Bina Gubhaju

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGES IN MEAN AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE AND PROPORTIONS NEVER MARRYING IN THE LOW-FERTILITY COUNTRIES OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

The long-term trend towards later and less marriage in the low-fertility countries of East and Southeast Asia has continued into the early years of the twenty-first century, and indeed accelerated in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. This paper examines the extent to which this is a general trend cutting across all educational attainment groups, and the extent to which it can be explained by increasing proportions in the educational categories characterized by higher levels of singlehood (in the case of females, the higher levels of education). In the countries where the rise in singlehood has been the steepest, changing educational composition has played a relatively minor role in the case of women. For men, in all countries examined, it has played only a minor role, or actually worked against rising singlehood. The paper examines likely reasons for these trends.

Barriers to Sustained Use of Contraception in Nepal: Quality of Care, Socioeconomic Status, and Method-Related Factors

Owing to previously limited data availability, low contraceptive prevalence, and predominance of permanent method use in Nepal, there have been few studies of contraceptive-use dynamics. The aim of this article is to examine contraceptive use dynamics in Nepal in light of the countrys ongoing fertility transition and change in contraceptive method-mix. Drawing on the 2003 Contraceptive Acceptance and Use Patterns Survey of Nepal and the quality-of-care framework, a proportional hazards model is used to explore contraceptive discontinuation of injections and pills. Results show that source of method from non-government services, high level of information given, one-to-one counseling, satisfaction with services, and shorter travel time to source are associated with lower odds of discontinuation. Despite the experience of side effects, women in Nepal are highly motivated to regulate their fertility. Results suggest detailed information given to users can have significant influence on continuation of methods rather than merely providing information on alternative methods and group counseling.

The mis-measurement of extreme global poverty: A case study in the Pacific Islands

Debate over the measurement of global poverty in low- and middle-income countries continues unabated. There is considerable controversy surrounding the ‘dollar a day’ measure used to monitor progress against the Millennium Development Goals. This article shines fresh light on the debate with new empirical analyses of poverty (including child poverty), inequality and deprivation levels in the Pacific island state of Vanuatu. The study focuses not only on economic and monetary metrics and measures, but also the measures of deprivation derived from sociology in relation to shelter, sanitation, water, information, nutrition, health and education. Until recently, there had been few, if any, attempts to study poverty and deprivation disparities among children in this part of the world. Different measures yield strikingly different estimates of poverty. The article, therefore, attempts to situate the study findings in the broader international context of poverty measurement and discusses their implications for future research and the post-2015 development agenda.

How Fares the Family? Resilience and Transformation of Families in Asia

Existing literature has given much attention to changes in the family institution in Asia resulting from forces of globalization, urbanization, migration, as well as various demographic shifts (Asis, 2003; Chan, 2006; De Silva, 2004; Jones, 1995; Lai & Blake, 1998). Policy measures implemented at the state level have also been prominent in an effort to promote and maintain families, based on the assumption that the family is the basic unit of society. However, relatively little attention has been given to how families themselves are evolving and re-working their own definition, status, and importance in society. In this special issue, we attempt to fill the gap in the literature by exploring the resilience and transformation of families and acknowledging the emergence of new and modified family structures, alternative living arrangements, new family support systems, and strategies to cope with changes and pressures of their societies. The collection of articles in this special issue were selected based on presentations from an International Conference on ‘‘How Fares the Family? Resilience and Transformation of Families in Asia’’ organized by the Changing Family in Asia Research Cluster at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, held in Singapore in August 2008. The articles in this special issue provide a comparative and multidisciplinary approach to understanding family resilience and transformation in Asia in seven country contexts including China, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia—all of which are experiencing profound and rapid economic and