Shelley Clark
Biographic Data
| ID | 3583654 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Shelley Clark |
| GIVEN NAMES | Shelley |
| FAMILY NAME | Clark |
| SIGNATURE | CLARK S |
| AFFILIATIONS | McGill University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6783-8743 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 536 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 50 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2000 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
From Birth to Death
High levels of premarital childbearing in Africa have spurred considerable interest in its consequences for women. Premarital childbearing corresponds with women's poor health, as well as their subsequent life course outcomes, including their marriage timing and quality. However, this work has not considered the survival of women's premaritally born children, leaving unclear what happens to unmarried mothers when their children do not survive. In…
Sterilization, Infecundity, and Reproductive Autonomy in Rural, Suburban, and Urban America
Objective Rural women are significantly more likely than urban women to be sterilized. This study aims to understand why rural women depend so heavily on this method of fertility control, whether they are more likely than suburban and urban women to desire sterilization reversal, and the impact of female sterilization on rural women's ability to achieve their fertility goals. Methods Data from 10,081 sexually active women aged 15 to 49, who parti…
Unexpected Changes in Rural Families
Objective To examine whether family change in rural America is widening the rural–urban child poverty gap and increasing inequalities between children raised in married parent families and those raised in other family types. Background Mounting evidence of falling marriage rates across rural areas has led to concerns that child poverty rates have increased. However, new methods of measuring poverty and recent increases in Child Tax Credits challe…
Charting New Courses to Adulthood in the Global South
Growing up in an increasingly global world offers the youth of today unprecedented opportunities and novel challenges. This paper uses data from 47 countries to examine recent trends in how young men and women in the Global South navigate five key transitions to adulthood. Despite some similarities, we find little evidence of convergence across or within regions with respect to finishing school, becoming sexually active, forming a union, having a…
Are Rural Areas Holdouts in the Second Demographic Transition? Evidence From Canada and the United States
A central premise of the first demographic transition theory is that demographic change would occur more slowly in rural than urban areas. Few studies, however, have investigated whether rural areas remain holdouts during the second demographic transition. To address this gap, this study (1) examines trends among rural and urban families in Canada and the United States over a 30-year period and (2) determines whether compositional differences in …
Single Motherhood and Stress in a Kenyan Slum
This study examines factors underlying single mothers' stress in an African slum. Using survey data from 1,221 mothers in a Kenyan informal settlement, this study examines 1) whether single mothers experience more stress due to their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics; 2) whether financial and child care support from kin offsets limited support from fathers; and 3) whether variation in the type and source of support explains stress dif…
Early Family Formation, Selective Migration, and Childhood Conditions in Rural America☆
Thirty years ago, rural Americans got married and had children at significantly younger ages than urban Americans. More recent data indicate that these differences persist today, but our understanding of what drives these differences remains limited. To address this gap, we (1) generate Kaplan-Meier estimates of the ages of the first marriage, first union, and first birth among those who lived in rural and urban areas in 2019, (2) evaluate the ex…
Growing Up in Rural America
Scholars often attribute these sentiments to widespread economic distress found in many rural communities Some rural areas have experienced deep poverty persisting across generations
Growing Up in Rural America
Scholars often attribute these sentiments to widespread economic distress found in many rural communities Some rural areas have experienced deep poverty persisting across generations
One hand does not bring up a child
Childrearing in sub-Saharan Africa is often viewed as collaborative, where children benefit from support from kin. For single mothers living in informal settlements, kin networks may be highly dispersed and offer little day-to-day childrearing support, but
Credit Card Debt and the Provision of Financial Support to Kin in the US
Women's Marital Experiences Following Premarital Fertility in Sub‐Saharan Africa
Objective The aim of the study was to offer a descriptive overview of the stability and quality of marriages formed by women following premarital fertility in contemporary sub‐Saharan Africa. Background Premarital sex and fertility rates are high in many sub‐Saharan African countries, yet we know little about how premarital childbirth, or even premarital conception, corresponds with women's subsequent marital outcomes. For instance, it is unknown…
A life course perspective on BMI in rural America
Single mothers coping with food insecurity in a Nairobi slum
With high urbanisation rates, cities in sub-Saharan Africa are contending with food insecurity. Urban studies scholars have approached the issue mainly from the perspective of food deserts. We adapt Sen’s ‘resource bundles’ and Watts and Bohles’s ‘space of vulnerability’ concepts to examine food insecurity as a function of both tangible and intangible resources. Moreover, we also interrogate the role of kin in strengthening safety nets for the ur…
Child Marriage in Canada
Child marriage, defined as formal or informal marriage before the age of 18, is a globally recognized indicator of gender inequality. Canada has placed itself at the forefront of global efforts to end child marriage as part of its commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Despite these global aspirations, child marriage remains legal throughout Canada. Data from vital statistics agencies and recent censuses indicate that chi…
The Psychological Benefits of Marriage and Children in Rural Malawi
Despite an extensive literature on the psychological rewards of marriage and children in high‐income countries, research on these relationships in low‐income countries remains limited. This paper draws on data from 4,133 adult women and men interviewed in the Malawi Longitudinal Study of Families and Health to examine how marital status, categorized as never, formerly, monogamously, and polygynously married, and number of children are associated …
The Impact of Childcare on Poor Urban Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa
Despite evidence from other regions, researchers and policy-makers remain skeptical that women’s disproportionate childcare responsibilities act as a significant barrier to women’s economic empowerment in Africa. This randomized control trial study in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, demonstrates that limited access to affordable early childcare inhibits poor urban women’s participation in paid work. Women who were offered vouchers for s…
Balancing paid work and child care in a slum of Nairobi, Kenya
As a growing number of women across sub-Saharan Africa engage in paid work, they face the challenge of finding suitable child care arrangements. Drawing on survey data from over 1,200 mothers and in-depth interviews with 31 of these women, we find that mothers living in a slum of Nairobi, Kenya, employ three main strategies to balance their work and child care responsibilities: (1) combine work and child care, (2) rely on kin and neighbours, or (…
Distance or location? How the geographic distribution of kin networks shapes support given to single mothers in urban Kenya
With increasing urbanisation and mobility underway across sub-Saharan Africa, kin groups are becoming spatially dispersed. The extent of support provided by kin to one another is likely to vary with this geospatial positioning. Because most data collection is restricted to the co-residential household, we have little knowledge of the geospatial dimensions of kin groups of which a large part is beyond household boundaries, and even less insight in…
Measuring extended families over time in informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya
BACKGROUND: Researchers have increasingly turned to longitudinal data to understand how the family environment of children changes over time and how this change affects their well-being. While the value of such efforts is clear, the inherent challenges of collecting robust data over time may limit or bias our understanding of family complexity. OBJECTIVE: Drawing on data from an exploratory study on kinship structure and support for low income si…
Gendered Emotional Support and Women's Well-Being in a Low-Income Urban African Setting
In most contexts, emotional support is crucial for the well-being of low-income single women and their children. Support from women may be especially important for single mothers because of precarious ties to their children's fathers, the prevalence of extended matrifocal living arrangements, and gendered norms that place men as providers of financial rather than emotional support. However, in contexts marked by economic insecurity, spatial dispe…
Women's Marriage Behavior Following a Premarital Birth in Sub-Saharan Africa
This study examines the relationship between premarital childbearing and the timing of women's entry into their first marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. The study shows that African women who have a premarital birth generally experience later transitions to marriage than do their childless peers. Although the birth of a child precipitates a quicker transition to marriage initially, unmarried mothers, on average, marry at older ages than their childl…
Kin support and child health
Variation in the link between parental divorce and children’s health disadvantage in low and high divorce settings
Like in other world regions, children with divorced parents in sub-Saharan Africa experience significant heath disadvantages relative to their peers with married parents. Preliminary evidence suggests this disadvantage may not be uniform across the subcontinent's diverse settings. Research from other world regions shows that the childhood health consequences of divorce vary across different contexts. Specifically, we hypothesize that the childhoo…
Recent Trends in Premarital Fertility across Sub‐Saharan Africa
The rising age of first marriage across sub‐Saharan Africa over the past 25 years has led many scholars to predict a concurrent increase in premarital childbearing. We examine whether this anticipated increase has materialized using data from 27 countries. Our results reveal considerable heterogeneity. Although levels of premarital fertility have risen by up to 13 percent in recent years in some African countries, other countries have experienced…
Son preference and sex composition of children
Although the effect of son preference on sex composition of children ever born is undetectable in national-level estimates that aggregate across all families, this article provides empirical evidence from India that son preference has two pronounced and predictable family-level effects on the sex composition of children ever born. First, data from India show that smaller families have a significantly higher proportion of sons than larger families…
Early Marriage and HIV Risks in Sub‐Saharan Africa
This article examines the effects of girls' early marriage on their risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. By comparing several underlying HIV risk factors, it explores the counterintuitive finding that married adolescent girls in urban centers in Kenya and Zambia have higher rates of HIV infection than do sexually active unmarried girls. In both countries, we find that early marriage increases coital frequency, decreases condom use, and virtually eliminate…
Divorce in sub-Saharan Africa
Divorce is one of the main drivers of family instability in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from 101 Demographic and Health Surveys and novel estimation techniques, we 1) provide the first systematic estimates of divorce across 33 countries; 2) assess trends in divorce in 20 countries; and 3) investigate the key country-level correlates of divorce both across and within countries. Despite considerable geographic variation, our estimates show that …
Who Helps Single Mothers in Nairobi? The Role of Kin Support
Single mothers often turn to their extended kin for financial assistance and to help with child care. Such support may be especially important in areas of high poverty and poor environmental conditions. Using novel kinship data, this article assesses the extent of support given by more than 3,000 relatives to 462 single mothers living in a slum area of Nairobi, Kenya. Contrary to stereotypes about families in sub-Saharan Africa, the active kin ne…
Marital Aspirations, Sexual Behaviors, and HIV/Aids in Rural Malawi
We explore how marital aspirations are related to the sexual behaviors of adolescents and young adults in Malawi, where HIV/AIDS prevalence among adults exceeds 10%. We also consider whether the specter of AIDS is shaping ideals about marriage. By combining survey data (N = 1,087) and in-depth interviews (N = 133) with young Malawians from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, we show that looking for and finding a suitable spouse a…
Single Motherhood and Child Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa
Single motherhood in sub-Saharan Africa has received surprisingly little attention, although it is widespread and has critical implications for children’s well-being. Using survival analysis techniques, we estimate the probability of becoming a single mother over women’s life course and investigate the relationship between single motherhood and child mortality in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Although a mere 5 % of women in Ethiopia have a …
Recent Trends in Premarital Fertility across Sub‐Saharan Africa
The rising age of first marriage across sub‐Saharan Africa over the past 25 years has led many scholars to predict a concurrent increase in premarital childbearing. We examine whether this anticipated increase has materialized using data from 27 countries. Our results reveal considerable heterogeneity. Although levels of premarital fertility have risen by up to 13 percent in recent years in some African countries, other countries have experienced…
The Relationship History Calendar
Most survey data on sexual activities are obtained via face-to-face interviews, which are prone to misreporting of socially unacceptable behaviors. Demographers have developed various private response methods to minimize social desirability bias and improve the quality of reporting; however, these methods often limit the complexity of information collected. We designed a life history calendar—the Relationship History Calendar (RHC)—to increase th…
Has Child Marriage Declined in sub-Saharan Africa? An Analysis of Trends in 31 Countries
CHILD MARRIAGE, defined by the United Nations as marriage before the age of 18, disproportionately affects girls and hinders progress toward development and public health goals.The magnitude of the threat child marriage poses to global development is highlighted by the fact that its elimination is one of the specific targets for achieving goal number five of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals: gender equality and the empowerment of all women …
Moving beyond the household
Across settings, it has been shown that the co-residential household is an insufficient measure of family structure and support. However, it continues to be the primary means of population data collection. To address this problem, we developed a new instrument, the Kinship Support Tree (KST), to collect kinship structure and support data on co-residential and non-residential kin and tested it on a sample of 462 single mothers and their children i…
Family Ties and Young Fathers' Engagement in Cape Town, South Africa
Young South African fathers are often engaged in their children's lives even if they do not live together. Using longitudinal data on children (n = 1,209) from the Cape Town area, the authors show that although only 26% of young fathers live with their children, 66% of nonresidential fathers maintain regular contact, and 61% provide financial support. The father-child relationship, however, is embedded in broader family ties. The type of father-m…
Relationship Transitions Among Youth in Urban Kenya
The process of courtship and marriage in sub-Saharan Africa has changed remarkably. These changes, however, have received scant attention because recent research has focused on adolescent relationships' links to HIV/AIDS rather than to marriage. Drawing on detailed reports of 1,365 romantic and sexual partnerships from youths in Kisumu, Kenya, we found that marital aspirations, school enrollment, emotional attraction, pregnancy, and independence …
Distance or location? How the geographic distribution of kin networks shapes support given to single mothers in urban Kenya
With increasing urbanisation and mobility underway across sub-Saharan Africa, kin groups are becoming spatially dispersed. The extent of support provided by kin to one another is likely to vary with this geospatial positioning. Because most data collection is restricted to the co-residential household, we have little knowledge of the geospatial dimensions of kin groups of which a large part is beyond household boundaries, and even less insight in…
One hand does not bring up a child
Childrearing in sub-Saharan Africa is often viewed as collaborative, where children benefit from support from kin. For single mothers living in informal settlements, kin networks may be highly dispersed and offer little day-to-day childrearing support, but
Women's Marriage Behavior Following a Premarital Birth in Sub-Saharan Africa
This study examines the relationship between premarital childbearing and the timing of women's entry into their first marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. The study shows that African women who have a premarital birth generally experience later transitions to marriage than do their childless peers. Although the birth of a child precipitates a quicker transition to marriage initially, unmarried mothers, on average, marry at older ages than their childl…
Dating, Sex, and Schooling in Urban Kenya
Completion of secondary school is increasingly viewed as a desirable life goal for young men and women in urban Kenya. Yet achieving this goal often conflicts with other key transitions to adulthood, such as becoming sexually active, marrying, having children, and finding employment. Drawing upon exceptionally rich life‐history calendar data from young people in Kisumu, Kenya, we explore how the timing and sequencing of key transitions affects th…
Kin support and child health
Impact of conjugal separation on women's income in Canada
After conjugal unions end, women frequently experience sharp declines in their economic status. The severity of this decline may depend on whether they were in a marital or a cohabiting union and may change over time
Pragmatic tradition or romantic aspiration? The causes of impulsive marriage and early divorce among women in rural Malawi
Despite increased attention to shifting union-formation processes, there is little consensus as to which is more stable, modern unions or traditional marriages. This is especially relevant in Malawi, where divorce is common
Transitions to adulthood in urban Kenya
Migration is often intrinsically tied to key adolescent transitions in sub-Saharan Africa. However, while many adolescents move in order to improve their life trajectories, migration may also coincide with new challenges and considerable disruption of family support
The Impact of Childcare on Poor Urban Women’s Economic Empowerment in Africa
Despite evidence from other regions, researchers and policy-makers remain skeptical that women’s disproportionate childcare responsibilities act as a significant barrier to women’s economic empowerment in Africa. This randomized control trial study in an informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya, demonstrates that limited access to affordable early childcare inhibits poor urban women’s participation in paid work. Women who were offered vouchers for s…
Instability in Parent–Child Coresidence and Adolescent Development in Urban South Africa
There is widespread recognition of the importance of family stability for child development. South Africa presents an interesting context in which to study the consequences of family instability because of the traditionally fluid nature of household composition due to labor migration, child fostering, and non‐marital fertility. More recently, the HIV pandemic has added another source of instability. Within South Africa, however, patterns of insta…
Communities, Opportunities, and Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa
In 2002, the prevalence of HIV among South African clinic attendees under the age of 20 was 15 percent, suggesting a correspondingly high level of unprotected sex and risky sexual behavior. Past research focused on the dynamics of individuals’ and partners’ sexual decisionmaking without accounting for the larger context in which such decisions are made. Do adolescents’ opportunities for schooling, work, and other community activities make a diffe…
The effect of marriage and HIV risks on condom use acceptability in rural Malawi
Early Family Formation, Selective Migration, and Childhood Conditions in Rural America☆
Thirty years ago, rural Americans got married and had children at significantly younger ages than urban Americans. More recent data indicate that these differences persist today, but our understanding of what drives these differences remains limited. To address this gap, we (1) generate Kaplan-Meier estimates of the ages of the first marriage, first union, and first birth among those who lived in rural and urban areas in 2019, (2) evaluate the ex…
Son preference and sex composition of children
Although the effect of son preference on sex composition of children ever born is undetectable in national-level estimates that aggregate across all families, this article provides empirical evidence from India that son preference has two pronounced and predictable family-level effects on the sex composition of children ever born. First, data from India show that smaller families have a significantly higher proportion of sons than larger families…
Early Marriage and HIV Risks in Sub‐Saharan Africa
This article examines the effects of girls' early marriage on their risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS. By comparing several underlying HIV risk factors, it explores the counterintuitive finding that married adolescent girls in urban centers in Kenya and Zambia have higher rates of HIV infection than do sexually active unmarried girls. In both countries, we find that early marriage increases coital frequency, decreases condom use, and virtually eliminate…
Communities, Opportunities, and Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa
In 2002, the prevalence of HIV among South African clinic attendees under the age of 20 was 15 percent, suggesting a correspondingly high level of unprotected sex and risky sexual behavior. Past research focused on the dynamics of individuals’ and partners’ sexual decisionmaking without accounting for the larger context in which such decisions are made. Do adolescents’ opportunities for schooling, work, and other community activities make a diffe…
Protecting Young Women from HIV/Aids
CONTEXT: In most developing countries, the majority of sexually active female adolescents are married. Although married adolescents are often assumed to be at low risk for HIV infection, little is known about the actual HIV risks these adolescents face or about ways to minimize these risks. METHODS: Demographic and Health Survey data from 29 countries in Africa and Latin America were used to examine the frequency of factors that may increase HIV …
HIV Risk Among Currently Married Couples in Rural Malawi
Marital Aspirations, Sexual Behaviors, and HIV/Aids in Rural Malawi
We explore how marital aspirations are related to the sexual behaviors of adolescents and young adults in Malawi, where HIV/AIDS prevalence among adults exceeds 10%. We also consider whether the specter of AIDS is shaping ideals about marriage. By combining survey data (N = 1,087) and in-depth interviews (N = 133) with young Malawians from the Malawi Diffusion and Ideational Change Project, we show that looking for and finding a suitable spouse a…
Is the United States Experiencing a "Matrilineal Tilt?"
Furstenberg et al. (1995) suggested that one unanticipated consequence of current high levels of divorce might be a “matrilineal tilt” in intergenerational wealth flows. This research uses six waves of the Health and Retirement Survey (1992 to 2002) to investigate this possibility with respect to financial transfers from parents to their adult children. We find that although divorced single fathers continue to make transfers to their adult biolog…
Extra-marital sexual partnerships and male friendships in rural Malawi
Extra-marital sexual partnerships (EMSPs) are a major route of HIV/AIDS transmission in sub-Saharan Africa. In this paper, we investigate the roles of two types of male friendships - best friends and friends with whom they talk about AIDS - in determining whether men have EMSPs. Using data from men in rural Malawi, we find that men's current extra-marital sexual behavior is most closely correlated with their best friends', but that the behaviors …
Relationship Transitions Among Youth in Urban Kenya
The process of courtship and marriage in sub-Saharan Africa has changed remarkably. These changes, however, have received scant attention because recent research has focused on adolescent relationships' links to HIV/AIDS rather than to marriage. Drawing on detailed reports of 1,365 romantic and sexual partnerships from youths in Kisumu, Kenya, we found that marital aspirations, school enrollment, emotional attraction, pregnancy, and independence …
Do Men and Women Report Their Sexual Partnerships Differently? Evidence from Kisumu, Kenya
CONTEXT: It is generally believed that men and women misreport their sexual behaviors, which undermines the ability of researchers, program designers and health care providers to assess whether these behaviors compromise individuals' sexual and reproductive health. METHODS: Data on 1,299 recent sexual partnerships were collected in a 2007 survey of 1,275 men and women aged 18-24 and living in Kisumu, Kenya. Chi-square and t tests were used to exa…
The Relationship History Calendar
Most survey data on sexual activities are obtained via face-to-face interviews, which are prone to misreporting of socially unacceptable behaviors. Demographers have developed various private response methods to minimize social desirability bias and improve the quality of reporting; however, these methods often limit the complexity of information collected. We designed a life history calendar—the Relationship History Calendar (RHC)—to increase th…
Dating, Sex, and Schooling in Urban Kenya
Completion of secondary school is increasingly viewed as a desirable life goal for young men and women in urban Kenya. Yet achieving this goal often conflicts with other key transitions to adulthood, such as becoming sexually active, marrying, having children, and finding employment. Drawing upon exceptionally rich life‐history calendar data from young people in Kisumu, Kenya, we explore how the timing and sequencing of key transitions affects th…
Single Motherhood and Child Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa
Single motherhood in sub-Saharan Africa has received surprisingly little attention, although it is widespread and has critical implications for children’s well-being. Using survival analysis techniques, we estimate the probability of becoming a single mother over women’s life course and investigate the relationship between single motherhood and child mortality in 11 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Although a mere 5 % of women in Ethiopia have a …
CRAIG KOSLOFSKY. Evening's Empire
There was a time when historians tended to describe the premodern night in terms not only of what it lacked but of what it could never have known—the benefits of modern artificial lighting. Premodern people experienced darkness as a privation retrospectively defined. The great Johan Huizinga was the main culprit. He included darkness and light among the “violent contrasts” felt more extremely by them than by us, with (he claimed) damaging consequ…
The effect of marriage and HIV risks on condom use acceptability in rural Malawi
Transitions to adulthood in urban Kenya
Migration is often intrinsically tied to key adolescent transitions in sub-Saharan Africa. However, while many adolescents move in order to improve their life trajectories, migration may also coincide with new challenges and considerable disruption of family support
Divorce in sub-Saharan Africa
Divorce is one of the main drivers of family instability in sub-Saharan Africa. Using data from 101 Demographic and Health Surveys and novel estimation techniques, we 1) provide the first systematic estimates of divorce across 33 countries; 2) assess trends in divorce in 20 countries; and 3) investigate the key country-level correlates of divorce both across and within countries. Despite considerable geographic variation, our estimates show that …
Family Ties and Young Fathers' Engagement in Cape Town, South Africa
Young South African fathers are often engaged in their children's lives even if they do not live together. Using longitudinal data on children (n = 1,209) from the Cape Town area, the authors show that although only 26% of young fathers live with their children, 66% of nonresidential fathers maintain regular contact, and 61% provide financial support. The father-child relationship, however, is embedded in broader family ties. The type of father-m…
Instability in Parent–Child Coresidence and Adolescent Development in Urban South Africa
There is widespread recognition of the importance of family stability for child development. South Africa presents an interesting context in which to study the consequences of family instability because of the traditionally fluid nature of household composition due to labor migration, child fostering, and non‐marital fertility. More recently, the HIV pandemic has added another source of instability. Within South Africa, however, patterns of insta…
Impact of conjugal separation on women's income in Canada
After conjugal unions end, women frequently experience sharp declines in their economic status. The severity of this decline may depend on whether they were in a marital or a cohabiting union and may change over time
Pragmatic tradition or romantic aspiration? The causes of impulsive marriage and early divorce among women in rural Malawi
Despite increased attention to shifting union-formation processes, there is little consensus as to which is more stable, modern unions or traditional marriages. This is especially relevant in Malawi, where divorce is common
Variation in the link between parental divorce and children’s health disadvantage in low and high divorce settings
Like in other world regions, children with divorced parents in sub-Saharan Africa experience significant heath disadvantages relative to their peers with married parents. Preliminary evidence suggests this disadvantage may not be uniform across the subcontinent's diverse settings. Research from other world regions shows that the childhood health consequences of divorce vary across different contexts. Specifically, we hypothesize that the childhoo…
Recent Trends in Premarital Fertility across Sub‐Saharan Africa
The rising age of first marriage across sub‐Saharan Africa over the past 25 years has led many scholars to predict a concurrent increase in premarital childbearing. We examine whether this anticipated increase has materialized using data from 27 countries. Our results reveal considerable heterogeneity. Although levels of premarital fertility have risen by up to 13 percent in recent years in some African countries, other countries have experienced…
Authors for This Issue
Has Child Marriage Declined in sub-Saharan Africa? An Analysis of Trends in 31 Countries
CHILD MARRIAGE, defined by the United Nations as marriage before the age of 18, disproportionately affects girls and hinders progress toward development and public health goals.The magnitude of the threat child marriage poses to global development is highlighted by the fact that its elimination is one of the specific targets for achieving goal number five of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals: gender equality and the empowerment of all women …
Sociology (42 works) · Demography (31 works) · Psychology (30 works) · Economics (29 works) · Population (27 works) · Economic growth (25 works) · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences (22 works) · Geography (22 works) · Demography (20 works) · Family Dynamics and Relationships (19 works)