Religious homogamy and marital duration among those who file for divorce in California, 1966-1971

The hypothesis that having a common religion is associated with more stable marriages is tested using California data on divorce for the period 1966-1971. The results confirm the hypothesis, and the authors note that "religious homogamy among Jewish couples is associated with longer [marriage] duration than any other group. Couples who report no religious affiliation appear to be at greatest risk of early filing for divorce. The religious groupings include the Jewish, the Conservative Protestant, the Liberal Protestant, the Roman Catholic and those with no religious affiliation."

Social and demographic characteristics influencing adoption of female sterilisation

This paper analyzes the relationship between the adoption of female sterilization and 3 social and modernization variables (education, income, and family type) and 2 demographic variables (number of living children and years of marriage) for a sample of 200. The influence of each of these 5 variables on female sterilization is studied by the percentage distribution method and the variance test. The data are analyzed by using the urban-rural and adopter-nonadopter classification. Results show that the social and modernization variables do not seem to influence the adoption of female sterilization among urban or rural households, but the demographic variables--number of living children and years of marriage--do seem to have a clear influence. Among rural households there are differences in these variables between adopters and nonadopters of female sterilization. There is a policy implication here: the government has to advocate the 2 child norm to all eligible couples in the early years of marriage and advise them to adopt sterilization after the birth of the 2nd child. This will go a long way in achieving the national target of the replacement level of reproduction by the year 2000.

Period and cohort effects on divorce rates

The author analyzes the demographic dimensions of divorce. A model is developed to estimate "the isolated effects of marriage duration, marriage cohort, and divorce period...on divorce probabilities over time [using data for Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland].... Crude divorce rates (divorces per 1,000 married couples) in the six countries for the period 1946-1984 are reviewed, followed by a very brief review of some of the literature on period and cohort effects in general, and divorce in particular. The [second] section describes the data. The third section presents and discusses the results."

Correlates of marital duration and black-white intermarriage in California

Characteristics of black and white intermarriages in California are examined. Findings indicate that "although there are many similarities between same-race and black-white intermarriages, marriages which involve black husbands and white wives differ in several respects from other types. Not only are they shorter in duration of marriage; they have fewer children or none at all; spouses rank relatively high in education...[and] they involve relatively few teenage marriages.... In addition, when black husbands are married to white wives, they are less likely than husbands in other marriages to file for divorce, leaving white wives to take that initiative, wives who tend to have slightly higher educational levels than their black husbands." The data are from a 10 percent sample of all marriages in 1977.

The determinants of marital stability: a comparative analysis of first and higher-order marriages

"This study examines similarities and differences in the determinants of stability for first marriages and remarriages. Focusing primarily on the role of investments in marriage-specific human capital, the paper develops several hypotheses about the effects of children from the current marriage, children from previous unions, and home-production skills. The empirical results, based on white and black respondents from the 1982 [U.S.] National Survey of Family Growth, are generally consistent with the hypotheses and underscore the importance of marriage-specific human capital as a determinant of union stability."

[Child mortality in Nepal: an analysis of its socioeconomic determinants and a comparison with other developing countries]

The author studies child mortality in Nepal in this section of a large comparative project involving 15 developing countries. "Employing a method suggested by Trussell and Preston (1982) a child mortality index is computed for every woman by relating actual number of child deaths to the expected number of child deaths implied by marital duration, fertility, and the national mortality level. Based on the Nepal Fertility Survey of 1976 bi-, tri-, and multivariate analysis showed significant child mortality differentials according to mothers' and fathers' education, religion, and ecological region. The population of Nepal is still extremely homogeneous in that 96% of all ever-married women aged 15-49 can neither read or write, 95% live in rural areas, and 90% are Hindus. For women deviating from this pattern child mortality is in most cases substantially lower." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Factors influencing marital stability among HIV discordant couples in northern Thailand

The burden of HIV in stable relationships places emotional, economic and physical stresses on families. We compared the influence of HIV notification on marital partnerships in northern Thailand among a cohort of HIV discordant couples, and identified factors associated with marital disruption. Data were collected using in-depth interviews with both members of six separated or divorced couples and 13 couples whose relationship remained intact. Five factors influenced marital stability following HIV notification: longer duration of relationship; economic constraints, extended family members' opinions, especially parents; the existence of children from the marriage; and fear of stigmatization by community members. Social influences, both overt and perceived, are important in shaping marital behaviour and decision-making in HIV epidemic areas. HIV counselling needs to be extended beyond the individual seeking testing to include stable partners (and perhaps further, to include the extended family), although it is recognized that this is not the norm for most HIV testing centres.

The social and demographic correlates of divorce in rural Bangladesh

"This article examines the rate of divorce by age, sex and duration of marital life at the time of divorce in rural Bangladesh for a period of 18 years from 1975 to 1992. An attempt has also been made to investigate the extent to which the incidence of divorce changes with the various socio-economic and demographic characteristics. The overall divorce rates per thousand married males and females declined from 16.1 to 11.5 and 11.8 to 8.4, respectively, during the study periods 1975-1979 and 1989-1992."

Marital instability after midlife

"Divorce in later life has been shown to produce dramatic declines in the economic, psychological, and physical well-being of marital partners. This study examines the prevalence and determinants of marital disruption after midlife using Becker's theory of marital instability. Using recent Canadian national data, the marital outcomes of women and men who were married as of age 40 are tracked across the remaining years of the marriage. Cox proportional hazard regression models indicate stabilizing effects of the duration of the marriage, the age at first marriage, the presence of young children, as well as of remarriage for middle-aged and older persons. Other significant risk factors include education, heterogamous marital status, premarital cohabitation, number of siblings, and region."

Changes in the divorce rate and age distribution in China since the 1980s

"The divorce rate in China during the 1980s was much higher than before for a number of reasons. In order to understand this phenomenon, the authors will make a comparison between the divorce rates, and the age and duration of the marriage at the time of divorce in the early 1980s and in the late 1980s and early 1990s."

Determinants of extramarital sex in the Philippines

Understanding the factors associated with sexual behaviour is critical in slowing the spread of HIV in the Philippines, where sexual transmission accounts for most HIV infections, with the majority from heterosexual activity. Further, unprotected sex is common, as is sex with prostitutes. These factors increase the risks associated with extramarital sex. From an analysis of a nationally representative sample of women, we found that a number of factors were related to women's reports of their husbands' sexual activity outside their current relationship: women report that partners who are more educated, have been in the current relationship longer, and who had sex before marriage are more likely to be engaging in sex outside the marriage. Further, men who are older, who are farmers, who live at home, and who have more educated wives, were believed to be less likely to be having extramarital sex.

Divorce-risk trends in Sweden 1971-1993

"The purpose of this paper is to introduce an updated system of annual indexes of divorce risks and to use the system to display trends in divorce risks for Swedish women over the years since 1971. Divorce-risk trends turn out to have been quite different for women at different parities. Trends for women in their first marriage (the majority) are also somewhat different from trends in later marriages. After a spurt in divorces at parity 0 connected with a divorce reform in 1974, divorce risks have been quite stable for women at this parity, but they have increased steadily among married mothers, mostly as an effect of an increasing prevalence of premarital childbearing. Our indexes are produced by an indirect standardization of register data with respect to women's age at marriage, duration of marriage, and order of marriage. We also recommend standardization with respect to an indicator of premarital childbearing, which is particularly important in a population with extensive nonmarital cohabitation." (SUMMARY IN FRE)

Female partners of AIDS patients in Uganda: reported knowledge, perceptions and plans

OBJECTIVE

To assess reported knowledge of a partner's AIDS diagnosis, perceived risk of HIV infection, need for HIV testing and future support plans among women partners of male Ugandan AIDS patients.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted at New Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda. The subjects were women partners of consecutive male AIDS patients admitted to medical wards.

RESULTS

Only 12% reported their partner's AIDS diagnosis; women who reported knowing were less likely to be financially dependent on the partner. Most women (76%) reported being at risk of HIV; in general, these women were older, in a newer relationship, had less children and were in customary rather than civil or cohabiting marriages. More than half (56%) of the women reported a need for HIV testing, though few (5%) had been tested. Those who stated the need for HIV testing were in a newer relationship, had less children and were more financially independent of their husbands; women in a cohabiting type marriage were less likely to report their need for testing than those in a civil or customary marriage. About half (56%) reported plans for future support if their husbands did not recover; these women were more likely to be in an older relationship and to have more children.

CONCLUSIONS

Most women partners of AIDS patients in New Mulago Hospital reported no knowledge of their husbands' diagnosis. Over half perceived a need to be tested but very few reported having been tested, and only half reported having planned for the future of their families. Interventions are urgently needed to address barriers to knowledge and to acknowledgement of a partner's AIDS diagnosis, to HIV testing and to planning for the future.

Do fertility intentions predict subsequent behavior? Evidence from Peninsular Malaysia

Data from the 1984 Malaysian Population and Family Survey were matched with birth registration records for 1985-87 to determine the accuracy of statements regarding desired family size that were reported in a household survey in predicting subsequent reproductive behavior. The findings of this study were that stated fertility intention provides fairly accurate forecasts of fertility behavior in the subsequent period. In other words, whether a woman has another child is predicted closely by whether she wanted an additional child. Informational, educational, and motivational activities of family planning programs would, therefore, have greater success in reducing family size if fertility intentions were taken into account.

Age and infertility in a micronesian atoll population

The relationship between female age and infertility is examined using a single-island Micronesian population case. Demographic data, derived primarily from reproductive history interviews, show that a significant age-associated decline in marital reproductive performance is absent before women reach their late thirties in this population but a substantial decline is present once women reach their forties. Ethnographic data support the demographic inference that couples are maintaining relatively high levels of conjugal coital activity with both advancing female age and increasing marital duration. Thus coital activity levels appear to be an important factor in the maintenance of fertility in this group before the mid-thirties but decreases in fecundability after this age are due primarily to reductions in fecundity, not to declines in coital activity. The description of the Butaritari case lends support to Underwood's (1990) suggestion that a "Micronesian pattern" of reproductive performance may exist for the region's atoll-based populations and underscores the promise of further investigations of these special cases in the fields of demography and reproductive ecology.

Immigrant fertility: an examination of social characteristics and assimilation

"This study compares the fertility patterns of foreign-born and native-born women in Canada and examines whether [the] same set of social characteristics accounts for differential fertility among both the groups. The study also assesses the importance of social characteristics and assimilation on immigrant fertility behavior. Two generations of currently married/cohabiting women with spouse present are analyzed using multiple regressions. The results reveal similar effects on fertility of social characteristics for foreign-born and native-born, while in the case of younger generations the effects are stronger."

[A study of contraceptive-failure pregnancy and induced abortion in Korea]

The author reviews South Korea's family planning program since its inception in 1962. The focus is on pregnancy due to contraceptive failure and the use of induced abortion as a remedy. It is found that "according to a logistic regression analysis, major factors which affect the outcome of pregnancy due to contraceptive failure were residence area, number of boys, educational level, duration of marriage, women's age and number of children." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

[Fertility of women married before 1800 at Jablonec nad Nisou]

Using data from parish registers and family reconstitution methods, the authors analyze fertility levels and trends for women married before 1800 in the town of Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic. "Analyzing matrimonial fertility of these families we have found...that during the whole 18th century the level of matrimonial fertility...was stable.... The number of children in a family depended on the age of woman at the time of marriage and length of marriage duration." (SUMMARY IN ENG AND RUS)

Coitus and contraception: the utility of data on sexual intercourse for family planning programs

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) program has included several questions on sexual intercourse in its model questionnaires that have been used in more than 25 surveys in Latin America, Africa, and Asia over the last five years. This article assesses the quality of the data on sexual intercourse for 12 DHS surveys and shows how these data may be useful for understanding contraceptive use dynamics and for organizing the management of family planning programs. The data show that there is considerable variation among countries in exposure to pregnancy prior to first marriage. Within marriage, the level of coital frequency varies with duration of marriage, fertility intentions, and type of contraceptive method used. Finally, in all countries there is some overlap between contraceptive use and sexual abstinence. This information can be useful in family planning programs for targeting particular populations, for assisting women to choose a method, and for assessing the effect of contraceptive use on fertility.

Desired and excess fertility in Europe and the United States: indirect estimates from World Fertility Survey data

This paper presents indirect estimates of desired family size and unwanted births for married and cohabiting women in 12 European countries and the US. An econometric model for censored discrete data is used to estimate the distribution of desired family size from individual observations on children ever-born and total expected births. The data are from the UNECE Comparative Fertility Study of WFS surveys for Europe and the US and originated in national surveys between April 1975-December 1979. Estimates of the bivariate distribution of cumulative and desired fertility are used to compute the proportion of women with excess fertility and the average number of unwanted births for each country. The indirect estimates are compared with those from an analysis of survey responses to questions about desired and unwanted births. Multivariate modes that control for the effects of marriage duration, age at marriage, education, employment status, work experience, and total family income are also reported.