Indonesian survey looks at adolescent reproductive health

The Baseline Survey of Young Adult Reproductive Welfare in Indonesia, conducted from September to December 1998, provides information about young Indonesians on topics concerning work, education, marriage, family life, sexuality, fertility, and HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The survey interviewed 4106 men and 3978 women aged 15-24 years in three provinces of Java. Survey findings showed that 42% of the women and 8% of the men are currently or have been married. There was a strong inverse relationship between marriage and schooling, which suggests that greater educational attainment and a higher average age at marriage are likely to go together. Although most young couples prefer to delay and space births, only half of currently married young women are using any type of contraception. These results indicate that there is a need for better reproductive health care as well as improved reproductive health education. Moreover, the current economic crisis has lead to a decline in the use of the private sector for health care. Instead, young people are using the less-expensive government services, and young women are turning to pharmacies and midwives rather than to private doctors to obtain contraceptives. These findings have several policy implications including the need for reproductive health programs that provide services needed by young people.     

Social and economic change,intergenerational relationships,and family formation in Taiwan

This paper examines the influence of social change and economic growth on intergenerational relationships and the formation of families in Taiwan. Using data from two island-wide surveys in 1973 and 1980, the analysis shows that, as expected, social change has been accompanied by rapid changes in family structure and relationships, including the spread of schooling, the employment of young people outside the family, increasing separation of the residences of parents and children before and after marriage, growing independence of young people, and increases in premarital sex and pregnancies. The position of a family in the social structure also influences the way young people interact with their parents and form their own families: women with educated fathers have more nonfamilial experiences than others, and farm origins tend to exert a traditional influence on the life course. Finally, experiences early in the life course have important ramifications for later behavior and transitions.     

Young women's work and family formation in Sri Lanka

"Patterns of family formation in Sri Lanka resemble those of wealthier nations, with late marriage, delayed childbearing, and moderately low fertility. This article addresses two questions: How have these family formation patterns emerged in the absence of the normally expected levels of economic development? And what activities have occupied young women in the premarital, prechildbearing period? Answers are suggested by data from three sources: the 1981 census; a set of focus-group discussions on the rights, obligations, and aspirations of young women related to marriage, work, childbearing, and child care; and a sample survey of 1,535 women of ages 15-30 in Kalutara District. The article describes the interplay of socioeconomic and familial forces that have affected the status of young Sri Lankan women."     

Unblurring the lines: a qualitative exploration of young women’s opinions on popular music

Music is an important part of the human experience, arguably contributing to identity and the formation of relationships and group memberships. However, the way women are portrayed in music has been identified as harmful and disempowering. Past research relating music to these trends has often failed to “give voice” to participants by asking them what think about the music they listen to, which is in itself disempowering. Therefore, the aim of this study was to gain an understanding of young women’s perspectives of popular music. Face-to-face, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 young women. Causal layered analysis was used to deconstruct participants’ understandings of popular music. Findings revealed that for participants, music can both reflect and contribute to conflicting worldviews regarding women’s freedom of expression and sexual conservatism. Music also acted as a conduit for discussion of the social construction of women; participants articulated that female artists are seen rather than heard, reduced to body parts and commodified. Findings indicate that participants are cognizant of gendered power differences in music, rendering popular music in particular a mechanism for the oppression of women, but also a useful means to monitor and challenge problematic cultural attitudes directed at women.     

The Antecedents of Teenage Fatherhood

The High School and Beyond Survey was used to describe young men who are at risk of becoming teenage fathers and examine the causal process leading to early fathering for young men. Bivariate results show that men who are at risk of fathering children at a young age have unique attitudes and family, school, and dating experiences. Multivariate analyses suggest that the most cogent factors affecting teenage fathering include being black, going steady, and having unorthodox views about parenting outside of marriage.     

Young women’s transition to marriage

This paper examines determinants of timing of marriage for young women by modeling the transition from the single to the married state by age. This approach, combined with a large longitudinal data set, allows us to disaggregate the analysis into fine age groupings and to include situational and attitudinal factors in our model. We find that those characteristics of a young woman’s parental family that reflect the availability of parental resources tend to decrease the chances of a marriage during the early teens. Chances of marrying appear to decrease with increases in the availability and attractiveness of alternatives to the wife role and in the costs of assuming it. We discuss these results from the perspective of the societal and parental normative pressures which affect timing of marriage for young women.     

Internal migration age patterns and the transition to adulthood: Australia and Great Britain compared

Life-course transitions are important drivers of mobility, resulting in a concentration of migration at young adult ages. While there is increasing evidence of cross-national variations in the ages at which young adults move, the relative importance of various key life-course transitions in shaping these differences remains poorly understood. Prior studies typically focus on a single country and examine the influence of a single transition on migration, independently from other life-course events. To better understand the determinants of cross-national variations in migration ages, this paper analyses for Australia and Great Britain the joint influence of five key life-course transitions on migration: (1) higher education entry, (2) labour force entry, (3) partnering, (4) marriage and (5) family formation. We first characterise the age profile of short- and long-distance migration and the age profile of life-course transitions. We then use event-history analysis to establish the relative importance of each life-course transitions on migration. Our results show that the age structure and the relative importance of life-course transitions vary across countries, shaping differences in migration age patterns. In Great Britain, the strong association of migration with multiple transitions explains the concentration of migration at young adult ages, which is further amplified by the age-concentration and alignment of multiple transitions at similar ages. By contrast in Australia a weaker influence of life-course transitions on migration, combined with a dispersion of entry into higher education across a wide age range, contribute to a protracted migration age profile. Comparison by distance moved reveals further differences in the mix of transitions driving migration in each country, confirming the impact of the life-course in shaping migration age patterns.     

Balancing Work and Family: A Panel Analysis of the Impact of Part-Time Work on the Experience of Time Pressure

In this article we consider the consequences of work-family reconciliation, in terms of the extent to which the adjustment of the labour market career to family demands (by women) contributes to a better work-life balance. Using the Flemish SONAR-data, we analyse how changes in work and family conditions between the age of 26 and 29 are related to changes in feelings of time pressure among young working women. More specifically, by using cross-lagged models and synchronous effects panel models, we analyse (1) how family and work conditions affect feelings of time pressure, as well as (2) reverse effects which may point to (working career) adjustment strategies of coping with time pressure. Our results show that of all the considered changes in working conditions following family formation (i.e. having children), only the reduction of working hours seems to improve work-family balance (i.e. reduces the experience of time pressure). Part-time work is both a response to high time pressure, and effectively lowers time pressure. The effect of part-time work is not affected by concomitant changes in the type of paid work, rather, work characteristics that increase time pressure increase the probability of reconciling work with family life by reducing the number of work hours.     

Polygyny and the rate of population growth

Summary The roots, motives and feasibility of practising polygyny in societies with a balanced sex structure and the effect of polygyny on the rate of population growth are considered. High demand for labour combined with limited supply over the last several centuries, had been conducive to the evolution of a polygynous nuptiality pattern. The unprecedentedly high rates of population growth during the last several decades combined with progressive economic development have led to a change in the role of the labour factor and consequently diminished its impact upon polygyny. Polygyny is feasible because of a sex-age differential at first marriage, which enables younger cohorts of women to enter the marriage market, and thus results in a very early age at first marriage and universal incidence of marriage among women. A very young pattern of nuptiality inevitably evolves under polygyny, which tends to raise the rate of population growth. No significant variation in fertility between polygynous and monogamous women was found but substantial gaps in standards of living, child mortality, and educational attainment were noted for polygynous households. The findings imply that during the transition from polygyny to monogamy family size will tend to diminish, although initially fertility may not decline concurrently with changing socio-economic status. The most important effects on the rate of population growth thus result from the increase in age at first marriage and declining proportions of ever married women.     

Adolescent migration and the 1990s nuptiality transition in Mali

Attempts to explain the rise in women's age at marriage across Africa have focused mainly on determinants in the urban environment, notably women's education and the economic recession. In our study, we examined the migration of adolescent girls as a factor in the transition to a later age of marriage in rural Mali, using an analysis of data from a longitudinal survey conducted over 20 years. The findings show a close correlation between the rise in labour migration and the onset of this nuptiality transition. Continuing changes in marriage patterns include not only its postponement but also a breakdown in the marriage formalization process. Two main mechanisms are documented: a direct one, as migration enables young women to choose the timing of their marriage and is a source of empowerment; and an indirect one, as migration challenges family marriage conventions and contributes to elders disengaging from control over marriage and young people.     

Family size in successive generations: The effects of birth order,intergenerational change in lifestyle,and familial satisfaction

Studies of family size in successive generations have found a small but persistently positive effect of size of family of orientation. Recent work has suggested that this relationship may be influenced by birth order, intergenerational change in lifestyle, and familial satisfaction. Data from a 24-year longitudinal study of women in Pennsylvania indicate that number of siblings does influence size of family of procreation. More important, this relationship is stronger among women who were first-born that later-born, stronger for those not experiencing intergenerational change than for those who changed, and stronger among those who at age 16 were satisfied with their parental family than for those who were dissatisfied.     

Proximate determinants of Philippine fertility: 1983 levels and patterns

Data from the 1983 National Demographic Survey are used to analyze the proximate determinants of Philippine fertility in each of the 3 stages of family formation and to identify all of the direct and indirect factors affecting fertility levels and trends. 10,843 ever-married women and 12,771 children were included. The analysis pertains first to the starting patterns of family formation, the age at first birth, and the proximate determinants (age at menarche, age at first marriage/union, conception before first birth, fetal wastage first birth, interval between first marriage and first birth). Further analysis examines birth spacing patterns including the postpartum nonsusceptible period, the exposure interval and stopping patterns. Almost all births occur within marriage, and childbearing begins late at 22.5 years. However, 15.4% of first births are conceived premaritally. The mean age at first birth increases from younger to older cohorts. Urban women were slightly older (23.0 years) at the birth of their first child. Those with education below the 4th grade had first births 3.5 years earlier. Contraceptive use was low at 1.8% before first birth. Younger cohorts were more likely to use birth control and urban wives were more likely to use it than rural wives. 6.4% reported a first pregnancy ending in nonlive births, which were primarily spontaneous abortions (5.2%), stillbirths (1.0%), and induced abortions (.2%). 5.8% report never having been pregnant and 1.1% never having given birth to a live-born child. 20.4% were childless between the ages of 15-24 years, and 4.6% between 25-34 years. Childlessness was slightly higher among urban women (7.1%) than rural women (6.7%). A decreasing age at menarche has appeared; i.e., 13.6 years for the cohort 15-24 years, and 14.0 for the oldest cohort. By age 15, 82.9% had begun menstruating. The mean age at marriage is early at 20.7 years, and older cohorts tended to marry later at 21.4 years. Urban women marry a year later (21.4 years) than rural women. Lower educated women marry 4 years earlier. The mean length between first marriage and first birth was 18.4 months. In the younger cohorts, spacing patterns are shorter. Postpartum susceptibility is short. Return to sexual relations after a birth occurred at 2.8 months. The exposure time required to conceive is fairly long at 16.6 months and is attributed to contraceptive use, since coital frequency is high and temporary separation is infrequent. The average age at last birth is late at 37.6 years.     

Divorce,living arrangements,and material well-being during the transition to adulthood in rural Malawi

In this paper, we use longitudinal data to investigate how parental death and divorce influence young women’s own experience of divorce in Malawi, a setting where women marry relatively early and unions are fragile. We find that maternal death and parental divorce are positively associated with divorce for young women but, after controlling for socio-demographic and marital characteristics, only the association with maternal death remains statistically significant. Maternal and paternal death are both strongly associated with women’s post-divorce living arrangements, which in turn affects their material well-being. This finding suggests that divorcing at a young age shapes the subsequent life chances of women; although some women return to their parental home and may have the opportunity to reset the transition to adulthood, other women begin their 20s as head of their own household and with considerable material disadvantage.     

Promoting family planning work in Xiaqidu township by establishing a family planning association in each village]

A family planning association was established in each village of Xiaqidu Township in Hunan Province, China in October 1986. The positive functions of each such association were so fully developed that family planning work reached new levels. For example, most villages are no longer experiencing early marriages or unplanned births. Some of the villages have established associations for individual work groups. The traditional method was for both township and village associations to rely upon the positive attitudes of officials to instill into fertile women Party policy, and to arouse their patriotism and initiative. By establishing family planning associations at the village level, however, the people can conduct their own affairs and educate themselves. Emphasis has been placed on attracting into the associations those who are of childbearing age, as well as older villagers of experience. The associations' raison d'etre was to serve the people. They did so through: propaganda (disseminating population theory, birth control and family planning information); helping the people overcome poverty, traditional thinking, and ignorance; assisting women with any problems and anxieties relating to child-bearing; delivering contraceptives to households; and providing the elderly with care and the young with education.     

Does It Matter What She Wants? The Role of Individual Preferences Against Unmarried Motherhood in Young Women’s Likelihood of a Nonmarital First Birth

Most young people in the United States express the desire to marry. Norms at all socioeconomic levels posit marriage as the optimal context for childbearing. At the same time, nonmarital fertility accounts for approximately 40 % of U.S. births, experienced disproportionately by women with educational attainment less than a bachelor’s degree. Research has shown that women’s intentions for the number and timing of children and couples’ intent to marry are strong predictors of realized fertility and marriage. The present study investigates whether U.S. young women’s preferences about nonmarital fertility, as stated before childbearing begins, predict their likelihood of having a nonmarital first birth. I track marriage and fertility histories through ages 24–30 of women asked at ages 11–16 whether they would consider unmarried childbearing. One-quarter of women who responded “no” in fact had a nonmarital birth by age 24–30. The ability of women and their partners to access material resources in adulthood were, as expected, the strongest predictors of the likelihood of nonmarital childbearing. Nonetheless, I find that women who said they would not consider nonmarital childbearing had substantially higher hazards of fertility postponement and especially of marital fertility, even after controlling for race/ethnicity, mother’s educational attainment, family of origin intactness, self-efficacy and planning ability, perceived future prospects, and markers of own educational attainment and work experience into early adulthood.     

The achievements in family planning work in Rudong County as suggested by the data of the Fertility Survey]

A 15% random sampling from Rudong County was recently taken to survey fertility rates. 1153 primary units were chosen, which included 160,832 people. Among this group were 57,050 women aged 15-67 years. Topics surveyed included: marriage, birth, contraception, and population structure. Rudong County, among the earliest counties in China to begin the work of birth control, started in the 1960s with birth control education. The natural rate of population increase by the early 1970s had already fallen. From 1974 to 1982 the average rate of natural population growth was 3.8/1000. Reproduction has gone from a rising trend to a stabilized trend. The base of the population structure pyramid has shrunk; the number of youths aged from birth to 14 years has fallen from 35.05% in 1964 to 21.77% in 1982. The number of people who must be supported (the old and the young) has decreased, lessening society's responsibility for them. 29.45% of the total population are over 65 years or under 14. Society's coefficient factor of support has fallen from 66.31% in 1964 to 41.75%. There is a decrease in the number of people marrying at a young age; the trend is toward marriage at a later age. The average age at marriage had risen from 23.81 years in 1980 to 23.89 years in 1981. The fertility rate has decreased, as has the number of offspring per woman. 1 child family is on the rise and multiple children family is on the decline. In 1981 the 1 child rate reached 92.98%, the 2 children rate was 6.63% and the multiple children rate was 0.49%. Prior to 1979 the 1 child rate was under 10%. The fertility rate fell from 136/1000 in the 1960s to 41.5/1000 in 1981.     

Communicating population and family planning

This thorough look at the change in the American family 1900-1700 finds that 40% of marriages among women now in their late 20s may end in divorce, that the divorce rate is stabilizing, that between 1-4% of unrelated men and women are living together in informal unions (the figure made difficult to obtain by the difficulty in framing the question), that 15 million adults live alone, and that only 67% of children live with their own once-married parents. About 33% of births are premaritally conceived. The median age for mothers at birth of last child has moved downward from 33 years in the early 1900s to about 30 years. Childbearing has declined from 3.9 children per mother in the early 1900s to 2.5. The period of childbearing has been compressed to about 7 years, between ages 23-30. 10% of remarried women's children are born between marriages. 50% of pregnancies end in abortion. It was found that persons who had completed an educational level, whether it be high school or college, generally had more stable marriages; those who had not completed a level were more likely to get divorced. Despite changes in lifestyle, however, some typical family situations are experienced by most Americans. 2 of 3 marriages will last until death of 1 of the partners and most young women questioned in census surveys expect 2 children.