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Inferring gender-power: Women's schooling and relative spousal influence in childbearing in Ghana

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... Whereas previous studies have identified a range of potential related factors, among others, urban/rural residence, region, ethnicity, maternal education, household decisionmaking, and family planning practices (Faye et al., 2013;Hall et al., 2016;Magadi, 2003), a comprehensive understanding of how gender dynamics are associated with women's likelihood of experiencing this common and adverse reproductive outcome is lacking. Examining this relation is all the more important since a growing number of scholars argues that reproductive health outcomes in SSA may be strongly connected to gender inequality and the position of women and men in African societies (DeRose et al., 2010;Dodoo & Frost, 2008;Zuberi et al., 2003). Moreover, it is not clear what mechanisms underlie the relationship and at what level gender matters, that is, as an individual or household characteristic, or as a community level attribute, as has been suggested by some authors (Dodoo & Frost, 2008;Mbacké, 2017). ...
... However, recent research shows that the relationship is far more complex. It has been suggested that gender-based power differentials may be at the root of African women's limited agency in reproductive decision-making, and might be one of the main explanations of stalling fertility declines and disadvantageous reproductive health outcomes in the region (DeRose et al., 2010). To be sure, gender inequality and its association with reproduction likely differ by social group and local context (Doyle, 2013). ...
... Second, there is a surprising lack of studies that examine the relation between gender and reproduction incorporating the male perspective (Bledsoe et al., 2000;Dodoo, 1998;Greene & Biddlecom, 2000;Ratcliffe et al., 2000;Schoumaker, 2017;Zhang, 2011). Moreover, only few studies have adopted a relational approach centering on power differentials in matched couples or, in the case of polygynous unions, husbands with multiple wives (e.g., DeRose et al., 2010). A truly gender-based approach would imply examining the couple as a constellation of two different people who may not only differ in opinion about reproductive decisions, but who may also have diverging resources or means of getting their interests realized. ...
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Objective: This study examines how women’s chances of having an unintended birth is related to gender inequalities in education, employment, intra-household decision-making, and norms at individual, household, and community levels in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Background: Women in SSA have the highest rates of unintended births in the world, often with severe implications for the health and well-being of families. A comprehensive understanding of how gender dynamics are associated with their chances of unintended birth is however lacking. Method: Multilevel binomial logistic regression models of unintended birth were estimated with harmonized data from 123 Demographic and Health Surveys including 534,533 married women living in 43,136 communities within 39 SSA countries over the period 1992-2019. Results: The odds of unintended birth are higher among higher-educated women, women with a small age difference with their husband, and women living in communities with more higher-educated women, and better (reproductive) health facilities. These women are more willing to acknowledge a birth as unintended. In communities where women are relatively more educated than their husband and in households where husbands and wives are equal in terms of education, higher occupational status, and fertility preferences, odds of unintended birth are lower. Conclusion: Unintended birth is a complex reproductive experience related to local gender systems, women’s relative position in intra-household power relations, and their willingness to acknowledge a birth as unintended. Implications: Improving gender equality at household level may result in women’s improved reproductive health. However, outcomes are also strongly shaped by the local gender system.
... In addition, it has been concluded in some recent studies from sub-Saharan Africa that, when women with the same level of education are compared, those who live in communities where others have relatively high education tend to have the lowest fertility (Kravdal 2002;DeRose and Kravdal 2007). Such associations that are indicative of externality effects of education have also been reported in fertility studies from other regions (Hirschman and Young 2000) and in investigations of fertility desires (Moursund and Kravdal 2003;Baschieri 2007) or contraceptive use (Benefo 2006(Benefo , 2010DeRose, Wu, and Dodoo 2010;McNay et al. 2003;Moursund and Kravdal 2003;Stephenson et al. 2007;Stephenson, Beke, and Tshibangu 2008) in various developing countries, with a variety of additional factors included (more or less appropriately) in the models. There are also studies, however, where associations have not shown up (Gupta and Mahy 2003;Yabiku 2006). ...
... Only a few other studies have investigated time trends: Nahmias and Stecklov (2007) reported an increasingly strong relationship between community education and number of children born among Palestinians in Israel while DeRose, Wu, and Dodoo (2010) showed a diminishing association between contraceptive use and province-level education in Ghana, given the partners' fertility intentions No attempt has been made to assess the conditioning effect of modernization. ...
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Background: Earlier investigations have shown associations between a woman's chance of having a child, or various proximate determinants of her fertility, and the socioeconomic resources in the community in which she lives, net of her own resources. Objectives and Methods: This study, which is based on DHS surveys from 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, adds to the knowledge about this issue. With a focus on first- and higher-order birth rates, four specific questions are addressed. Results and Conclusions: One result is that the negative associations between a woman's birth rate and the average education in the census enumeration area in which she lives, net of her own education, have remained stable or become stronger over the last decade. Second, these associations are most pronounced among women who score high on indicators of socioeconomic development which suggests that they may become further strengthened. Third, associations even appear when a fixed-effects approach-based on data from two DHS surveys with GPS coordinates in each country-is employed to control for unobserved constant characteristics of units at a slightly higher level than the census enumeration area. Fourth, local processes seem to be particularly important: education among women in the province or nearest census enumeration areas is not inversely associated with fertility.
... However, over the last decades, the notion of having many children is changing with couples reducing the number of children they have in their lifetime (Kodzi et al., 2012;Montgomery et al., 1995). Social and economic developments such as urbanization (Dzegede, 1981;White et al., 2005), migration (Caldwell, 1968;Oppong, 1977;Oppong and Abu, 1984), new occupational structure (Abraham et al., 2017;Concepcion, 1974), and increased education (Adomako Ampofo, 2002;DeRose et al., 2010) have been identified as the main factors influencing reproductive behaviour among couples. Most of these studies that seek to explain reproductive behaviour, especially regarding the number of children among couples, have used the quantitative approach, thus giving us the objective views on the changing fertility behaviour (Kodzi et al., 2010;Mönkediek and Bras, 2018). ...
Article
This study explores the factors that influence child bride’s decision making, either independently or jointly on modern contraceptive use in Ghana. The findings of this study are based on qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews with 15 child brides aged 15–24 years from four administrative regions in Ghana. It was observed that knowing about contraceptives, quality of the knowledge, attitude and sociocultural influences affected child brides’ decision to use contraception. Thus, autonomy in decision making requires first, making the decision to access contraceptives and secondly, whether the decision can be implemented alone or with permission or in consultation with their spouses. It can be concluded from this study that child brides are not always as vulnerable and unable to exercise agency as is sometimes suggested because they sometimes used contraceptives without informing their partners although there is the possibility of a negative backlash from their partners when it is known.
... However, over the last decades, the notion of having many children is changing with couples reducing the number of children they have in their lifetime (Kodzi et al., 2012;Montgomery et al., 1995). Social and economic developments such as urbanization (Dzegede, 1981;White et al., 2005), migration (Caldwell, 1968;Oppong, 1977;Oppong and Abu, 1984), new occupational structure (Abraham et al., 2017;Concepcion, 1974), and increased education (Adomako Ampofo, 2002;DeRose et al., 2010) have been identified as the main factors influencing reproductive behaviour among couples. Most of these studies that seek to explain reproductive behaviour, especially regarding the number of children among couples, have used the quantitative approach, thus giving us the objective views on the changing fertility behaviour (Kodzi et al., 2010;Mönkediek and Bras, 2018). ...
Article
The family size in Ghana is increasingly changing from large to small family sizes due to modernization. As societies become modernized, couples begin to limit their family size despite the high value society places on children in marriage and the family. In this study, we explore the factors influencing reproductive behaviour among Ghanaian dual-earner couples by highlighting the subjective views on factors that influence the number of children they have or hope to have as a couple. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse data. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews with 47 dual-earner couples from rural and urban communities selected from five regions in Ghana. Twenty key informant interviews were held with community leaders to provide the social context of the study areas. The data were analysed thematically. The study observed that there were no differences in the factors influencing family size in rural and urban communities in Ghana. Also, the findings are consistent with previous studies that identified factors such as the cost of raising children and women’s participation in the labour force although the meanings and interpretations that couples attribute to these factors have changed slightly. Couples’ family size was influenced by the need to ensure a comfortable life for their children. Access to modern contraceptives and infertility also came up as influencing family size. Overall, the changing family size among dual earner couples can be attributed to a combination of factors that are interrelated and interdependent.
... Additionally, apart from flexibilities in allowing nursing mothers on the various university campuses to breastfeed, there is no further support given to working and/or student mothers within the general framework of promoting the development and rights of women to equal opportunities in society. The studies that have significantly explored this domain have mostly focused on breastfeeding among mothers in the informal labor market and breastfeeding related issues at the expense of those in the formal labor market [36][37][38]. Upon this backdrop, the question is: what support do employers and academic institutions provide for women to effectively combine their formal job or academic responsibilities with their day-to-day duties of providing optimum breastfeeding practice and childcare? ...
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Background The United Nations through its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 and 5 has championed Women empowerment for exclusive breastfeeding through various action plans and expected the concept to be decentralized through locally mandatory implementation of various institutional policies and programs in member Countries. Using Kabeer’s empowerment concept, the authors in this paper assessed availability and implementation of breastfeeding policies and programs in three public universities in Ghana. Methods The study design was an exploratory-descriptive-case study involving university employees and student mothers from three public universities in Ghana. The universities were selected via simple random approach whilst selection of participants was purposive. Data were collected between April and July 2018 using an unstructured interview guide developed by the authors, audio recordings, field notes and desktop review of documents. Manual thematic analysis of data was done to present results descriptively. The University of Cape-Coast Ethics Review Board approved the study. Results Thirty-six respondents participated in the study. Three main themes (Breastfeeding policy and programs, Institutional support, and views on Breastfeeding/Childcare support) emerged. Despite being gender/child friendly, none of the universities in this study has a formal breastfeeding/childcare policy/program and there are no immediate policy plans for on-campus facilities to enhance breastfeeding. Financial cost emerged as a major challenge hindering the universities from implementing a policy/program in this regard. On the part of student mothers, lack of legal protection, lack of breastfeeding-friendly university policies, inadequate availability of breastfeeding facilities, and insufficient awareness of the importance of breastfeeding among nursing mothers has been a major setback for breastfeeding on campus, hence nursing mothers continue to make personal but challenging arrangements for breastfeeding on university campuses. Conclusions The study findings reflect negative implications for childcare as it affects optimal child nutrition, hence impacting on achieving the SDGs 3 and 5 in Ghana. The authors recommend introducing formal breastfeeding-friendly policies/programs as one of the criteria for accreditation of universities in Ghana to enhance optimal childcare and sound maternal mind for studies and/or work once there is an assurance of child safety and proximity to breastfeed on demand.
... Men's domination in reproductive decision making significantly influences all phases of reproduction; starting, spacing and stopping fertility [3]. Regardless of the level of education, women in many regions of Africa such as Ghana, submit to their husband's reproductive intensions, especially with regard to stopping fertility [8,10,11]. However, very little is known about reproductive decisions associated with expected fertility among men in developing countries such as Zambia. ...
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Background: In developing countries such as Zambia, couples seldom make decisions with regard to fertility solely in consultation with each other. At all stages of family formation couples are strongly persuaded by cultural and social norms. In additions couples are influenced by opinions and information provided by close friends and relatives in couple's social net works. Social net works play an important role in enabling husbands seeks information with respect to planning births. One drawback of studies on expected fertility in developing countries is that they have not adequately addressed the impact of reproductive decision making on expected fertility. Consequently, though husbands strongly influence fertility decision making, fertility studies do not pay adequate attention to the role played by husbands in fertility decisions making. The objective of this study is to examine the development of a planning process with respect to timing and spacing of children. Methods: The sample for this study consists of husbands from one hundred sixty three households randomly selected from low income communities located in Kitwe, Zambia. Two questionnaires, one for the husband and the other for the wife, were designed to gather data. Husbands and wives were interviewed simultaneously in order to limit opportunities for spouses to influence each other. We examine men's fertility decision making by analyzing data on six questions: Can a couple ever have too many children?; Have you ever talked or received advice from any one about the best length of time to have between pregnancies?; Have you ever talked to or received advice from anyone on methods how to space your children or prevent pregnancy?; Have you and your husband/wife ever talked about the number of sons and daughters you would like to have before stopping?; Have you and your wife ever discussed the best length of time to have between pregnancies and finally, is it costly to have children today? Results: Husbands who engaged in birth planning were more likely than the rest to believe that too many children are undesirable. In Zambia, a rational approach to the control of fertility among birth planers is realized in social settings rather than in isolation. The transition from natural fertility to controlled fertility is associated with modernization and accepting modern values. Knowledge of birth control is also essential and is often associated with increases in education. However, social networks also play an important role in reducing expected family size by facilitating a rational and planned approach to family building in Zambia. Conclusion: Husbands were not averse to sharing information with group members in close social networks to arrive at decisions with respect to planning births. Recognition of the social milieu in which contraceptive use takes place is necessary for the promotion of modern contraception. Husband's social networks significantly influence his fertility decision-making. Subsequently, from a policy point of view it appears crucial to facilitate the maintenance of the social networks involved in making contraceptive use decisions to promote prolonged use of modern contraception. The implications for family planning programs are discussed.
... Well-educated females have new values and visions of their own rights and entitlements. They are motivated to be free from a lifetime of childbearing and, instead, to decide for themselves the timing of childbearing, the number and spacing of children, and the choice of contraceptive method [44,45]. As such, the top-down implementation of women's rights protection is necessarily the much more effective solution for undereducated females to obtain greater reproduction choice, whereas their well-educated counterparts have self-awareness to acquire and practice their rights of reproduction. ...
Article
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Female’s access to reproductive health intervention has experienced dramatic change with the development of women’s rights across the world. However, the influence of the development of global women’s rights on reproductive health intervention access differs by place of residence and by the socio-economic characteristics of educational attainment and income levels. As a response to it, this study investigates the influence of the development of global women’s rights on contraceptive intervention access of females from different places of residence (rural/urban areas), with different educational attainment and income levels. Using multi-source data from World Health Organization (WHO), Inter-Parliament Union (IPU), International Labor Organization (ILO), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), empirical results show that the development of women’s rights generally improves female’s contraceptive intervention access around the world, and especially benefits females in rural areas, with a lower educational level, and in the medium or low-income stratum. The development of global women’s rights thus contributes to the social equity of healthcare access for females.
... It also results in wide age gaps between spouses, as a result of which women may become victims of double subordination ( Barbieri, Hertrich, & Grieve, 2005;Bloom, Wypij, & Gupta, 2001;Frost & Dodoo, 2009;Goldman & Pebley, 1989;Ratcliffe, Hill, & Walraven, 2000). Yet, most research on fertility is focused on women, particularly married women, leaving out their spouses and the household environment they come from, even though it is evident that fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is male driven ( Derose, Wu, & Dodoo, 2010). There are few studies relating men's characteristics to fertility in the region ( Dodoo & Frost, 2008;Ezeh, 1993). ...
Article
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This paper is based on a study that examined the influence of spousal and household characteristics on fertility of married women in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). It utilized data from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) from four countries between 2010 and 2015. Fertility was measured by the number of Children Ever Born (CEB). Descriptive and Poisson regression techniques were used for analysis. Results showed variation in the mean number of CEB across categories of spousal and household characteristics and across the countries. The Poisson regression analysis showed that while spousal age and age at marriage influenced fertility similarly across the countries, spousal educational attainment and household characteristics influenced fertility differently across the countries. The study concludes that, although some disparities exist in the way spousal and household characteristics influence fertility across sub-Saharan Africa, these characteristics cannot be overlooked in driving sustainable fertility transition in the region. © 2017, Mahidol University, Institute for Population and Social Research.
... During the 90's, education became a priority, especially for girls, and these reforms may be influencing the high levels younger women are attaining [26,27]. During the 70's to the mid 80's, Ghana went through economic turmoil, a series of coups and eventually a famine, which had a powerful negative effect on women's lives including education [46,47]. On the other hand, the 60's represent more prosperous economic times in Ghana where, post-independence, education was deemed a necessity for development. ...
Article
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Background Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing pose challenges to young women’s educational attainment. Studies show that while adolescent childbearing reduces educational attainment, not becoming pregnant and resorting to induced abortion when pregnant increases women’s educational levels. This study examined relationships between adolescents’ resolution of their first pregnancies and subsequent educational outcomes, for all women ages 20–49 years and across three age cohorts: 20–29, 30–39 and 40–49 year olds. Methods Using the 2007 Ghana Maternal Health Survey (GMHS) dataset, we conducted ANOVA, bivariate and multivariate linear regression analyses on 8186 women ages 20–49 years. Women’s first adolescent pregnancy outcomes were measured as live births, induced abortions, spontaneous abortions or no pregnancy, while educational attainment constituted their years of schooling. Results Findings showed years of schooling was highest for women who had induced abortions, and lowest for those who experienced live births. Women with live births as teenagers experienced significantly fewer years of schooling compared to their counterparts who terminated their pregnancies. Also, women with miscarriages and stillbirths exhibited levels similar to those who gave birth. Although women with no teenage births had higher educational levels than their childbearing counterparts, controlling for age at first pregnancy resulted in similar years of schooling compared to those who gave birth. Finally, the 30 to 39 year olds were the only age group whose results contradicted those of all women. These findings may be due to the socio-economic and political events that affected women’s educational attainment at the time. Conclusions Childbearing during adolescence does impact women’s educational attainment levels. Therefore, in addition to encouraging young mothers to continue schooling, all other interventions to help keep young girls in school must focus on preventing and/or delaying their adolescent pregnancies.
... The main question implicit in the framework is whether power and beliefs similarly affect fertility desire (links 3, 4, and 5) and contraceptive use (links 2, 6, and 7). Recent studies have addressed elements of the Simplest Framework (DeRose, Dodoo, & Patil 2002;DeRose, Wu, & Dodoo 2010;Do & Kurimoto 2012;Kulczycki 2008;Lee-Rife 2010;Moursund & Kravdal 2003;Upadhyay & Karasek 2012), but only tangentially. ...
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¿El poder decisional doméstico de la esposa y las creencias igualitarias del cónyuge concernientes al rol de la mujer determinan independientemente el uso de anticonceptivos? ¿Determinan el deseo fecundatorio de manera similar? ¿Cuál es la función de la edad, la educación y el trabajo en estos procesos? Varias bases de datos del tipo recodificación de parejas de la Encuesta Demográfica y de Salud fueron analizadas con foco en mujeres no embarazadas que viven con una pareja sexual y la pareja. Las bases de datos comprendían muestras rurales y urbanas de India (N = 23,342), Indonesia (N = 7,219) y Nigeria (N = 7,062), así como una muestra rural de Etiopía (N = 2,531). Se halló que el deseo fecundatorio de la esposa era menor cuanto mayor era el igualitarismo del cónyuge en ámbitos urbanos y cuanto mayor era el poder de ella en ámbitos rurales. Independientemente del ámbito, el uso de anticonceptivos aumentaba cuando el igualitarismo del cónyuge y el poder de la mujer eran mayores, y tanto las creencias como el poder presentaron mayores efectos sobre el uso de anticonceptivos que sobre el deseo fecundatorio. Al removerse la varianza asociada con edad, educación y trabajo de los predictores, se observó una reducción de los odds-ratios de menos del 50 por ciento y de manera semejante para poder y creencias. Los programas pueden necesitar dirigirse a las parejas para maximizar el impacto de intervenciones orientadas a incrementar el uso de anticonceptivos a través del empoderamiento de la mujer.
... This suggests that such women, who were the focus of this study, may have had to obtain permission from their partners or other relatives to use a health facility, unlike single mothers. Studies in sub-Saharan Africa have shown that many married or partnered women have constrained autonomy in the reproductive and sexual realms (Derose, Wu, and Dodoo 2010). The above findings are indicative of the existence of risk of maternal death and morbidity, and social, economic, and cultural structures that limited women's access to modern maternal health-care services in Zambia. ...
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Gender inequality has been documented as a key driver of negative health outcomes, especially among women. However, studies have not clearly examined the role of gender inequality in maternal health in an African setting. Therefore, this study examined the role of gender inequality, indicated by lack of female autonomy, in exposing women to maternal health risk. Data were obtained from the 2007 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey on a weighted sample of 3,906 married or partnered women aged 15-49 years. Multivariable analyses revealed that low autonomy in household decision power was associated with maternal health risk (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.52, p < .001). Autonomy interacted with household wealth showed that respondents who were in wealthier households and had low autonomy in household decision power (OR = 2.03, p < .05) were more likely to be exposed to maternal health risk than their counterparts who had more autonomy. Efforts to lower women's exposure to maternal mortality and morbidity in Zambia should involve interventions to alter prevailing gender norms that limit women's active participation in decisions about their own health during pregnancy and delivery.
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Coale (1973) pointed out that a first step in the transition to modern contraceptive use involves making calculated choices with respect to fertility and use of contraception. As women become aware of the fertility choices, they are likely to actively seek information and become engaged in reproductive decision making. Research studies on the role of social network on contraceptive decision making in Zambia are few and far. The objective of this study is to examine women’s strategies and approaches to fertility decision making in Zambia. The sample is gathered from two poor income neighborhoods in Kitwe, Zambia. The sample consists of women from 163 households. Latent class analysis provides a useful technique for identifying the presence of distinct strategies with respect to birth control. Though several heterogeneous categories with respect to various reproductive strategies were expected, only two categories were identified. The first category (latent class) is composed of women who engage in spousal communication with respect to fertility, acquire information though seeking and receiving advices from close social relations on reproductive issues, and are aware of the high cost of raising children. Implications of our finding for family planning programs are discussed.
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Although levels of fertility in most sub-Saharan Africa have not shown significant trends in the past few decades, substantial fertility differentials exist between countries and between regions and socioeconomic groups within countries. This paper examines the proximate determinants of fertility that are responsible for these variations in fertility. Particular attention is given to the biological and behavioral factors, such as postpartum abstinence, prolonged breastfeeding, and pathological sterility, which are crucial determinants of fertility in sub-Saharan Africa. Using a simple analytic model, the relative fertility-inhibiting effects of the proximate determinants are quantified, and from this analysis an assessment is made of prospects for future trends in fertility. It is concluded that rapid declines in fertility are unlikely to occur in the near future, partly because desired family size is very high and partly because upward pressure on fertility levels will result from the erosion of traditional childspacing practices of postpartum abstinence and prolonged breastfeeding or from declines in levels of pathological sterility in response to public health measures.
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Ethiopia, with nearly 65 millionpeople, is the second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa. Fertility levels are among the highest in the world. Using the matched wife-husband sample from the 1990 National Family and Fertility Survey of Ethiopia we investigate the fertility desires of wives and husbands and the degree to which they are similar, including whether a preference for sons exists. We model the determinants of the desire to limit or space births, and estimate unmet need. Results indicate high levels of concurrence among husbands and wives on reproductive preferences. Where differences exist, husbands are more pronatalist than their wives. Both husbands and wives prefer to have sons and daughters, but more sons overall. Approximately 22% of wives and husbands desire to limit or space births but do not use contraception. More than half of wives and husbands with an unmet need for limiting are paired with a partner who has no such need. Three implications follow from these results: (1) differences in wives' and husbands' son and daughter preferences may help to explain discordant views among couples when it comes to the desire to limit or space births; (2) husbands' overall contribution to wives' unmet need can be substantial in African societies in the early stages of fertility transition; and (3) wives' preferences regarding children and contraception can result in unmet need on the part of husbands, even in highly gender-stratified societies where men are more pronatalist.
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Data collected from 3,073 couples in four Nigerian cities and one semi-urban settlement were used to examine reproductive decision-making and male motivation for large family size. The report concludes that the characteristic male-dominant and patrilineal traditions support large family size and that men's reproductive motivation, to a large extent, affects the reproductive behavior of their wives. Therefore, the factors influencing men's reproductive outcomes and intentions are considered important for fertility transition in Nigeria. Male education, age at marriage, monogamy, interspousal communication, and intention not to rely on children for old-age support are significantly related to smaller actual family size and preferences for smaller families, while being in a male-dominant family setting has a strong relation with large family size and preferences for larger families. The policy implication of this study is the need for programs targeted at men and designed to change their attitudes about population matters and motivate them, and hence their wives, to produce smaller families.
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"The paper examines the determinants of high bridewealth in the east-central states of Nigeria, inhabited by the Igbo, and relates high bridewealth to rising age at marriage among both men and women. High and rising bridewealth in Igboland is associated with the prevailing economic situation, socio-economic status of bride's parents, raising incidence of self-selection of marital partners in place of arranged marriages, and particularly increasing female education.... Rising age at marriage in Igboland cannot be understood only on the basis of increasing urbanization, female education and employment opportunities, but also on the basis of rising bridewealth which reduces the tempo of marriage....The study ends with an investigation of the determinants of marital fertility through the use of a causal model that includes bridewealth, age at marriage and other socio-economic variables." (SUMMARY IN ITA AND FRE)
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Social Forces 84.1 (2005) 595-600 The study of sub-Saharan African society would seem ostracized from the corridors of American sociology. The hallways of the national association, the American Sociological Association, have subsections for the study of Asia/Asian American and Latino populations, but not for the study of Africa. Scholarship on Africans can presumably fit in the Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Political Economy of the World System, International Migration, Population or other similarly substantive sections, but one would think the same would be true for Asia/Asian American and Latino scholarship. This eerie silence about Africa also echoes in the ongoing discourses in the discipline's flagship journals, the American Sociological Review and the American Journal of Sociology, where discussions about the continent are virtually nonexistent. It provokes the perhaps tired question, "What would we know about Africa if all we had read since 1990 were our flagship journals?" Our count for the past 15 years indicates that our two prestigious journals have combined to publish only three articles – two in ASR and one in AJS – that focus solely on Africa. Two of these papers, by the same co-authors, examine the phenomenon of military coups (Jenkins and Kposowa 1990; Kposowa and Jenkins 1993), while the third investigates how "global cultural production systems" shape and, perhaps, distort our understanding of African communities (Griswold 1992: 709). For a discipline in which inequality, marginalization, globalization and the like remain central tenets, exclusion of Africa – arguably, the most disadvantaged continent, and yet where humankind originated – constitutes an important act of omission, and one that has consequences for African, American and, ultimately, global society. In the social sciences, sociology is almost unique in its silence on Africa. Political science, economics and anthropology have a much better developed interest in the continent as evidenced by the Social Science Research Council and Ford Foundation supported volume, Africa and the Disciplines (Bates, Mudimbe and O'Barr 1993). In this article we will first try to explain why American sociology has excluded Africa from its vision; second, discuss what sociology as a discipline could gain from turning its gaze to Africa; and third, suggest how sociology can facilitate a conversation about Africa both with the American public and among ourselves. A caveat for readers: we are biased in our discussion in the direction of the literatures we know best, those concerning gender, sexuality and reproduction. Sociology, however, mirrors American society in its treatment of Africa. As noted by Zald (1991), sociology is a quasi-humanistic discipline in that our research is partially driven by the social issues that come to our attention. But, while some of our colleagues have done excellent work on issues facing Africa, a sociology driven by the concerns of the American public and American media is likely to continue to neglect the continent. General Romeo Dallaire, who led the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Rwanda during the genocide and pleaded for help in stopping the slaughter, has argued that the lives of Africans are not valued highly by the Western world (Dallaire 2004). Not surprisingly, Africa seems to enter the American consciousness in certain specific, frequently overlapping, realms. One presentation is of a romanticized site of rich culture, almost frozen in the past and reflected in the scenic and wildlife shows on some television channels and other media outlets. Another regards the problematic Africa, evidenced by economic malaise, political strife and demographic despair seen in the images of profound hunger, rampant crime and widespread disease. A third comprises the sensational reports that frequently make the Western news rounds and are certain, even if not intended, to cause ridicule and perpetuate the infantilization of the continent: of presidents who see ghosts in their palaces; of 30-something-year-old kings taking double-digit wives; and of killer cows arrested and jailed by police. Missing, then, are the positive accounts, daily occurring on the continent, of social and economic progress, or even the reports of the mundane evolution of "regular" life in its contextual setting. Indeed, Griswold's ASR article speaks to the distortion...
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This paper seeks to assess empirically the impact of female autonomy on fertility. It argues that by attending to fundamental freedoms for impoverished women, by enhancing women's access to and control over critical resources — their capability to achieve well-being — we not only meet welfare goals but also promote a reduction in fertility. The findings of this paper affirm the post-Cairo discourse emphasizing health and women's education. The findings also suggest the need to broaden the focus to include other initiatives that foster women's autonomy and to engage the full range of empowerment possibilities.
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Both traditional and modern methods of family planning widely practised currently in most countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, focus solely on the woman. There is hardly data on male directed methods of fertility regulation, or indeed whether, or not, such contraceptive options are acceptable. Contraception, whether for spacing, avoiding unintended pregnancy or limiting family size, is almost always a female prerogative. This, in certain circumstances, is despite the available female method being contraindicated. Acceptance of male sterilisation (vasectomy), condom use and male contraceptive pill were investigated in a representative sample of 711 Zimbabwean men. Only 14 pc of men considered vasectomy an acceptable method of contraception and none of the men had current or previous use of this method. Seventeen percent of the men had prompted knowledge of this method, compared to 53 pc who had prompted knowledge of female sterilisation. Only six percent of respondents reported current use of condoms and amongst condom non-users, 58.9 pc would not use the method if asked by a wife or partner. Surprisingly, 31.7 pc of the male respondents reported that they would consider a male contraceptive pill or injection if available. Should husband want no more children, 42.2 pc of men said they would agree to wife sterilisation and 19.5 pc could consider vasectomy. Previous use of condoms was reported by 33.8 pc of the men. Eighty eight (88 pc) percent of respondents had some formal education, although acceptance rates decreased with less education and older ages. Circumstances during which a male method could be considered, reasons and socio-economic determinants for acceptance of male fertility regulatory methods are discussed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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This paper assesses the impact of husband's and wife's education and occupation on family size in Zimbabwe. Results from the 1988 Male Fertility Survey indicate that husband's education had a strong negative effect, and wife's education had a moderate negative effect on the number of children ever born. Contrary to the literature, wives who were not employed had significantly fewer children than those who work in agriculture, and fewer, but not significantly, than those in non-agricultural occupations. Findings show the importance of husband's education and the changing dynamics of wife's occupation in fertility decline.
Article
Using data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, this study examines couples' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics in the context of their attitudes towards family planning, and the impact of these factors on the use of contraceptives. The characteristics of the husbands and their influence on wives' behaviour illustrate the role of intra-household relations between men and women and their effect on fertility-related behaviour in patriarchal African societies. PIP Compared to elsewhere in the Third World, Africa has one of the lowest contraceptive use rates. Recent studies suggest that gender relations in many parts of the continent may be responsible for such low use of modern contraception. The 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey collected data on background characteristics, contraceptive knowledge and use, attitudes toward family planning, marriage, fertility, and fertility preferences from 4488 reproductive-age women and 1010 of their husbands. Relative to their spouses, men tended to be older, better educated, and more likely working in agriculture. 83% of men and 73% of women indicated their acceptance of mass media family planning messages, while 20% of husbands and 16% of wives reported using some form of contraception. A larger percentage of men and women over age 26 reported using contraception compared to respondents under age 26. The level of contraception use increased with the level of education for both sexes, although the level of use was inversely related to the difference in age between spouses. Periodic abstinence was the most widely used method, followed by oral contraception. Communication between spouses was an important predictor of family planning use.
Article
This study investigated the effectiveness of traditional contraceptives commonly used by Yoruba women, and the attitudes of users and non-users towards family planning services and contraceptives in Nigeria. One hundred forty-two married women aged 19 to 40 years were followed for 18 months. Seventy-two of the women were identified as current users of four types of traditional contraceptives (ring, incision, soup, and waistband types), and 70 women did not use any type of contraceptive. The users and non-users were matched on socio-demographic characteristics. Attitudes of the users and non-users towards fertility regulation were investigated using focus group discussions. The study found that 5.6 percent of the users and 34.5 percent of the non-users became pregnant during the follow-up period. Contraceptive failure was experienced by users of the waistband and ring methods. The main barriers to the use of modern contraceptives as described by women were the negative attitudes of men and the fear of side effects.
Article
PIP Data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey were used to analyze the relationship between relative power of spouses and agreement or disagreement on future fertility desires. The data do not allow a comprehensive assessment of actual sources of power. Three types of status differentials that might influence fertility decisions were studied: age, occupation, and education. 864 husband-wife pairs, in which both stated their preference to have or not have another child, were studied. Most men were considerably older and better educated than their wives, and 8% of men vs. 2% of women had jobs in the highest status category. 69.2% of couples agreed they wanted another child and 13.5% agreed they did not. In 5.8% of couples disagreeing, the wife, but not the husband, wanted another child; in 11.5%, the husband, but not the wife, wanted another. The relative status variables were incorporated as regressors in a multinomial logistic regression to test the influence of status differences on agreement or disagreement. Limited evidence was found to back any hypothesis of a relationship between relative status of spouses and agreement or disagreement. Evidence was found, however, to support the claim that women having a higher occupational status than their husbands inclines couples toward agreeing not to have more children and away from agreement to have more. Further research is needed to clarify the meaning of disagreement and the dynamics of resolution of differences.
Article
This study examines fertility decline that is larger than expected on the basis of recorded increases in contraceptive prevalence in Ghana. The primary sources of data are three Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in the country in 1988, 1993 and 1998. First, the trend in fertility and contraceptive prevalence in Ghana is considered and compared with the trend that would be expected on the basis of prior research. Next, an attempt is made to uncover the explanation behind this unexpected trend. Measures of the quality of the survey data are looked at, as well as trends in the proximate determinants of fertility: contraceptive use, marriage and sexual activity, postpartum insusceptibility and induced abortion. Finally, evidence is presented that couples adjust their coital frequency in accordance with their fertility preferences, behaviour that would influence fertility rates but would not be captured by conventional measures of the proximate determinants of fertility.
Article
This research comes in the wake of increasing interest in men's roles in childbearing decisions in sub-Saharan Africa. While some of the findings indicate that men tend to hinder fertility decline, we aimed to identify which men desire fewer children, under what circumstances, and why. The research was done in a Pare community in Northern Tanzania. It is our hypothesis that differences in men's fertility desires and decisions are to be sought in the context of their conjugal union. This paper, based on data from a case study from two Pare villages, attempts to examine the relationship between male attitudes toward reproduction and marital relations. The methodology consisted of a combination of an ethnographic study and in-depth interviews. A subsequent survey, the questions for which were derived from the qualitative work, was administered in order to verify the generalisability of the findings of the qualitative work. Findings show that those men who desire fewer children are younger, educated at least to the primary and often to the secondary level, their wives have also completed at least primary school, they are more affluent, and they are likely to be Christian. They are in a marital relationship where the partners chose each other, they communicate with their wives about important issues, and make joint decisions, including the number of children they should have. The discussion relates the differences in the marital patterns and fertility preferences to differences in the life plans of Christians and Muslims in this community.
Article
While lower fertility is commonly associated with women's reproductive autonomy, we demonstrate that the influence of men's education on reproductive decision-making increased during the first decade of rapid fertility decline in Ghana. Husband's education exerts a stronger influence on wife's fertility intentions than does her own education, and the magnitude of the effect of his education increased significantly from 1988 to 1998. Lower fertility in Ghana seems to be associated more with men's declining fertility desires than with women's increasing reproductive autonomy. Nevertheless, there is some indication that women's education may play a relatively greater role in reproductive decision-making as fertility decline progresses still further.
Article
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative influence of husband and wife on contraceptive practice. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among adult men and women in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. A matched file for 238 married or cohabiting couples was created. Knowledge of methods of contraception was virtually universal and attitudes to contraception were favorable both in men and women. A substantial proportion of men and women reported using a method of contraception. The wife's desire to stop childbearing was the most powerful predictor of contraceptive use among couples, after adjustment for possible confounders. The husband's approval (or not) of family planning and his preference for future childbearing were not significantly related to contraceptive use. Contraceptive use within marital and cohabiting unions is high and the wife's fertility preference was found to be a key determinant of use. This conclusion challenges conventional wisdom that men are the dominant decision-makers in fertility and family planning decisions.
Article
In many areas throughout sub-Saharan Africa, young adult cohorts are less educated than their predecessors because of declines in school enrollments during the 1980s and 1990s. Because a woman with little education typically becomes a mother earlier and has more children than one with better education, and because of a similar well-established relationship between current education and current fertility at the societal level, one might expect such education reversals to raise fertility. However, if there is an additional negative effect of low educational level among currently young women compared with that in the past, which would accord with ideas about the impact of relative deprivation, the total effect of an education reversal may run in either direction. This possibility has not been explored in earlier studies, which have taken a more static approach. We focus on the initiation of childbearing. Using Demographic and Health Survey data from 16 sub-Saharan African countries with multiple surveys, we estimate a fixed-effects multilevel model for first births that includes the woman's own education, community education, and community education relative to the past. There are negative effects of individual and community education, but no effect of relative education. Thus we conclude that education reversals do seem to speed up entry into parenthood.