The changing context of sexual initiation in sub-Saharan Africa

The magnitude of the AIDS epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa puts young women at particularly high risk for HIV infection and calls for a better understanding of reproductive behavior, including sexual initiation and premarital sex. An increase in premarital sex is an inevitable consequence of later marriage in the developing world, if for no other reason than that the period during which girls are sexually mature and unmarried is prolonged when marriage is postponed. A recent Population Council project investigated the links between changing age at marriage and premarital sexual behavior in 27 sub-Saharan African countries. After documenting the decline in early marriage over an approximately 20-year period, researchers addressed the question of how reductions in the prevalence of early marriage affect the likelihood of initiating sex by age 18 and initiating premarital sex by the same age. As noted in Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 26, researchers also investigated whether younger women experience a faster or slower transition to marriage following sexual initiation

Children's Schooling in Developing-Country Slums: A Comparison of Egypt and India

This paper explores the implications of urban poverty for children’s educational attainment, a central measure of human capital that has a well-documented and pervasive influence on later-life demographic and labor force behavior. We compare levels of children’s schooling in Cairo and urban Egypt with those of Allahabad, India, a rapidly growing city of some 1.1 million persons in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, looking for poverty effects at both household and neighborhood levels.

Gender differences in the schooling experiences of adolescents in low-income countries: The case of Kenya

Little research on education in developing countries has focused on adolescent issues at the same time, despite the fact that a growing proportion of young people are spending some time in school during the phase of their lives between puberty and marriage, there is little research on schooling as a key dimension of the adolescent experience. This paper examines the school environment in Kenya and the potential ways it can help or hinder adolescents. We focus on gender differences with a view toward illuminating some of the factors that may present particular obstacles or opportunities for girls. The paper begins with a review of what is known about schooling and adolescence focusing on what the literature can tell us about the relationship between adolescent schooling experiences and “successful” transitions to adulthood, including not only the development of cognitive competencies, but the fulfillment of personal educational goals, the avoidance of pregnancy and the development of self-esteem and empowerment of young women. While the demographic literature views education as uniformly positive leading women to delay marriage and childbearing, the education literature views schools as conservative institutions that act to reinforce gender inequality in the society. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, the paper then continues with an analysis of 36 primary schools in three districts of Kenya chosen to reflect the spectrum of school quality in the country. The focus is on primary schools because the majority of adolescents in school attend primary school. In schools that encompass the range in terms of performance and parental status, disorganization coexists with strict punishment, minimal comforts are lacking, learning materials are scarce, learning is by rote, and sex is practiced but not taught. We find that girls do worse than boys in the primary school leaving exam and that better performing schools are not necessarily more gender equitable. Teachers’ attitudes and behavior reveal lower expectations for adolescent girls, traditional assumptions about gender roles and a double standard about sex

Obtaining more accurate and reliable information from adolescents regarding STI/HIV risk behaviors

To investigate the quality of self-reported data on sexual behavior, Population Council researchers conducted a study in a rural district of Malawi. They implemented a randomized experiment to assess whether audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI) produces more valid data on sexual behavior than face-to-face interviews. The Malawi study builds on an experiment conducted as part of a household-based survey of Kenyan adolescents. In Kenya and Malawi, there is clear evidence that mode of interviewing and probing of various sexual partnerships affect the reporting of sexual activity. According to Promoting Healthy, Safe, and Productive Transitions to Adulthood Brief No. 25, ACASI is a feasible methodology to use in rural areas of sub-Saharan Africa among adolescent populations unfamiliar with computers. Computerized interviewing improves quality of data on highly sensitive behaviors collected from adolescents. Given the importance of data on sexual behavior both in understanding the etiology of the AIDS epidemic and in clinical testing of products and technologies to reduce transmission of sexually transmitted infections, more research is needed on the interaction between interviewers and respondents and on reactions to the computer in developing-country populations

Measuring gender equality in education: Lessons from 43 countries

Through the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), governments committed to achieving universal secondary school completion, including eliminating gender disparities, by 2030. The period from 1997 to 2014 saw considerable progress in closing gender gaps in school enrollment and attainment in many, but not all, low- and middle-income countries. However, as this research brief explains, claims that gender parity in primary education now exists are premature, especially in the poorest countries and new gender gaps, or gender-related challenges, may emerge as attainment increases. Moreover, the extremely low levels of secondary school enrollment—and even moreso completion—demonstrate that the SDG target of universal secondary school completion is likely more aspirational than realistic without dramatic increases in investments in education in these settings. The report concludes that improvements in the overall quality of education systems have proven even more elusive than improvements in attainment and gender parity, to the detriment of both boys and girls

Consistency in the reporting of sexual behavior among adolescent girls in Kenya: A comparison of interviewing methods

This paper explores the consistency in reporting of sexual behavior in a household survey of adolescents aged 15-21 in the Kisumu district of Kenya. Respondents were randomly assigned to different interviewing modes: face-to-face interviews, paper-and-pencil self-administered interviews, and audio computer-assisted self-interviewing (ACASI). The analysis focuses on the reporting of sexual behavior by adolescent girls in the face-to-face and ACASI modes and compares responses to a variety of questions about sexual activity, including sexual initiation, risky sexual behavior, and coerced sex. All sexual behavior questions were asked of each adolescent girl even if she answered “no” to the initial question about ever having had sex. The paper also compares the consistency of reporting for questions that were asked twice during the survey-once in the main interview and again in a face-to-face exit interview. By comparison with ACASI, the interviewer-administered mode produces highly consistent reporting of sexual activity both within the main interview and between the main and exit interviews. On the other hand, ACASI produces higher reporting of sex with a relative, stranger, or older man, and higher reporting of coerced sex. We argue that the level of consistency and the high response rates in the interviewer-administered mode are suspect and suggest reasons why one might expect inconsistent responses to survey questions about sexual behavior

Trends in the timing of first marriage among men and women in the developing world [Arabic]

The timing of first union merits investigation not only because of the close temporal link between marriage and the onset of childbearing, but also because the age when men and women marry has implications for the organization of family life and for gender relations within society. This paper begins by reviewing the contributions of various social science disciplines to an understanding of the timing of marriage. Using current status data from 73 countries provided by the United Nations Population Division and retrospective data from 52 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1990 and 2001, we then examine recent trends in the timing of first marriage or union for men and women in the developing world. With the exception of South America for both sexes and South and Southeast Asia for men, substantial declines have occurred in the proportion of young men and women who are married. Given the differentials in the timing of marriage by educational attainment and residence, we assess whether the decline in the proportion of young people who are married is related to increases in schooling and urbanization. Expansion of schooling for women has had some impact, but a considerable portion of the reduction in early marriage is not explained by changes in levels of education. We consider other factors that might account for the increase in age at marriage. Finally, we review what is known about the consequences of changing age at marriage with a particular focus on risk of HIV infection

Socialization to gender roles and marriage among Egyptian adolescents

Using nationally representative survey data, this paper explores gender role socialization and attitudes toward marriage among unmarried Egyptian adolescents aged 16-19 years. We examine the daily activities of adolescent boys and girls, views about age at marriage and desirable qualities in a spouse, and various indicators of gender role attitudes including opinions about whether wives should defer to husbands, about sharing household decisionmaking, and about responsibility for domestic tasks. Our findings reflect strong gender differentiation: girls have much less free time than boys, are much less mobile, are much less likely to participate in paid work, and have heavier domestic responsibilities regardless of whether or not they are in school. Girls favor a later age at marriage for both sexes, but particularly for boys. Boys are significantly more likely than girls to favor educational inequality between spouses. While neither boys nor girls have particularly progressive gender role attitudes, girls are significantly more likely to express less traditional attitudes. Multivariate analyses indicate that girls’ and boys’ attitudes do not vary consistently and significantly by socioeconomic background; in particular, increased schooling does not always promote egalitarian attitudes. The implications of these findings for policies and programs are discussed

Premarital sex in Vietnam: Is the current concern with adolescent reproductive health warranted?

To the extent that research on Vietnamese adolescents has been conducted, it has been concerned with unprotected and unsanctioned sexual activity and its health consequences, namely abortion and sexually transmitted diseases, especially HIV. The question we pose is whether this concern is warranted. Is the population community justified in focusing its attention on early sexual activity and HIV risk? Even if the sexual behavior of young people can be considered problematic, are there perhaps other aspects of young people’s lives that should give us greater pause? The paper reviews the literature on adolescent sexual behavior in Vietnam and analyzes data on premarital sex and reproductive behavior from a 1999 survey conducted in six provinces among nearly 1,500 adolescent boys and girls aged 15-22. Data on other aspects of young people’s lives are summarized, in particular schooling and work, in order to put the sexual activity data in perspective. We conclude that the lack of adequate employment opportunities may be more of a threat to adolescent reproductive health than risky sexual behaviors per se—a situation that effective economic policies can remedy