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Studying the dynamics of timing and spacing of births is important for several reasons including an understanding of differentials in completed family size and childhood mortality. In this paper, we test whether there are intrinsic socio-cultural factors that affect the transition between successive births in Ghana. Using data from the 1998 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, it was found that although the socio-cultural factors were mediated by socio-economic and demographic factors, there was the persistence of ethnic differences. For instance, at all durations, Ewe and Mole-Dagbani wornen were found to have longer birth intervals than Akan women. These differences have been explained through ethnic differences in norms and practices such as lineage patterns, duration of post-partum abstinence and amenorrhoea. Besides the socioeconomic and socio-cultural factors, other consistently significant covariates were the length of the preceding birth interval, age at first birth, birth cohorts and the survival status of the index child.

En s'appuyant sur les données du Fichier de mierodonnées à grande diffusion (FMGD) de 1996 sur les individus, cet article examine L'activité sur le marché du travail des femmes au Canada en mettant L'accent sur les effets du statut familial et de la structure du ménage pour déterminer si ces facteurs ont des réponses élastiques similaires chez les femmes autochtones et non autochtones. Nous avons trouvé que cette activité varie largement en fonction du statut d'autochtone. En général, les Indiens de plein droit avaient moms de chances de trouver un emploi que les autres autochtones ou les non‐autochtones. Alors que le niveau d'instruction, la présence d'enfants mineurs et la monoparentalité semblaient associés à une probabilité plus basse d'emploi, des différences significatives en fonction du statut d'autochtone ont été décelées. Les répercussions sur Pemploi du niveau d'instruction se sont révélées plus fortes chez les Indiens de plein droit.Using data from the 1996 Public Use Microdata File (PUMF) on individuals, this paper examines labour force activity of women in Canada, focussing on the effects of familial status and household structure to determine whether these factors have similar elasticities among Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal women. We found that labour force activity varied greatly by Aboriginal Status. In general, Registered Indians were less likely to be employed but more likely to be unemployed than Other Aboriginals and non‐Aboriginals. While lower educational attainment, presence of minor children and lone parenthood were found to be associated with a lower likelihood of being employed, significant differences by Aboriginal Status were found. The effect of educational attainment on employment was found to be higher among Registered Indians.

SummaryAlthough studies have examined religious differences in fertility in sub-Saharan Africa, it is argued in this paper that using women-only sample data may be conceptually problematic in patriarchal African societies where the influence of husbands on their wives' reproductive preferences is paramount. The present study contributes to this discourse by examining the relationship between religion and fertility behaviour using matched-couple data from Ghana. Guided by the 'religious values' and 'characteristics' hypotheses, the results indicate significant religious differences in fertility. Compared with Traditionalists, Christians and Muslims have lower fertility, albeit these differences diminish significantly after controlling for socioeconomic variables. The impact of wife's religious denomination on marital fertility is attenuated after controlling for husband's religious affiliation. Also, fertility was found to be higher if couples belong to the same faith compared with those of different faiths.

The birth-interval approach to the study of fertility reflects two aspects of the process of reproduction: (1) the quantum of fertility as indicated by the proportion of women who move to the next higher parity; and (2) the tempo of fertility, as measured by the time it takes to make the transition for those women who continue reproduction. In most previous empirical analyses, the focus has been on the quantum of fertility using proportional hazard models for the intensity of birth. That is, the rates at which children are born to a defined set of women within a specified unit of time is modelled as a function of covariates such that the effect of covariates is to increase or decrease such intensity relative to that of a reference category. This paper focuses on the tempo of fertility where covariates act multiplicatively on the duration itself so that their effect is to accelerate or decelerate the transition time between successive births relative to that of a reference category. We utilize the flexibility of a family of parametric duration models to select a statistically appropriate model for a given birth interval using data from rural China. The results show that the distributional shape of birth intervals depends on the birth order of the index child and that inferences concerning covariate effects on birth intervals are sensitive to model choice. The flexible parametric approach suggested in this paper provides a statistically well grounded, theoretically appropriate, and empirically evident alternative to the usually untenable quantum-based proportional hazards modelling of birth interval data.

SummaryAlthough attitudes to premarital sex may be influenced by several factors, the importance of religion to that discourse cannot be underestimated. By providing standards to judge and guide behaviour, religion provides a social control function such that religious persons are expected to act in ways that conform to certain norms. This study investigated the interconnectedness of several dimensions of religion and premarital sexual attitudes among young people in the informal settlements of Nairobi, Kenya. Using reference group as the theoretical base, it was found that those affiliated with Pentecostal/Evangelical faiths had more conservative attitudes towards premarital sex than those of other Christian faiths. Additionally, while a high level of religiosity was found to associate with more conservative views on premarital sex, the effect was more pronounced among Pentecostal groups. The findings are discussed in relation to programmes on adolescent sexuality.

SummaryAlthough a growing body of research has linked religious involvement with HIV/AIDS protective behaviour in Africa, the focus has mainly been on women. Given the patriarchal nature of African culture, this paper argues for the inclusion of men, a critical group whose sexual behaviours have increasingly been linked to the spread and sustenance of the virus in the region. Drawing on different theoretical discourses and using data from the 2003 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, this paper examines how religious affiliation influences men's risky sexual behaviours. While the results from the bivariate analysis suggested that Muslims and Traditionalists were significantly less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviour compared with Christians, those differences disappeared once socioeconomic variables were controlled, rendering support for the selectivity thesis. This finding could benefit programmatic and policy formulation regarding AIDS prevention in Ghana.