Anne-Emmanuèle Calvès

Parental Death and Children’s Schooling in Burkina Faso

Family and demographic investigations of sub-Saharan Africa have become increasingly concerned with the well-being of orphans, as the AIDS pandemic dramatically raises the numbers of orphans in many parts of the continent. Recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) show that the highest levels of orphanhood in Africa now occur in Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, all located in eastern or southern Africa, the most afflicted areas of the continent in terms of HIV. Indeed, most of the current literature on the orphan topic is devoted to these countries. Far less is known about the living conditions of orphans in other parts of the continent, including Sahelian countries such as Burkina Faso. Notwithstanding the lower prevalence of HIV in these countries, they are characterized by high levels of adult mortality. The general decline in Africa’s living standards—impoverishment—is another reason to take a particular interest in the situation of orphans. We agree with York Bradshaw and his colleagues, who wrote that “directly or indirectly, foreign debt and structural adjustment influence mortality, economic growth, immunization, health care, urbanization, and nutrition.” Children’s educational outcomes are equally affected, we would add. Where resources become less available and household choices more constrained, what happens to the schooling of orphans, the most vulnerable of children? Facing many development challenges, Burkina Faso is one of the poorest

Trop pauvre pour se marier ?. Crise de l'emploi urbain et entrée en première union des hommes au Burkina Faso

Using a detailed event history survey carried out in Burkina Faso in 2000 (EMIUB), this article studies the effect of deteriorating urban employment conditions in the 1990s on men?s first union formation. The results show that young city-dwellers? first entry into union is significantly delayed and the manner of union formation has also changed. Periods of cohabitation are more frequent among men in the most recent cohorts (1965-1974), some wedding ceremonies are now postponed or called off, and the entire matrimonial process is tending to last longer. Whereas for the oldest cohorts (1945-1954) the date of first marriage was not a matter of money, among the youngest, obtaining a paid job is crucial to forming a first union. The results also show that as urban employment is increasingly informal, inequalities with respect to marriage are emerging among young men in the most recent cohorts according to the type of work they do.