1.  Peer Reviewed Title: On the structural value of children and its implication on intended fertility in Bulgaria. Author: Buhler C Source: Demographic Research. 2008 Jun 24;18(20):569-610. Abstract: Personal networks are receiving increasing recognition as structural determinants of fertility. However, the network perspective also helps to explain personal motivations for having children. Using theories of interpersonal exchange, social capital, and the value of children, it is argued in this article that children can substantively improve their parents' social networks. Individuals perceive this potential advantageous development as a structural benefit and consider this value in their reproductive decisions. This argument is empirically explored with data from Bulgaria, collected in 2002. The results document the presence of structural evaluations among subjectively perceived childrelated benefits. Moreover, structural evaluations matter for the reproductive decisionmaking of Bulgarian citizens. Women's fertility intentions are supported by the prospect that a child will bring their parents and relatives closer or will improve their security at old age. Males' intentions are closely associated with the expectation that a child will provide support when they are old. (author's) Language: English Keywords: BULGARIA | RESEARCH REPORT | SURVEYS | PARENTS | CHILDREN | SOCIAL NETWORKS | MOTIVATION | FERTILITY DETERMINANTS | FERTILITY PREFERENCES | CHILD WORTH | INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS | Europe, Southeastern | Europe | Developing Countries | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Friends and Relatives | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 327505 |
2.  Peer Reviewed Title: Motives for parenthood among couples attending a level 3 infertility clinic in the public health sector in South Africa. Author: Dyer S; Mokoena N; Maritz J; van der Spuy Z Source: Human Reproduction. 2008;23(2):352-357. Abstract: Most African countries are pronatalistic with high total fertility rates and a low prevalence of voluntary childlessness. At present, limited data exist relating to the reasons why men and women desire children. This study explores parenthood motives among infertile couples from an urban community in South Africa. The parenthood-motivation list, an instrument developed in the Netherlands for the assessment of parenthood motives and strength of desire for a child, was administrated to 50 couples (100 participants) who presented to an infertility clinic in a tertiary referral centre. The instrument discerns six parenthood motives comprising happiness, well-being, identity, parenthood, continuity and social control. The majority of participants endorsed most of the motives. The categories happiness and parenthood were the most frequent motives. Women endorsed more motives simultaneously when compared with men. The categories happiness, well-being and social control correlated positively with strengthof desire for a child. Most men and women expressed a strong desire for a child. Men and women desired children for many reasons and with similar intensity. This diversity and intensity of parenthood motives appears to be a reflection of the value of children in our communities and further our understanding of the implications of involuntary childlessness. (author's) Language: English Keywords: SOUTH AFRICA | RESEARCH REPORT | COUPLES | INFERTILITY | FERTILITY PREFERENCES | MOTIVATION | CHILD WORTH | Africa, Southern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Developing Countries | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Reproduction | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 325389 |
| 3. Peer Reviewed Title: The path to replacement fertility in Egypt: Acceptance, preference, and achievement. Author: El-Zeini LO Source: Studies in Family Planning. 2008 Sep;39(3):161-176. Abstract: This study draws upon data from the 2004 Slow Fertility Transition survey, a follow-up to the 2003 Egypt Interim Demographic and Health Survey, to investigate obstacles to achieving replacement fertility. To account for the likelihood of embracing the two-child ideal, the analysis adopts a framework with the acronym APA: Acceptance of the two-child ideal, Preference for that ideal, and Achievement of that preference. The framework posits a hierarchy among the three and hypothesizes that each depends on a set of factors, including gender stratification, economic expectations, perception of the costs and benefits of having children, and the costs of fertility regulation. The results indicate that son preference and the perceived low cost of childrearing are major obstacles to the acceptance of the two-child family. Son preference, other discriminatory gender attitudes, optimistic economic expectations, and fear of contraceptive side effects are associated with a low preference for and ambivalence about having only two children. Given a decisive preference, lower socioeconomic status and strong son preference are the major obstacles to the achievement of the two-child ideal. (author's) Language: English Keywords: EGYPT | RESEARCH REPORT | SURVEYS | POPULATION REPLACEMENT | FAMILY SIZE, IDEAL | CHILD WORTH | PERCEPTION | SEX PREFERENCE | FEMALE ROLE | FERTILITY DETERMINANTS | FERTILITY PREFERENCES | DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION | SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS | Developing Countries | Africa, North | Africa | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Size | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Value Orientation | Social Behavior | Fertility | Socioeconomic Factors Document Number: 328153 |
| 4. Peer Reviewed Title: Gender bias in the food insecurity experience of Ethiopian adolescents. Author: Hadley C; Lindstrom D; Tessema F; Belachew T Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2007 Jan;66(2):427-438. Abstract: Food insecurity is a pressing public health concern in many developing countries. Despite widespread interest in the sociocultural determinants of food insecurity, little is known about whether youths living in food insecure households experience food insecurity. The buffering hypothesis reviewed here assumes that, to the extent possible, adult members of households will buffer younger household members from the ill effects of food insecurity. A variant of the buffering hypothesis argues that only certain members of the households will enjoy the benefits of buffering. We hypothesize that within the context of Ethiopia, where girls have historically experienced discrimination, buffering is preferentially aimed at boys, especially as the household experiences greater levels of food stress. These hypotheses are tested using data from a population-based study of 2084 adolescents living in southwestern Ethiopia. Results indicate that boys and girls were equally likely to be living in severely food insecure households. Despite no differences in their households' food insecurity status, girls were more likely than boys to report being food insecure themselves. This gender difference was the largest in severely food insecure households. This same pattern was observed when comparing male-female sibling pairs living in the same household. These results are among the first to show that household level measures of food insecurity predict adolescent experiences of food insecurity, and that in the Ethiopian socio-cultural context, the relationship between household level food insecurity and adolescent food insecurity varies by gender. We also show that adolescent food insecurity is strongly associated with measures of general health and well-being. (author's) Language: English Keywords: ETHIOPIA | RESEARCH REPORT | KAP SURVEYS | ADOLESCENTS | PARENTS | HOUSEHOLDS | SIBLINGS | FOOD SUPPLY | SEX DISCRIMINATION | SEX FACTORS | CHILD WORTH | CULTURE | Developing Countries | Africa, Eastern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Natural Resources | Environment | Social Discrimination | Social Problems | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 322352 |
| 5. Title: Only children of the head of household benefit from increased household food diversity in northern Ghana. Author: Leroy JL; Razak AA; Habicht JP Source: Journal of Nutrition. 2008 Nov;138(11):2258-63. Abstract: In many societies, foods are preferentially channeled to certain members of the household. We studied whether being the child of a powerful household member (head of household or first wife in a polygynous family) was associated with greater child stature in Northern Ghana and how this association varied with differences in household food availability. We used a sample of 464 children between 9 and 36 mo of age in extended households in rural Northern Ghana. Child stature was regressed on household food availability, the status of the child's father (head of household or other male), the status of the child's mother (marital order in a polygynous marriage), and the interaction terms between household food availability and parental status. The models were controlled for child age, sex, maternal height, parity, household size, and potential intra-community clustering. Household dietary diversity was associated with child stature (P < 0.05), but this association was limited to children of the head of household. For children of other males, there was no quantifiable association between household dietary diversity and child stature. Children of monogamous mothers were taller than children of second wives (P < 0.05). Our findings show that studies of intra-household allocation need to investigate beyond gender differences. Other structural household factors need to be considered in designing interventions, because they affect impact and even lead to increased intra-household inequality. Our results are relevant for Northern Ghana and as well as for similar settings elsewhere in the world. Language: English Keywords: GHANA | RESEARCH REPORT | KAP SURVEYS | HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD | CHILDREN | DIET | PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT | FOOD SUPPLY | CHILD WORTH | AGE FACTORS | SEX FACTORS | BODY HEIGHT | PARITY | FAMILY SIZE | LIVING ARRANGEMENTS | Developing Countries | Africa, Western | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Households | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Nutrition | Health | Child Rearing | Behavior | Natural Resources | Environment | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Physiology | Biology | Fertility Measurements | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Family Characteristics | Residence Characteristics | Population Distribution | Geographic Factors Document Number: 329367 |
| 6. Peer Reviewed Title: The quantity-quality trade-off of children in a developing country: Identification using Chinese twins. Author: Li H; Zhang J; Zhu Y Source: Demography. 2008 Feb;45(1):223-243. Abstract: Testing the trade-off between child quantity and quality within a family is complicated by the endogeneity of family size. Using data from the Chinese Population Census, we examine the effect of family size on child educational attainment in China. We find a negative correlation between family size and child outcome, even after we control for the birth order effect. We then instrument family size by the exogenous variation that is induced by a twin birth and find a negative effect of family size on children's education. We also find that the effect of family size is more evident in rural China, where the public education system is poor. Given that our estimates of the effect of having twins on nontwins at least provide the lower bound of the true effect of family size, these findings suggest a quantity-quality trade-off for children in developing countries. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | RESEARCH REPORT | CORRELATION STUDIES | FAMILY SIZE | CHILDREN | MULTIPLE BIRTH | EDUCATIONAL STATUS | SCHOOL ENROLLMENT | CHILD WORTH | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Statistical Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Reproduction | Socioeconomic Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Microeconomic Factors Document Number: 326396 |
| 7. Title: Confucian family values and childless couples in South Korea. Author: Yang S; Rosenblatt PC Source: Journal of Family Issues. 2008 May;29(5):571-591. Abstract: The Korean family has long met Confucian values by producing children to maintain and support the paternal family line, but in South Korea's transition to a low birth rate, an increasing number of couples have remained childless. Have Confucian family values been abandoned? In this study, 103 young single South Koreans wrote protocols describing their thoughts about childless couples and having children. Most of them viewed childless couples negatively and said that they planned to have children of their own. Confucian values were clearly central in what students wrote about childlessness. The results suggest that the increase in voluntary childlessness does not mean that Confucian values have been abandoned by young South Koreans. Confucian family values seem to remain primary, but they may be reinterpreted or reluctantly violated because economic and other circumstances make it difficult or impossible to meet those values in the South Korean context. (author's) Language: English Keywords: DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KOREA | RESEARCH REPORT | QUALITATIVE RESEARCH | VOLUNTARY CHILDLESSNESS | FERTILITY PREFERENCES | FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD | CULTURE | SOCIAL CHANGE | ECONOMIC FACTORS | FEMALE ROLE | PATRIARCHY | CHILD WORTH | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Research Methodology | Reproductive Behavior | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Sociocultural Factors | Social Behavior | Behavior | Family Characteristics | Microeconomic Factors Document Number: 326097 |
| 8. Title: Are returns to mothers' human capital realized in the next generation? The impact of mother's schooling and long-run nutritional status on child human capital in Guatemala. Author: Behrman JR; Murphy A; Quisumbing AR; Ramakrishnan U; Yount K Source: [Unpublished] 2007. Presented at the Population Association of America 2007 Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 29-31, 2007. [26] p. Abstract: There are many estimates in the literature of significant cross-sectional positive associations between maternal human capital - usually represented by schooling attainment and, in some cases, by height (as an indicator of long-run nutritional status) - and child human capital. But almost all of this literature ignores possible estimation biases due to maternal human capital being behaviorally determined in the presence of intergenerationally-correlated endowments. A small number of recent studies, primarily on developed economies, report that treating maternal schooling attainment as behaviorally determined affects substantially (generally reducing) the estimated causal impact of maternal schooling on child outcomes. No previous studies consider what happens to estimates of the impact of maternal long-run nutritional status if this "biological" component of maternal human capital is treated as behaviorally determined. The contribution of this paper is to explore, for the first time, how estimates of the impact of both maternal schooling attainment and maternal long-run nutritional status on child human capital are affected if both of these components of maternal human capital are treated as behaviorially determined, using an unusually rich longitudinal data set collected over 35 years in Guatemala. The estimates are provocative. They suggest that the standard procedures in which maternal human capital is treated as exogenous may yield misleading coefficient estimates for the impacts of maternal human capital on child human capital in the Guatemalan context. For maternal schooling, our results suggest that the OLS estimates may understate slightly the impact on grades of schooling relative to the age-cohort mean, but may overstate substantially the magnitude and the significance of the effect on being ever-schooled. For maternal height, the estimates suggest that, for all but one of the child outcomes considered, the OLS estimates understate, in some cases substantially, the causal impact of maternal long-run nutritional status on both anthropometric and schooling outcomes in children. The estimates imply, thus, not only that in a number of cases are the standard estimates likely to be misleading due to endogeneity of maternal human capital, but they are likely to understate the importance of long-run maternal nutritional status relative to maternal schooling attainment in determining child human capital. (author's) Language: English Keywords: GUATEMALA | RESEARCH REPORT | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | ECONOMIC MODEL | MOTHERS | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | CHILDREN | HUMAN CAPITAL | EDUCATIONAL STATUS | MATERNAL NUTRITION | NUTRITION | CHILD WORTH | Central America | Latin America | Americas | Developing Countries | Studies | Research Methodology | Theoretical Models | Parents | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Human Resources | Socioeconomic Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Health | Microeconomic Factors Document Number: 317873 |
| 9. Title: Familyhood and low fertility in Italy in comparative perspective. Author: Bernardi L; Gribaldo A; Oppo A Source: [Unpublished] 2007. Presented at the Population Association of America 2007 Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 29-31, 2007. [4] p. Abstract: In this paper we analyze the interdependencies between family relationships among close relatives and reproductive behavior in Italy. Turning the second demographic transition argument on its head, some Italian demographers provocatively argued that it is the "too much family" both in terms of strong ties between relatives and of the "familistic" character of institutions - that lead Italians to have so few children at the end of the XX century. According to these interpretations of low fertility the close interdependence between generations would lead the younger generation to avoid, postpone, or in any case limit their assumption of parental responsibilities and commitments. However, while the 'too much family' argument may explain why we observe a comparatively long period of cohabitation between parents and adult children and the postponement of the transition to parenthood, there is no need that this postponement should not lead couples to have two children or more children - like it happens in France. Particularly so in a context like Italy where family is a resource in terms of childcare and economic support. Despite the popularity of the familistic arguments, there are virtually no convincing empirical research to clarify the way in which strong family ties would influence family formation and limit childbearing choices. Another way to read the consequences of family ties is using the concept of familyhood (or famiglianza in Italian). This term expresses the sense of identity provided by being part of a social group of relatives. Far from being an abstract construction, the famiglianza depicts the concrete consequences of the interdependence created by family practices, like caring and shared daily activities. Understanding the dynamics and the significance attributed to family relations and their expression in daily practices of exchanges and mutual expectations is pivotal to explain the role of strong ties on couples' childbearing behavior and the reproduction of families. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: ITALY | RESEARCH REPORT | CASE STUDIES | COMPARATIVE STUDIES | KAP SURVEYS | LOW FERTILITY POPULATION | EXTENDED FAMILY | FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS | REPRODUCTIVE BEHAVIOR | FERTILITY DETERMINANTS | DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION | FERTILITY DECLINE | DELAYED CHILDBEARING | HUMAN GEOGRAPHY | CHILD WORTH | Europe, Southern | Europe | Developed Countries | Studies | Research Methodology | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Fertility Changes | Geography | Social Sciences | Science | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 317370 |
| 10. Title: Health services, attitudes about children, and contraceptive use. Draft. Author: Brauner-Otto SR Source: [Unpublished] 2007. Presented at the Population Association of America 2007 Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 29-31, 2007. [52] p. Abstract: The macro-micro link is a fundamental component of sociological theory and empirical research. This paper investigates the relationship between health services and individuals' fertility attitudes and behaviors to help illuminate the mechanisms through which social context influences individuals' behavior. I construct a new theoretical framework that explicitly illustrates how specific dimensions of health services effect behavior. I also provide new information on the social-psychological mechanisms through which social context influences individual behavior by examining the relationship between health services and attitudes. My investigation focuses on a setting in rural Nepal that experienced dramatic social, economic, and demographic changes over the course of current residents' lives. Findings reveal (1) social-psychological mechanisms are a key piece of the social context-individual behavior link; and (2) multiple characteristics of health services exhibit independent effects on fertility attitudes. (author's) Language: English Keywords: NEPAL | RESEARCH REPORT | THEORETICAL MODELS | RURAL POPULATION | CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE | ATTITUDES | CHILD WORTH | DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE | HEALTH SERVICES | PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS | FERTILITY DETERMINANTS | DECISION MAKING | VALUE ORIENTATION | UTILIZATION OF HEALTH CARE | CLIENT-STAFF RELATIONS | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Research Methodology | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Contraception | Family Planning | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Health | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Interpersonal Relations Document Number: 317365 |
| 11. Title: The value of children in African countries: Insights from studies on infertility. Author: Dyer SJ Source: Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2007 Jun;28(2):69-77. Abstract: A number of studies have explored motives for parenthood in the Western industrialized world. These studies have documented that children are mostly desired for reasons relating to happiness and personal well-being. To date, limited data pertaining to parenthood motives in African countries exist. Insight into the value of children can, however, be derived from studies on infertility, as the negative repercussions of involuntary childlessness reflect the value of children to parents and the community. According to these studies children secure conjugal ties, offer social security, assist with labour, confer social status, secure rights of property and inheritance, provide continuity through re-incarnation and maintaining the family lineage, and satisfy emotional needs. Parenthood therefore appears to have more and, arguably, deeper roots in African communities when compared to industrialized countries. (author's) Language: English Keywords: AFRICA | LITERATURE REVIEW | EVALUATION | PARENTS | CHILDREN | COMMUNITY | CHILD WORTH | MOTIVATION | MARRIAGE | MICROECONOMIC FACTORS | CULTURE | LAND TENURE | INHERITANCE | RELIGIOUS ASPECTS | EMOTIONS | Developing Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Residence Characteristics | Population Distribution | Geographic Factors | Economic Factors | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Nuptiality | Socioeconomic Factors | Ownership | Religion Document Number: 313567 |
| 12. Title: Sex selection and fertility choices: analysis and policy. Author: Ebenstein AY Source: [Unpublished] 2007. Presented at the Population Association of America 2007 Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 29-31, 2007. [53] p. Abstract: High sex ratios in China and India have historically concerned researchers and their recent increase has alarmed policymakers worldwide. This paper identifies sex selection via infanticide and abortion as the principal explanation for the sex ratio distortion, and rules out competing explanations such as biology or differential mortality rates. Consistent with recent work, I find that the sex ratio of first-born births is close to the natural rate and steeply rising following the birth of low-order daughters, indicating that mothers are practicing pre-natal sex selection or immediate infanticide. Sex ratios are found to be higher among those anticipating lower fertility, such as those under stricter government fertility limits. I outline a model of a mother's fertility choice when she has access to a sex-selection technology and faces a mandated fertility limit. By exploiting variation in fines levied in China for unsanctioned births, I demonstrate that higher fine regimes discourage fertility butare associated with higher sex ratios among those who choose to have an additional child. I then estimate a structural model of parental preferences using China's 2000 census data that indicates that a son is worth 2.90 years of income more than a daughter, and the premium is highest among less educated mothers and rural families. I conclude with a set of simulations to model the effect on sex ratios and total fertility of a propose subsidy to families who fail to have a son, and find that such a policy would reduce sex ratios and lower overall fertility. (author's) Language: English Keywords: CHINA | RESEARCH REPORT | THEORETICAL MODELS | MOTHERS | INFANT | RURAL POPULATION | SEX PREFERENCE | INFANTICIDE | ABORTION | DIFFERENTIAL MORTALITY | SEX RATIO | CENSUS | CHILD WORTH | INCOME | EDUCATIONAL STATUS | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developing Countries | Research Methodology | Parents | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Crime | Social Problems | Fertility Control, Postconception | Family Planning | Mortality | Population Dynamics | Sex Distribution | Sex Factors | Population Statistics | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Socioeconomic Factors | Socioeconomic Status Document Number: 317356 Notification |
| 13. Title: The path to replacement fertility in Egypt: acceptance, preference, and achievement. Author: El-Zeini LO Source: [Unpublished] 2007. Presented at the Population Association of America, 2007 Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 29-31, 2007. 28 p. Abstract: This paper uses data from the 2004 Stalled Fertility Transition survey; a follow-up to the 2003 Egypt Interim DHS, to investigate obstacles to achieving replacement fertility. The analysis adopts a framework with the acronym APA: Acceptance of a two-child ideal, Preference for that ideal, and Achievement of preference, positing a hierarchy among the three and hypothesizing that each depends on a set of factors, including gender stratification, economic expectations, perception of children's costs and benefits, and the costs of fertility regulation. The results indicate that son preference, discriminative gender attitudes, and perceived low cost of childrearing compared to benefit of children are major obstacles to the acceptance of the two-child family. Given acceptance, son preference, optimistic economic expectations, and fear of contraceptive side effects are associated with low preference for two children and with ambivalence. Given a decisive preference, women from better socioeconomic strata, women who perceive themselves to be in control of their reproduction and women with weaker son preference are more likely to achieve the ideal of two children. (author's) Language: English Keywords: EGYPT | RESEARCH REPORT | FERTILITY SURVEYS | WOMEN | POPULATION REPLACEMENT | FERTILITY PREFERENCES | SEX PREFERENCE | SONS | GENDER ISSUES | CHILD WORTH | CONTRACEPTIVE AGENTS, SIDE EFFECTS | MICROECONOMIC FACTORS | Developing Countries | Africa, Northern | Africa | Fertility Measurements | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors | Contraceptive Agents | Contraception | Family Planning Document Number: 317263 |
| 14. Title: The value of children in Palestine and Turkey: Differences and the consequences for fertility. Author: Klaus D; Suckow J; Nauck B Source: Current Sociology. 2007 Jul;55(4):527-544. Abstract: Recent data on fertility rates indicate tremendous differences between Palestine and Turkey: whereas the total fertility rate has decreased remarkably over the last few decades in Turkey, a rather stable, high fertility rate can be observed for Palestine. This study applies a reconceptualization of the value of children approach to explain this difference. Analyses were performed using a sample of 249 Palestinian and 622 Turkish mothers from the 2002 international Value of Children study. In a first step, it is revealed that in Palestine children are more important for parents' comfort and social esteem than in Turkey, while only slight country differences are found with respect to children's affection value. This is in line with the study's hypotheses. However, in a second step, the country-specific value of children is proved to be of only very limited predictive power with regard to the birth of children of different parity, which contradicts the expectations. A more detailed analysis suggests that it is rational to follow cultural routines with respect to children in Palestine but not in Turkey. (author's) Language: English Keywords: WEST BANK | GAZA | TURKEY | RESEARCH REPORT | CHILD | FERTILITY | CHILD WORTH | VALUE ORIENTATION | FERTILITY MEASUREMENTS | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | Developing Countries | Middle East | Europe, Southeastern | Europe | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Population Dynamics | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 313677 |
| 15. Title: Educational differences, value of children and fertility outcomes in Germany. Author: Klein T; Eckhard J Source: Current Sociology. 2007 Jul;55(4):505-525. Abstract: Referring to the dependence of income and occupational opportunities on education as well as to the lower compatibility between career and parenthood for women, educational differences of family foundation rates are being interpreted as an expression of different opportunity costs by many researchers (opportunity cost hypothesis). This hypothesis is discussed and analysed in this article for the German case drawing on the German Family Survey (Familiensurvey). The analysis considers two aspects of fertility motivation: on the one hand, it refers to educational level and the perceived value of children for (potential) parents; on the other, it examines the behavioural relevance of these fertility motivations. The empirical results from national representative longitudinal data question the opportunity cost hypothesis. Neither the perception of the incompatibility between career and motherhood nor its effect on the desire to become a parent are stronger for more highly educated women than for women with a lower formal educational level. Moreover, the article provides empirical evidence that the well-known educational differentiation of family formation rates is associated with child-related utility expectations, such as stimulation and affect. (author's) Language: English Keywords: FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY | RESEARCH REPORT | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | SURVEYS | WOMEN | CHILD WORTH | PREGNANCY OUTCOMES | INCOME | OCCUPATIONS | EDUCATIONAL STATUS | ASPIRATIONS | Europe, Central | Europe | Developed Countries | Studies | Research Methodology | Sampling Studies | Demographic Factors | Population | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Pregnancy | Reproduction | Socioeconomic Factors | Human Resources | Socioeconomic Status | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 319664 |
| 16. Title: Declining fertility: Intentions, attitudes and aspirations. Author: Mitchell D; Gray E Source: Journal of Sociology. 2007;43(1):23-44. Abstract: The decline in fertility rates across Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations has been the subject of considerable debate over the past decade. The sudden decline in fertility following the post-war baby boom is viewed by some as a return to long-run trends, while others attribute the fall to decline in government financial support for families and changing social attitudes, career and lifestyle aspirations. This article explores a range of attitudes and aspirations reported by a group of childless respondents to the Negotiating the Life Course survey to establish whether these attitudes/aspirations vary with their stated fertility expectations. Using responses to 20 questions that cover gender role attitudes, the importance of children, and career and lifestyle aspirations, we find some significant differences between those who do and those who do not want to have a child. We further investigate respondents' fertility expectations three years on, and find that fertility expectations are not stable. (author's) Language: English Keywords: AUSTRALIA | RESEARCH REPORT | KAP SURVEYS | FERTILITY SURVEYS | HOUSEHOLDS | FERTILITY PREFERENCES | ATTITUDES | ASPIRATIONS | FERTILITY INCENTIVES | LIFE STYLE | VOLUNTARY CHILDLESSNESS | GENDER ISSUES | CHILD WORTH | Developed Countries | Oceania | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Fertility Measurements | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Pronatalist Policy | Population Policy | Social Policy | Policy | Political Factors | Reproductive Behavior | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 319662 |
| 17. Title: The varying value of children: Empirical results from eleven societies in Asia, Africa and Europe. Author: Nauck B; Klaus D Source: Current Sociology. 2007 Jul;55(4):487-503. Abstract: Using data from the Value of Children (VOC) replication study in 2002/3, the value of children for their parents is investigated cross-culturally for different age groups in 11 countries (South Korea, People's Republic of China, Indonesia, India, Palestine, Israel, Turkey, South Africa, Ghana, Germany and the Czech Republic). As a prerequisite, the cross-national equivalence of the VOC measurement is established in calculating the overall and the particular country-specific factorial structures. The analysis results in a three-dimensional structure of the VOC, namely comfort, social esteem and affect. This structure is replicated for every national group, and the resulting scales are of high internal consistency as revealed by the respective alpha coefficients. Additionally, the data are also tested for culture-specific response styles, for which the final VOC comparisons are controlled by means of a bias index. The findings indicate children's importance for comfort and esteem to be highest in high-fertility countries with lineage-based kinship systems and low affluence, while it is lowest in low-fertility countries with high affluence and a state-based insurance system. Affect is very high across all countries with only minor variations. (author's) Language: English Keywords: ASIA | EUROPE | AFRICA | RESEARCH REPORT | CROSS-CULTURAL COMPARISONS | CHILD | CHILD WORTH | FERTILITY | BIAS | FERTILITY MEASUREMENTS | VALUE ORIENTATION | SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS | Developing Countries | Developed Countries | Comparative Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Population Dynamics | Error Sources | Measurement | Psychological Factors | Behavior Document Number: 313678 |
| 18. Peer Reviewed Title: Unintended effects of poverty programmes on childbearing in less developed countries: Experimental evidence from Latin America. Author: Stecklov G; Winters P; Todd J; Regalia F Source: Population Studies. 2007 Jul;61(2):125-140. Abstract: Because conditional cash transfer (CCT) programmes (which make payments to poor households, conditional on their behaviour) potentially affect both household resource levels and parental preferences for quality vs. quantity of children, they may have unintended consequences for fertility. We use panel data from experimental CCT programmes in three Latin American countries to assess the unintended impact of these programmes on childbearing. Our findings, based on difference-in-difference models, show that the programme in Honduras, which inadvertently created large incentives for childbearing, may have raised fertility by between 2 and 4 percentage points. The CCT programmes in the two other countries, Mexico and Nicaragua, did not have the same unintended incentives for childbearing, and in these countries we found no net impact on fertility. Subsequent analysis examined several potential mechanisms by which fertility in Honduras may have been raised but was not able to identify a primary mechanism with the available data. (author's) Language: English Keywords: LATIN AMERICA | HONDURAS | RESEARCH REPORT | MATHEMATICAL MODEL | HOUSEHOLDS | POVERTY | PREVENTION AND CONTROL | MICROECONOMIC FACTORS | CHILD WORTH | FAMILY SIZE, DESIRED | FAMILY SIZE | PROGRAM EVALUATION | Americas | Developing Countries | Central America | Theoretical Models | Research Methodology | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Diseases | Family Characteristics | Programs | Organization and Administration Document Number: 317438 |
| 19. Title: Scarcity and Surplus: Shifting regimes of childhood in Nicaragua. Author: Tully SR Source: Childhood. 2007 Aug;14(3):355-374. Abstract: This article explores the multiple meanings of children and childhood in Nicaragua during periods of dramatic sociopolitical and economic transitions. The article compares the state's responsibilities to Nicaraguan children and their families during the decade of revolution and first year of the post-revolutionary period. It argues that each state supported a particular construction of childhood that produced a certain ideal of the Nicaraguan child. (author's) Language: English Keywords: NICARAGUA | RESEARCH REPORT | QUALITATIVE RESEARCH | MOTHERS | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | CHILDREN | POLITICAL FACTORS | ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT | WAR | PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS | PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS | ANTHROPOLOGY, CULTURAL | CHILD WORTH | PERCEPTION | Developing Countries | Central America | Latin America | Americas | Research Methodology | Parents | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Behavior | Anthropology | Social Sciences | Science | Microeconomic Factors Document Number: 319468 |
| 20. Title: The importance of social context in the formation of teenagers' value of children: social class and rural urban differences in Taiwan. Author: Yi CC; Kung HM; Chen YH; Chu J Source: [Unpublished] 2007. Presented at the Population Association of America 2007 Annual Meeting, New York, New York, March 29-31, 2007. [29] p. Abstract: This paper examines how teenagers' values may be shaped by the immediate social context with special reference to social class and rural urban background. The locus of study is Taiwan, a society with rapid social changes in the last few decades and with drastic declining birth rates in recent years. It is hypothesized that teenagers' fertility values of having children (or positive values) and not having children (or negative values), which may lead to the subsequent fertility behavior, are accounted for by the individual, familial and social contextual factors. In order to capture social change effects, sampling design deliberately resembles the first wave VOC study in Taiwan in 1970. First year senior high students from urban middle class families (with fathers having college and above educations), from urban labor class families (with fathers having high school education or below and in blue collar work) as well as from rural families (with fathers having junior high school education or below) are drawn from specified geographical areas in Taiwan. Field survey was administered from winter of 2005 to early spring of 2006. The analysis shows that three dimensions can be extracted from both positive and negative VOC, with emotional values the most important, followed by physical and social values. Due to the dominance of emotional values, no class nor rural urban differences was found. However, significant differences between classes and between rural urban samples with regard to physical and social values are indicated. Specifically, working class tends to emphasize more on the social reward and social cost of having or not having children. Middle class, instead, concerns less of the physical benefit children may produce, but the physical labor involved in child rearing is a more important reason for not wanting children. Rural urban comparisons reveal that rural samples, similar as working class samples, are more likely to report social obligations as reasons of wanting children, and less likely to state physical costs as concerns for not having children. Further analysis points out that social contextual factors, such as social network support, community attachment and media exposure, along with individual factors such as gender and individualism versus collectivism, (more so than familial factors) contribute to the formation of positive VOC among Taiwanese teenagers. Gender, negative evaluations of relationship with parents and lack of supports from friends or less communication attachment explain the negative value of not wanting children. The importance of social context is thus supported. (author's) Language: English Keywords: TAIWAN | RESEARCH REPORT | CONFERENCES AND CONGRESSES | KAP SURVEYS | RURAL POPULATION | URBAN POPULATION | ADOLESCENTS | SOCIAL NETWORKS | CHILD WORTH | SOCIAL CLASS | HUMAN GEOGRAPHY | VALUE ORIENTATION | EMOTIONS | SEX FACTORS | PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT | Asia, Eastern | Asia | Developed Countries | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Youth | Age Factors | Friends and Relatives | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Socioeconomic Status | Socioeconomic Factors | Geography | Social Sciences | Science | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Child Rearing Document Number: 317364 |
| 21. Peer Reviewed Title: Poverty and fertility dynamics: a comparative analysis. Author: Aassve A; Engelhardt H; Francavilla F; Kedir A; Kim J Source: Population Review. 2006;45(2):1-23. Abstract: In this paper we use unique longitudinal data sources to study the relationship between poverty and fertility at household level in Albania, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Vietnam. These countries differ greatly in their history, average income, social structure, economic institutions and demographic features. We find that there is a substantial difference in the relative importance of the determinants of poverty dynamics and fertility; the persistence of high levels of fertility and poverty in Ethiopia is driven by lack of economic growth, high demand of children and poor access to family planning; education is a crucial element in reducing poverty and fertility, as is clear from Vietnam, Indonesia and Albania. (author's) Language: English Keywords: ALBANIA | INDONESIA | ETHIOPIA | VIETNAM | RESEARCH REPORT | LONGITUDINAL STUDIES | SURVEYS | HOUSEHOLDS | POVERTY | FERTILITY CHANGES | FAMILY PLANNING | EDUCATIONAL STATUS | CHILD WORTH | CHILD LABOR | Developing Countries | Europe, Southeastern | Europe | Asia, Southeastern | Asia | Africa, Eastern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Studies | Research Methodology | Sampling Studies | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Fertility | Population Dynamics | Demographic Factors | Population | Socioeconomic Status | Microeconomic Factors | Labor Force | Human Resources Document Number: 309949 |
| 22. Title: Risk, network quality, and family structure: child fostering decisions in Burkina Faso. Author: Akresh R Source: [Unpublished] 2006. Presented at the Population Association of America, 2006 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California, March 30 - April 1, 2006. 39 p. Abstract: Researchers often assume household structure is exogenous, but child fostering, the institution in which parents send their biological children to live with another family, is widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and provides evidence against this assumption. Using data I collected in Burkina Faso, I analyze a household's decision to adjust its size and composition through fostering. A household fosters children as a risk-coping mechanism in response to exogenous income shocks, if it has a good social network, and to satisfy labor demands within the household. Increases of one standard deviation in a household's agricultural shock, percentage of good network members, or number of older girls increase the probability of sending a child above the current fostering level by 29.1, 30.0, and 34.5 percent, respectively. Testing whether factors influencing the sending decision have an opposite impact on the receiving decision leads to a rejection of the symmetric, theoretical model for child fostering. (author's) Language: English Keywords: BURKINA FASO | RESEARCH REPORT | FAMILY RESEARCH | FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD | CHILDREN | FOSTERING | FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS | DECISION MAKING | SOCIAL NETWORKS | MICROECONOMIC FACTORS | CHILD WORTH | INCOME | Developing Countries | Africa, Western | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Sociocultural Factors | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Child Rearing | Behavior | Friends and Relatives | Economic Factors | Socioeconomic Factors Document Number: 317247 |
| 23. Peer Reviewed Title: Does prenatal care increase access to child immunization? Gender bias among children in India. Author: Choi JY; Lee SH Source: Social Science and Medicine. 2006 Jul;63(1):107-117. Abstract: Prenatal care appears to serve as a trigger in increasing the chances for access to subsequent health care services. Although several previous studies have investigated this connection, none have focused specifically on how parents' behavior differs before and after learning the gender of their babies. Investigating parents' behavioral changes after the child's birth provides a quasi-natural experiment with which to test the gender discrimination hypothesis. This issue was examined here, using a rich family health survey data set from India. We find evidence for the triggering effect of prenatal care on immunization only among rural boys, but we find no compelling evidence for this effect among other sub-samples. This finding suggests two things, which are not mutually exclusive. One is that the information spillover from prenatal care has a much larger impact in rural areas, where alternative sources of information are scarce, compared with urban areas. The other is that the sex of a child is a critical factor in producing different levels of health care behavior in rural areas, where sons are favored and more valued than in urban areas. (author's) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | HEALTH SURVEYS | CHILDREN | PARENTS | ANTENATAL CARE | IMMUNIZATION | PROGRAM ACCESSIBILITY | SEX PREFERENCE | UTILIZATION OF HEALTH CARE | SEX FACTORS | CHILD WORTH | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Health | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Maternal Health Services | Maternal-Child Health Services | Primary Health Care | Health Services | Delivery of Health Care | Program Evaluation | Programs | Organization and Administration | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors Document Number: 299634 |
| 24. Title: Changing perceptions of the value of daughters and girls' education among the Isoko of Nigeria. Author: Edewor PA Source: African Population Studies/Etude de la Population Africaine. 2006;21(1):55-70. Abstract: This paper examines the changes in parents' perception on the value of daughters and their education. It utilizes information generated from Focus Group Discussions in two urban and four rural Isoko communities in Delta State, southern Nigeria. Eight Focus Groups were constituted in each of the towns and villages (four for men and four for women). The groups were homogeneous in terms of sex, age and educational level. It is observed that parents' perception on the value of daughters is changing because adult daughters have been found to be more caring and more supportive of aged parents than adult sons. Consequently, parents now consider the education of daughters as very rewarding since educated daughters become better equipped to provide support to their parents. The changing attitudinal disposition towards girls' education has implication for the enhancement of women's status and fertility decline. (author's) Language: English Keywords: NIGERIA | RESEARCH REPORT | FOCUS GROUPS | DAUGHTERS | WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT | PARENTS | OLDER ADULTS | CHILD WORTH | PERCEPTION | EDUCATION | INTERGENERATIONAL TRANSFERS | ATTITUDES | FERTILITY DECLINE | Developing Countries | Africa, Western | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Data Collection | Research Methodology | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Economic Development | Economic Factors | Adults | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Microeconomic Factors | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Fertility Changes | Fertility | Population Dynamics Document Number: 319518 |
| 25. Title: Son preference and daughter neglect in India. What happens to living girls? Author: Pande R; Malhotra A Source: Washington, D.C., International Center for Research on Women [ICRW], 2006. [6] p. Abstract: Son preference in India is a well-documented phenomenon, and its implications for skewed sex ratios, female feticide and higher child mortality rates for girls have drawn research and policy attention. Less well researched are the underlying determinants of son preference as an ideology and its implications for living girls. Rohini Pande, Sc.D., at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) has used data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-1) to address these three important questions: (1) What does a culture of son preference mean for the health and care of girls who are born and survive infancy? (2) How strong is the ideology of son preference in India? (3) What factors exacerbate or diminish its strength? This brief highlights the findings from ICRW's study addressing these questions. It also outlines the important implications of these findings for the policy and research agenda on gender discrimination against girls. (excerpt) Language: English Keywords: INDIA | RESEARCH REPORT | SAMPLING STUDIES | HEALTH SURVEYS | MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS | SEX PREFERENCE | SONS | DAUGHTERS | CHILD WORTH | SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION | FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS | Developing Countries | Asia, Southern | Asia | Studies | Research Methodology | Health | Data Analysis | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Family Relationships | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Social Problems Document Number: 319708 |
| 26. Title: Counting women's labor: a reanalysis of children's net production in Mead Cain's Bangladeshi village. Author: Sullivan R; Lee RD; Kramer KL Source: [Unpublished] 2006. Presented at the Population Association of America, 2006 Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, California, March 30 - April 1, 2006. 35 p. Abstract: Due to the inherent difficulties in valuing women's and children's labor in pre-industrial economies, their time inputs are frequently excluded from analyses of net production. This additionally leads to underestimation of consumption costs, which do not reflect the value of time inputs. As a result, not only is the net production of females understated, but that of men is overstated. Here we use Mead Cain's seminal (1977) study of children's economic contributions in a Bangladeshi village to illustrate these points. We combine Cain's data on female hours of work with unusual data on the productivity of males and females by age in a variety of agricultural and domestic tasks, from a Maya village practicing extensive subsistence agriculture. Incorporating the value of female labor raises the estimated age at which boys produce as much daily as they consume by three years, from 9 to 12 (crossover age), and raises the age at which their cumulative production equals their cumulative consumption to between 30 and 50 (breakeven age). Girls crossover 1.5 years earlier, at 11.5, and breakeven substantially earlier, in their mid-20s. On average, children's net cost to their parents up to their age at marriage is three years of adult consumption for both boys and girls. When female labor is taken into account, the Bangladeshi children in Cain's (1977) analysis are found to be expensive to their parents, although their economic contributions offset much of their cost. We believe these methods could be usefully applied in other contexts. (author's) Language: English Keywords: BANGLADESH | RESEARCH REPORT | DATA ANALYSIS | CHILDREN | WOMEN | RURAL POPULATION | AGRICULTURAL WORKERS | CHILD WORTH | MICROECONOMIC FACTORS | HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION | PRODUCTION | SEX FACTORS | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Research Methodology | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Labor Force | Human Resources | Economic Factors | Macroeconomic Factors Document Number: 317246 |
| 27. Title: Family size, economics and child gender preference: a case study in the Nyeri district of Kenya. Author: Kiriti TW; Tisdell C Source: International Journal of Social Economics. 2005;32(6):492-509. Abstract: Purpose The objective is to determine the influence of economic and social/cultural factors on family size and child gender preferences in rural Kenya and to draw public policy implications from the results. This is an important matter because the fertility rate in Kenya is high; higher than in most developing countries. It is especially high in rural areas. This may be an impediment to Kenyas development. Design/methodology/approach First relevant economic literature is reviewed to identify factors that economists and others claim are important influences on family size. Then follows a case study of families in the Nyeri district of Kenya. Data are obtained from a random sample of households in this district using a semi-structured questionnaire in direct interviews. The survey results are summarised and then analysed using Tobit analysis and least squares regression. Findings Both economic and social/cultural factors are found to be important influences on family size. For example, preference for male children has an important positive influence on family size in the Nyeri district. Women are found to prefer male offspring to daughters, possibly because they are afraid of being disinherited if they do not produce a male heir for their husbands. Research limitations/implications Support for the conclusions reached could be strengthened or further assessed by increasing the sample size in the Nyeri district and be conducting similar surveys in other rural districts of Kenya. Practical implications Introducing social security systems in Kenya to assist the elderly and the infirm would reduce the need for Kenyan women to have many children as security and women should be granted greater inheritance rights, especially to land. Furthermore, education of women should be promoted as a way to reduce family size. Originality/value This paper reinforces the view that both economic and social/cultural factors must be considered simultaneously when examining determinants of the number of children in a family and child gender preference. (author's) Language: English Keywords: KENYA | RURAL AREAS | RESEARCH REPORT | CASE STUDIES | WOMEN | FAMILY SIZE | ECONOMIC FACTORS | SEX PREFERENCE | GENDER ISSUES | INEQUALITIES | EDUCATION | CHILD WORTH | Developing Countries | Africa, Eastern | Africa, Sub Saharan | Africa | Geographic Factors | Population | Studies | Research Methodology | Demographic Factors | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Socioeconomic Factors | Microeconomic Factors Document Number: 291637 |
| 28. Title: Does gender preference affect contraceptive use behavior in northern Pakistan? Author: Mussawar S; Maan AA; Cheema AM Source: Gender and Behaviour. 2005 Jun;3:281-295. Abstract: The study portrays the influence of gender preference on contraceptive use behavior in Peshawar, Pakistan. A total of 613 married male respondents (15-49 years old) in five different bazaars were selected out of total fifteen bazaars through cluster sampling procedure. Both dependent (contraceptive use behavior) and independent (gender preference) variables were devised while using semantic and likert scales respectively. Dependent variable was indexed and gamma statistics was adopted for carrying out bi-variate and multi variate analysis. Majority of the respondents was found moderately consistent of contraceptive use behavior and had a clear concept of family planning. Most of the respondents belonged to joint family system; however, raising a girl was negatively and significantly (P<0.05) influenced by nuclear family system and illiterate respondents. Social and cultural raising of a girl was positively and significantly (p<0.05) influenced by literate respondents Certain recommendations like, equal status for daughters to avoid uncontrolled family size, redress of family system with respect to girls raising portraying a girl an economic asset in the form of paid job and convincing of all income group for discouragement of preferential gender treatments for policy implementations. (author's) Language: English Keywords: PAKISTAN | RESEARCH REPORT | FAMILY PLANNING SURVEYS | MEN | CURRENTLY MARRIED | NUCLEAR FAMILY | EXTENDED FAMILY | SEX PREFERENCE | SONS | CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE | CHILD WORTH | LITERACY | Asia, Southern | Asia | Developing Countries | Family Planning | Demographic Factors | Population | Marital Status | Nuptiality | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Family Relationships | Contraception | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Educational Status | Socioeconomic Status | Socioeconomic Factors Document Number: 318759 |
| 29. Title: Adolescent gender differences in mattering and wellness. Author: Rayle AD Source: Journal of Adolescence. 2005 Dec;28(6):753-763. Abstract: Mattering to others has been associated with psychosocial well-being and overall wellness. The relationship of perceived interpersonal and general mattering to overall wellness was studied with a sample of 462 high school students (229 males and 233 females). The two measures of perceived mattering (the Mattering to Others Questionnaire and the General Mattering Scale) were significantly but modestly interrelated (r = .29). Both scales were significantly correlated with overall scores on the Wellness Evaluation of Life Style--Teenage form. Females perceived they matter to their families, and in general, more than do males, and mattering significantly predicted wellness for females. (author's) Language: English Keywords: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | RESEARCH REPORT | KAP SURVEYS | COMPARATIVE STUDIES | ADOLESCENTS | FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLD | SEX FACTORS | PSYCHOSOCIAL FACTORS | PERCEPTION | CHILD WORTH | FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS | LIFE STYLE | North America | Americas | Developed Countries | Surveys | Sampling Studies | Studies | Research Methodology | Youth | Age Factors | Population Characteristics | Demographic Factors | Population | Behavior | Psychological Factors | Microeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Family Characteristics Document Number: 294167 |
| 30. Title: Son preference and its consequences (A review). Author: Shah M Source: Gender and Behaviour. 2005 Jun;3:269-280. Abstract: Son preference is one of the oldest issues in most of the societies with special reference to sons being getting preferential treatment over daughters in South Asia and developing countries. Women usually didn't get proper regard in their husbands' families until and unless they had a son in most of the societies. Numerous factors affecting son preference were socio-economic setup of the society, cultural beliefs, literacy, lesser opportunities for women jobs, cultural restrictions on women, family size, males' dominance and their validity as earning heads of the households and intact/shared relations with the family as compared to daughters who would otherwise leave their families soon after getting married. Daughter's birth in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan was considered as an economic liability because of the dowry system and the higher incurring cost on their weddings. Son preference was found to be stronger in areas where daughters were more expensive to marry owing to the dowry system. Cultural preference for sons was evident from that fact that in Hindu's traditions, only sons could pray for and release the souls of their dead parents and only males could perform birth, death and marriage rituals. Although, son preference was stronger, some 98% of the women in Bangladesh wanted to have at least one daughter realizing the importance of women in a house for household activities and perpetuation of generation. A common perception of son's preference on daughter was the ascribed ability of sons; to contribute more to family income, provide adequate support to parents in old age; carry on family name and impose minimal financial burdens on their parents. Women's employment problems and male inheritance also favored son preference in Taiwan. Excessive infant mortality in females was due to discrimination against females in the allocation of food and health care within the household. Aside from male's attitude towards son preference, women their-self in most of the south Asian countries preferred sons to daughters. In addition, women were having few opportunities to generate income and invest household resources in female children as compared to males, thereby further widening the chances for son preference. Preferential son treatment may lead to larger family size and higher fertility if there is increased incidence of female births. Emphasis on women education and employment, giving them due status in the society and creating awareness among the people to treat son and daughter alike would be better options to eliminate frustration, reduce fertility rate and limit family size. (author's) Language: English Keywords: ASIA, SOUTHERN | LITERATURE REVIEW | PARENTS | SEX PREFERENCE | SONS | GENDER ISSUES | CULTURE | INEQUALITIES | DOWRY | CHILD WORTH | Asia | Developing Countries | Family Relationships | Family Characteristics | Family and Household | Sociocultural Factors | Value Orientation | Psychological Factors | Behavior | Socioeconomic Factors | Economic Factors | Nuptiality | Demographic Factors | Population | Microeconomic Factors Document Number: 318758 |
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