Substance use and sexual behaviour among African adolescents in the North West province of South Africa

The relationship between substance use and sexual behaviour is examined using a sample of African high school students in the North West Province of South Africa. Even though the rate of substance use was generally low compared to other groups that have been studied elsewhere in the country, male and older adolescents were much more likely than female and younger adolescents to use alcohol and marijuana. While alcohol and marijuana use were positively and strongly associated with lifetime sexual activity, only alcohol positively associated with condom use. Finally, even though parental employment status did not affect lifetime sexual activity, when a mother was employed, the adolescent child was more likely to use a condom, while perceived higher socioeconomic status is positively associated with lifetime sexual activity.

Analysing cross-sectional data with time-dependent covariates: the case of age at first birth in South Africa

Analysing time-dependent independent variables requires the use of process-oriented statistical models. Yet social scientists, especially those in poor countries, have often had to use data collected at a single point in time, making their task difficult. Making several assumptions about the covariates, the present study uses survival analysis and other statistical techniques to analyse the 1996 South African population census data and examine the effects of selected independent variables on the timing of parenthood in the country. It was found that the onset of parenthood occurs late in South Africa compared with the pattern in most other African societies. While education plays a role in the postponement of parenthood within racial groups, it fails to explain the differences between African and coloured women on the one hand, and white and Asian women on the other had, a finding that suggests the existence of two regimes of family formation in the South African society.

Gender and changing patterns of political participation in sub–Saharan Africa: Evidence from the five waves of the Afrobarometer surveys

We used five waves of the Afrobarometer survey data to examine gender differences in political participation in the selected sub-Saharan Africa countries. The results showed that while the odds of voting have actually declined slightly over the time covered by the surveys, overall women were only about two-thirds as likely to vote as men with the gender gap in voting varying widely across countries and time. Also, the gender gap was narrowing by about 3.7% per survey round, with people in rural areas, more educated people, older people, employed people, people who belonged to a religious group, and people who expressed more interest in public affairs being more likely to vote. With regard to collective action, although it was increasing, the gender gap in collective action remained constant. In most regards, with its effects paralleling those for voting in that collective action was higher in rural areas, among older people, more educated people, people who were more interested in public affairs, poor people and members of religious groups. Results imply that civic education and other mechanisms are needed to encourage more female participation in all aspects of the political process