawn. Tasks for future phases of the project to complete and maintain the MDS are outlined
Using WinBUGS to Study Family Frailty in Child Mortality, with an Application to Child Survival in Ivory Coast
Get PDFThis article analyzes the effects of unobserved family heterogeneity in children survival times through a Bayesian approach. We rely on survey data from Ivory Coast and use a proportional hazard model with multiplicative random effect. With such a model, the usual assumption of independence of observations is avoided. The posterior distributions of the parameters are estimated through a Gibbs sampler algorithm using the WinBUGS software. This technique overcomes the possible local convergence problem observed with the commonly used Expectation-Maximization method
Orphanhood, Vulnerability and Primary School Attendance: Evidence from a School-Based Survey in Two Regions of Tanzania
Get PDFThis paper addresses two frequent overgeneralisations in the orphanhood literature in Africa: about the 'vulnerability' of children and about 'orphans'. It specifically examines school attendance, given the common presumption that orphans are less likely to attend school than non-orphans. Using survey data from two regions in Tanzania, analysis by primary school attendance categories (regular attenders, irregular attenders, dropouts, never attenders) shows that orphans should not be compared only with non-orphans since there are other vulnerable groups of children, all with different levels of social and spatial disadvantage. Both orphans and a second large and potentially vulnerable group of children, children who have not lost a parent, but who live with only one or neither of their parents, are less likely than other children to attend school in urban and roadside settlements, but there is no clear relationship for rural areas between vulnerable groups and attendance and dropou
Factors Influencing Couples’ Unmet Need for Contraception in Kenya
Get PDFMany studies on unmet need have been women-based with some passing inferences made for men and couples yet reproductive decisions are not made by women alone, but are dyadic in nature. This paper examines couple’s unmet need for contraception in Kenya by using the married couple as the unit of analysis, rather than the individual man or woman. The paper specifically estimates couple’s unmet need and identifies factors that have influenced this. The data used is from the matched couple data derived from the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey, 1998 (KDHS). Only fecund couples in monogamous unions are included in the analysis. The results give the total couple’s unmet need of 16.5 percent (which is 7.5 percent lower than the level of unmet need for currently married women and 3.7 percent higher than the Bankole-Ezeh estimate of couples’ unmet need, using 1993 KDHS). About 7 percent of this accounted for unmet need for limiting while 9.8 percent accounted for unmet need for spacing. In terms of factors influencing couple’s unmet needs, region of residence, ethnicity, number of living children and couples’ discussion of and other reproductive health issues, were the most significant predictors of couples’ unmet need. In order to reduce the unmet need, region specific programs should be emphasized and that couple’s should be encouraged to make joint decisions on reproductive health issues
Spatial Differentials in Childhood Mortality in South Africa: Evidence from the 2001 Census
Get PDFThis study examines spatial differentials in childhood mortality in South Africa using data from the 2001 population census. Of the complex routes of geographical area hierarchy maintained by South Africa, one route links provinces to Magisterial Districts (MDs). There are in all 354 MDs and nine provinces. Our analyses are conducted mainly at the level of MDs. The results show that provincial level indicators mask huge disparities in child health experienced by certain segments of the population. Children born in MDs such as Tabankulu, Lusikisiki, Bizana, Flagstaff, Libode and in the Eastern Cape Province in general are the most threatened early in life. Under prevailing mortality conditions, more than 10% of the children born in these districts are unlikely to celebrate their fifth anniversary. Most of the high mortality MDs form clusters that sometimes cut across provincial boundary. As it is to be expected, most of these high risk districts are among the poorest in the country as measured by average monthly expenditure. However, the worse-off districts, health-wise, are not necessarily the poorest and similarly, the best child health achievers are not necessarily the most economically well-off. On the basis of these findings, implementing policies targeting such high risk districts would seem a more rational way to help close the within country disparities in child mortality and thereby speed up progress toward the MDGs targe