F. Nii-Amoo Dodoo

Sexual risk-taking in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, 1993-98

Relatively less attention has been paid to reproductive health problems facing deprived urban residents than to those facing rural residents in sub-Saharan Africa. This is probably because the majority of Africans live in rural areas, where they are presumed to have poorer medical, educational, and other social services. Yet, the unprecedented rate of urbanization and the accompanying disproportionate growth in the proportion of poor city residents pose new challenges for health care in the region. This study examines differences in sexual behaviour between slum residents and non-slum residents in Nairobi city. The results show that slum residents start sexual intercourse at earlier ages, have more sexual partners, and are less likely than other city residents to know of or adopt preventive measures against contracting HIV/AIDS. The findings highlight the need to treat slum residents as a subpopulation uniquely vulnerable to reproductive health problems, and to expend more resources in slum settings.

Reversal of Fortune: Explaining the Decline in Black Women's Earnings

The earnings of African American women increased throughout the 1960s and 1970s, yet by the 1980s there were signs of a reversal. Using data from the 1980 and 1990 censuses of population, this study examines the deterioration in Black womens earnings across the 1980s. The authors ask what caused the earnings reversal given the improvements in Black womens human capital and industrial locations. The study finds that while the returns to schooling and industrial distribution improved over the decade, these gains were offset by the negative effects of changing family structure, nonmetropolitan residence, and occupational redistribution. Noteworthy is the fact that despite higher returns for public sector employment, work in this sector contributed little to Black womens changing economic status, perhaps because of cutbacks in affirmative action programs. The authors also find evidence of a widening bifurcation among African American women workers, with growing numbers of this group concentrated in the lower end of the earnings distribution.

Marriage Type and Reproductive Decisions: A Comparative Study in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This study compared the effect of fertility preferences on contraceptive use in Ghana and Kenya. Data were obtained from the 1988 and 1993 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and the 1989 and 1993 Kenya DHS among a nationally representative sample of women aged 15-49 years and a sample of men aged 20-54 years. Three hypotheses were examined. Men in polygamous unions were expected to have greater influence in decision-making about contraception particularly in polygamous unions. The author analyzed preferences of men when matched with those of each of their interviewed spouses. Findings from bivariate logistic models indicate that contraceptive use was slightly higher when men wanted no more children. Panel B indicates that male preferences had more influence than female preferences on contraceptive use among polygamous couples only in the 1993 samples. Mens preferences were more influential among monogamous couples in the 2 Kenyan samples. Among couples disagreeing about preferences contraceptive use was more likely when men desired no more children. Multivariate models indicate that male preferences were not more closely associated with contraceptive use except among monogamous couples in the 1993 Kenya sample. The presence of a stronger link between male preference and use in the bivariate analysis suggests that the effect may operate through control variables. The nature of the marriage effect needs further examination. Traditions power and the influence of lineage on decision-making may be key explanatory variables.

A couple analysis of micro-level supply/demand factors in fertility regulation

Demographic research in developing countries has traditionally neglected the role of male input into reproductive decision making. This has contributed significantly to the general inability to resolve the fertility problem in sub-Saharan Africa. The principal aim of this study is to apply a joint- or couple-model to the analysis of one such population problem in order to illustrate the potential avenues that emerge when the input of male spouses is considered. The 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey is used to examine the need for supply- and demand-side policy in achieving fertility declines. The data indicate that, although there is some evidence of the benefit of family planning programs, it appears that there is much room for further success. Also, there is a strong indication that the demand side of the fertility equation must be addressed more, by tackling the issue of individual motivations, particularly of males, for childbearing.Demographic research in developing countries has traditionally neglected the role of male input into reproductive decision making. This has contributed significantly to the general inability to resolve the fertility problem in sub-Saharan Africa. The principal aim of this study is to apply a joint- or couple-model to the analysis of one such population problem in order to illustrate the potential avenues that emerge when the input of male spouses is considered. The 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey is used to examine the need for supply- and demand-side policy in achieving fertility declines. The data indicate that, although there is some evidence of the benefit of family planning programs, it appears that there is much room for further success. Also, there is a strong indication that the demand side of the fertility equation must be addressed more, by tackling the issue of individual motivations, particularly of males, for childbearing.

Africans in the diaspora: black-white earnings differences among America's Africans

The condition of Africans in the diaspora proffers insight into not just their adaptation to their new countries, but also the nature of racial stratification at their destinations. We examine race differences in earnings between black and white Africans in America and find sizeable differences among immigrants who have relatively similar human capital profiles. Whites have annual earnings 80 per cent higher than their black counterparts, and the gap in hourly wage is almost 48 per cent. More significantly, more than half (53 per cent) of the race difference in wages remains unexplained by earnings-related attributes such as education, occupation, and hours worked. We discuss these results against the backdrop of the ongoing debate on discrimination and the significance of race for socio-economic attainment in America.

Fertility Desires and Perceptions of Power in Reproductive Conflict in Ghana

Ghanaian fertility decline may not be associated with womens having greater control over reproduction. Focus groups of young Ghanaian men and women indicate that attitudes supporting mens dominance in fertility decisions characterize even the highly educated. Young women with high fertility desires anticipate being able to stop childbearing when they want to, but they do not expect to be able to continue if their husband wants to stop. Those with low fertility desires do not anticipate being able to stop without husband consent, but they envision support for continuing childbearing. Womens expected influence appears limited to situations where their fertility desires conform to normative expectations.

Does discussion of family planning improve knowledge of partner's attitude toward contraceptives?

CONTEXT Results from an analysis of 1998 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from Kenya, where the approval rate of family planning is 90%, have cast doubt on the assumption that spousal discussion improves knowledge of partners attitude toward family planning. However, it is not known whether this finding also applies to contexts more typical of Sub-Saharan Africa, where approval is not as high. METHODS DHS data from 21 Sub-Saharan African countries were used to assess the relationship between spousal discussion and correct reporting of partners attitude toward family planning. Multivariate analyses of data from Chad were conducted to further examine this relationship in a setting where contraceptive approval was not high. RESULTS In every country, the proportion of women correctly reporting their spouses disapproval of contraception was smaller among those who had discussed family planning with their husband than among those who had never done so. However, in an analysis of Chad data that included women who did not know their husbands attitude toward contraception, proportions of women correctly citing their husbands attitude were larger if discussion had occurred than if it had not, regardless of the husbands actual approval status. In multivariate analyses of Chad data that controlled for womens demographic characteristics, discussion was positively associated with correct reporting of husbands approval, but negatively associated with correct reporting of his disapproval. CONCLUSIONS Partner discussion does not necessarily mean an increase in knowledge of a partners contraceptive attitudes. Therefore, anticipated reductions in unmet need for contraception through improvements in spousal discussion may be overstated.

Explaining Spousal Differences in Reproductive Preferences: A Gender Inequality Approach

Using data from the 1988 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey we show that, contrary to some earlier findings, substantial differences in fertility goals exist between spouses in sub-Saharan Africa. Further, we indicate that gender inequality is associated with these differences in fertility goals. Women in dyads that give nonnumeric responses to questions on preferred family size are very likely to have low status, which may lead them to have high fertility. The need for more research at the micro level is stressed, given the social, economic, and environmental costs of neglecting to do so.

Earnings differences among blacks in America

Abstract Native black males in America have earnings that are 5% higher than their foreign born counterparts. Data from the 1980 Census of Population are used to explain this earnings gap. The findings are that even though foreign born blacks have better earnings-related attributes than their native counterparts, the foreign born encounter a significant cost since the returns they receive to these earnings attributes work to their disadvantage with respect to earnings.

Do male reproductive preferences really point to a need to refocus fertility policy

Independently collected data from a 1994 survey in Accra, Ghana, are used here to verify earlier findings from Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data which indicate the existence of a closer tie between mens reproductive preferences and contraceptive use, than between the latter and womens preferences. Indeed, the findings corroborate the earlier studies and suggest that fertility transition in Africa may be accelerated if the family planning establishment would recognize the contribution of the ‘male role’, and bring men into the mainstream of their agenda.