Males and females are different biologically and socially, while sex roles are fixed, gender role... more Males and females are different biologically and socially, while sex roles are fixed, gender roles vaiy in different societies across the world and could be renegotiated. Gender equality is a social problem that has attracted a lot of attention in the literature (Kana Fuse, 2010; Perianayagam, 2002). After the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and the Beijing Conference on Women and the Girl Child in 1995, gender equality has been given more consideration by researchers than ever before. The 3rd and 5th themes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to promote gender equality and empower women and improve maternal health clearly justify the relevance of gender preference as a yardstick to human and sustainable development. Less than three-years into the MDG timeline, progress towards achieving these goals still remain hallucination in Nigeria. Among the essential underline factors that tends to hamper the goals' accomplishment is child's gender preference (CGP) which is known to be a challenge to women empowerment and maternal health particularly in the areas of fertility demand by couples (Paruzzolo et al, 2010).Globally, CGP is an apparent natural phenomenon, but only more prominent in developing countries than the developed ones. In its context, issues associated with CGP had presented researchers with several questions that have implications for public policies and programs. Gender preference as a cultural practice can exert direct and indirect influences on population dynamics. For instance, CGP may be a direct contributing factor to serious health problems on women and their under-five children by shortening birth intervals, increasing births frequency (Choe MK et al., 1998) and may cause neglect of children whose sex is not wanted in high fertility families. At times, couples continue to bear children until they are satisfied with their desired sex composition thus leading to the fertility level different from the couples' desire (Dalla and Leone, 2001; Clark, 2000). Preference for child's gender in a family can compromise the state of health and economic conditions of its members. It erodes self-esteem and opportunities for women and also reduces some of the demographic dividends that the developing countries should have attained at the moment.In Nigeria, two criteria shape interpersonal relations; age and gender. Gender preference remains a social problem in Nigeria and may be associated with the regions in the countiy. But it has received little attention, perhaps, because the overall sex ratio at birth for Nigeria is similar to the expected pattern for developing countries (NPC, 2006). There is dearth of knowledge on patterns of CGP in Nigeria; this study therefore aims to reveal useful ideas which were yet to be fully explored and articulated in previous literature. Presently, Nigeria is made up of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), divided into six regions based on geographical distribution of its population. These are North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South, and South West. The North East, North West and some parts of the North Central regions are inhabited by predominantly Hausas, while the South West is populated by Yoruba speaking people; the South East and South South comprise mostly people of Igbos and Ijaw origin respectively. There are about 374 identifiable ethnic groups, with the Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba as major groups. People in each of these three ethnic groups have similar cultural identities which they uphold despite modernisation and improvement in level of education across the countiy. For most of the tribes in Nigeria, the husband is assumed to be the head of the household. The cultural dominance of the male gender in Nigeria is such that the man's sexual relations within the family or his extra-marital affairs can endanger the health of his wife or wives without any sanction being imposed on the man (Odebiyi, 1992). …
Background: Both contraceptive use and fertility rates are high fertility in Malawi. Status of wo... more Background: Both contraceptive use and fertility rates are high fertility in Malawi. Status of women remains low and is believed to affect reproductive health decisions including use of Long Acting and Permanent Contraceptives Method (LAPCM). Objective: This study seeks to examine the relationship between women empowerment and LAPCM. A measure of women's empowerment is derived from the women's responses to questions on the number of household decisions in which the respondent participates, employment status, type of earnings, women's control over cash earnings and level of education. Methods: The study is based on a sub sample of 5,948 married women from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and multinomial logistic regression models (α=5%). Results: The prevalence of current use of LAPCM was 20.0% and increases with increasing empowerment level (p<0.001). Mean age and empowerment score of women who are currently using LAPCM were 38.53±6.2 years and 6.80±2.9 respectively. Urban women (22.2%) were more currently using LAPCM than rural women (19.4%) p<0.001. Women who belong to Seven Day Adventists/Baptist were 1.51(C.I=1.058-2.153; p=0.023) more likely and Muslims were 0.58(C.I=0.410-0.809; p=0.001) less likely to currently use LAPCM than Catholic women. Being in the richest wealth quintile (OR=1.91; C.I=1.362-2.665; p<0.001) promotes current use of LAPCM than poorest. The likelihood of currently using LAPCM was higher among women who have access to FP programmes on media and increases consistently with increasing women empowerment level even when other potential confounding variables were used as control. Conclusion: In Malawi, LAPCM is still underutilized and more than half of the women are not adequately empowered. Women empowerment, wealth quintile and access to FP programmes are key factors influencing the use of LAPCM. Programmes that address these determinants are urgently needed in Malawi.
Malawi has one of the highest Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in Sub-Saharan Africa. However,... more Malawi has one of the highest Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, fertility remains high and fertility decline is slow. This paper uses data from the 2000 and 2004 Demographic and Health Surveys to examine correlates of contraceptive use among currently married women in Malawi. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to establish the relationships between socioeconomic variables and current use of contraception. The results show that the major determinants of contraceptive use are age, respondents' and partners' approval of family planning, family planning discussion with partner, number of living children, work status, education and visit to a health centre. As a policy measure, information, education and communication programmes on family planning should be intensified, particularly in rural areas and targeting men.
The aim this study is to examine the nature and patterns of the reported age statistics in theNor... more The aim this study is to examine the nature and patterns of the reported age statistics in theNorth WestProvinceusing the 1996, 2001 and 2011 South African population censuses. First, the enumerated age-sex population distributions from the censuses are evaluated using such indices as Whipples, Myers and United Nations Age-Sex Score to highlight the nature and patterns of age misreporting in the province. Second, essential age-sex features of the population and their implications for development planning are highlighted. The study indicate that the quality of the reported age statistics in North West Province, like in the other provinces in South Africa, is quite good and contrast to findings from most other Sub-Saharan populations. Furthermore, the reported age statistics show a preference of terminal digits 6, 4, 8, 0 and 2, implying a preference of ages ending in even numbers. Further research should establish the factors responsible for this pattern. Key words: Age, Census, North West Province, South Africa
Background: Although the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 5.7 in 2010 to 4.6 during 2... more Background: Although the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 5.7 in 2010 to 4.6 during 2015-16, fertility in Malawi remains high. The high fertility is responsible for the rapid population growth, which negatively impacts the social and economic development of the country. Available data show that nearly 90% of all births in the country occur among married women. Objective: The main objective of the study is to investigate the determinants of fertility among married women (marital fertility) in Malawi. Method: This study used data extracted from the 2010 and 2015–16 Malawi demographic and health surveys. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with fertility among married women. Results: The mean number of children born declined from 3.80 in 2010 to 3.44 in 2015. The background characteristics of the women were found to be accounted for the variation. Poisson regression analysis revealed that the age of respondent, place of residence, contraceptive use, age at first sex, age at marriage, age at birth, marriage duration, wanted last birth, ideal number of children, death of child and education were all factors significantly related to fertility. Conclusion: These significant factors should be the focus of programs that aim to further reduce fertility in Malawi.
Migration is an important component of population change in South Africa. Unfortunately, like in ... more Migration is an important component of population change in South Africa. Unfortunately, like in most countries, reliable data on migration is not readily available. The aim of this study is to estimate net internal migration for provinces in South Africa using Census Survival Ratio Method (CSRM). This method is underutilized in demographic research in the country and is based on the reported age-sex statistics collected in the census and demographic surveys. The method compares the projected population for each age and sex based on the first censuses and the reported population at the second census. In absence of errors in the age statistics the difference between the projected and enumerated populations could be attributed to net migration. The results indicate that during the intercensal period 1996-2001, Gauteng and Western Cape were the major receiving provinces whereas the other remaining provinces were the sending provinces in the country. The results are consistent with findings based on other estimation procedures and correspond to nature of social and economic development in the country. One policy implication of the study is that efforts should continue being made to make the sending provinces more attractive so as to reduce the inflow of people to the crowded and more affluent provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape.
Little is known about the demography of South Africa. This is due to pre-1994 government policies... more Little is known about the demography of South Africa. This is due to pre-1994 government policies and consequent isolation of the country. With the advert of first democratic elections in 1994, this situation is changing and more studies are being conducted to examine various aspects of the demography of South Africa. Using the 1996 and 2001 South African population censuses, the paper presents the salient features of the population of South Africa. In particular, this paper critically examines the 1996 and 2001 censuses to bring out major demographic characteristics of the population of South Africa. The paper concludes that fertility has remained more or less constant during the period under review, mortality has worsened as a result of HIV/AIDS epidemic and migration between and within regions has increased as a result of easing of the restrictions imposed by pre-1994 government. The finding of the study has some policy implications. There is need to develop intellectual capacity for studying the demography of South Africa.
Background High childhood disease prevalence and under-five mortality rates have been consistentl... more Background High childhood disease prevalence and under-five mortality rates have been consistently reported in Nigeria. Vaccination is a cost-effective preventive strategy against childhood diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determinants of Incomplete Vaccination (IV) among children aged 12–23 months in Nigeria. Method This cross-sectional design study utilized the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) dataset. A two-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select women of reproductive age who have children (n = 5,475) aged 12–23 months. The outcome variable was IV of children against childhood diseases. Data were analyzed using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation and Bayesian binary regression models (α0.05). Visualization of incomplete vaccination was produced using the ArcGIS software. Results Children’s mean age was 15.1 ± 3.2 months and the median number of vaccines received was four. Northern regions contributed largely to the IV. The lik...
Males and females are different biologically and socially, while sex roles are fixed, gender role... more Males and females are different biologically and socially, while sex roles are fixed, gender roles vaiy in different societies across the world and could be renegotiated. Gender equality is a social problem that has attracted a lot of attention in the literature (Kana Fuse, 2010; Perianayagam, 2002). After the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development in 1994, and the Beijing Conference on Women and the Girl Child in 1995, gender equality has been given more consideration by researchers than ever before. The 3rd and 5th themes of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to promote gender equality and empower women and improve maternal health clearly justify the relevance of gender preference as a yardstick to human and sustainable development. Less than three-years into the MDG timeline, progress towards achieving these goals still remain hallucination in Nigeria. Among the essential underline factors that tends to hamper the goals' accomplishment is child's gender preference (CGP) which is known to be a challenge to women empowerment and maternal health particularly in the areas of fertility demand by couples (Paruzzolo et al, 2010).Globally, CGP is an apparent natural phenomenon, but only more prominent in developing countries than the developed ones. In its context, issues associated with CGP had presented researchers with several questions that have implications for public policies and programs. Gender preference as a cultural practice can exert direct and indirect influences on population dynamics. For instance, CGP may be a direct contributing factor to serious health problems on women and their under-five children by shortening birth intervals, increasing births frequency (Choe MK et al., 1998) and may cause neglect of children whose sex is not wanted in high fertility families. At times, couples continue to bear children until they are satisfied with their desired sex composition thus leading to the fertility level different from the couples' desire (Dalla and Leone, 2001; Clark, 2000). Preference for child's gender in a family can compromise the state of health and economic conditions of its members. It erodes self-esteem and opportunities for women and also reduces some of the demographic dividends that the developing countries should have attained at the moment.In Nigeria, two criteria shape interpersonal relations; age and gender. Gender preference remains a social problem in Nigeria and may be associated with the regions in the countiy. But it has received little attention, perhaps, because the overall sex ratio at birth for Nigeria is similar to the expected pattern for developing countries (NPC, 2006). There is dearth of knowledge on patterns of CGP in Nigeria; this study therefore aims to reveal useful ideas which were yet to be fully explored and articulated in previous literature. Presently, Nigeria is made up of 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory (FCT), divided into six regions based on geographical distribution of its population. These are North Central, North East, North West, South East, South South, and South West. The North East, North West and some parts of the North Central regions are inhabited by predominantly Hausas, while the South West is populated by Yoruba speaking people; the South East and South South comprise mostly people of Igbos and Ijaw origin respectively. There are about 374 identifiable ethnic groups, with the Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba as major groups. People in each of these three ethnic groups have similar cultural identities which they uphold despite modernisation and improvement in level of education across the countiy. For most of the tribes in Nigeria, the husband is assumed to be the head of the household. The cultural dominance of the male gender in Nigeria is such that the man's sexual relations within the family or his extra-marital affairs can endanger the health of his wife or wives without any sanction being imposed on the man (Odebiyi, 1992). …
Background: Both contraceptive use and fertility rates are high fertility in Malawi. Status of wo... more Background: Both contraceptive use and fertility rates are high fertility in Malawi. Status of women remains low and is believed to affect reproductive health decisions including use of Long Acting and Permanent Contraceptives Method (LAPCM). Objective: This study seeks to examine the relationship between women empowerment and LAPCM. A measure of women's empowerment is derived from the women's responses to questions on the number of household decisions in which the respondent participates, employment status, type of earnings, women's control over cash earnings and level of education. Methods: The study is based on a sub sample of 5,948 married women from the 2010 Malawi Demographic and Health Survey. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and multinomial logistic regression models (α=5%). Results: The prevalence of current use of LAPCM was 20.0% and increases with increasing empowerment level (p<0.001). Mean age and empowerment score of women who are currently using LAPCM were 38.53±6.2 years and 6.80±2.9 respectively. Urban women (22.2%) were more currently using LAPCM than rural women (19.4%) p<0.001. Women who belong to Seven Day Adventists/Baptist were 1.51(C.I=1.058-2.153; p=0.023) more likely and Muslims were 0.58(C.I=0.410-0.809; p=0.001) less likely to currently use LAPCM than Catholic women. Being in the richest wealth quintile (OR=1.91; C.I=1.362-2.665; p<0.001) promotes current use of LAPCM than poorest. The likelihood of currently using LAPCM was higher among women who have access to FP programmes on media and increases consistently with increasing women empowerment level even when other potential confounding variables were used as control. Conclusion: In Malawi, LAPCM is still underutilized and more than half of the women are not adequately empowered. Women empowerment, wealth quintile and access to FP programmes are key factors influencing the use of LAPCM. Programmes that address these determinants are urgently needed in Malawi.
Malawi has one of the highest Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in Sub-Saharan Africa. However,... more Malawi has one of the highest Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, fertility remains high and fertility decline is slow. This paper uses data from the 2000 and 2004 Demographic and Health Surveys to examine correlates of contraceptive use among currently married women in Malawi. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to establish the relationships between socioeconomic variables and current use of contraception. The results show that the major determinants of contraceptive use are age, respondents' and partners' approval of family planning, family planning discussion with partner, number of living children, work status, education and visit to a health centre. As a policy measure, information, education and communication programmes on family planning should be intensified, particularly in rural areas and targeting men.
The aim this study is to examine the nature and patterns of the reported age statistics in theNor... more The aim this study is to examine the nature and patterns of the reported age statistics in theNorth WestProvinceusing the 1996, 2001 and 2011 South African population censuses. First, the enumerated age-sex population distributions from the censuses are evaluated using such indices as Whipples, Myers and United Nations Age-Sex Score to highlight the nature and patterns of age misreporting in the province. Second, essential age-sex features of the population and their implications for development planning are highlighted. The study indicate that the quality of the reported age statistics in North West Province, like in the other provinces in South Africa, is quite good and contrast to findings from most other Sub-Saharan populations. Furthermore, the reported age statistics show a preference of terminal digits 6, 4, 8, 0 and 2, implying a preference of ages ending in even numbers. Further research should establish the factors responsible for this pattern. Key words: Age, Census, North West Province, South Africa
Background: Although the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 5.7 in 2010 to 4.6 during 2... more Background: Although the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has declined from 5.7 in 2010 to 4.6 during 2015-16, fertility in Malawi remains high. The high fertility is responsible for the rapid population growth, which negatively impacts the social and economic development of the country. Available data show that nearly 90% of all births in the country occur among married women. Objective: The main objective of the study is to investigate the determinants of fertility among married women (marital fertility) in Malawi. Method: This study used data extracted from the 2010 and 2015–16 Malawi demographic and health surveys. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the factors associated with fertility among married women. Results: The mean number of children born declined from 3.80 in 2010 to 3.44 in 2015. The background characteristics of the women were found to be accounted for the variation. Poisson regression analysis revealed that the age of respondent, place of residence, contraceptive use, age at first sex, age at marriage, age at birth, marriage duration, wanted last birth, ideal number of children, death of child and education were all factors significantly related to fertility. Conclusion: These significant factors should be the focus of programs that aim to further reduce fertility in Malawi.
Migration is an important component of population change in South Africa. Unfortunately, like in ... more Migration is an important component of population change in South Africa. Unfortunately, like in most countries, reliable data on migration is not readily available. The aim of this study is to estimate net internal migration for provinces in South Africa using Census Survival Ratio Method (CSRM). This method is underutilized in demographic research in the country and is based on the reported age-sex statistics collected in the census and demographic surveys. The method compares the projected population for each age and sex based on the first censuses and the reported population at the second census. In absence of errors in the age statistics the difference between the projected and enumerated populations could be attributed to net migration. The results indicate that during the intercensal period 1996-2001, Gauteng and Western Cape were the major receiving provinces whereas the other remaining provinces were the sending provinces in the country. The results are consistent with findings based on other estimation procedures and correspond to nature of social and economic development in the country. One policy implication of the study is that efforts should continue being made to make the sending provinces more attractive so as to reduce the inflow of people to the crowded and more affluent provinces of Gauteng and Western Cape.
Little is known about the demography of South Africa. This is due to pre-1994 government policies... more Little is known about the demography of South Africa. This is due to pre-1994 government policies and consequent isolation of the country. With the advert of first democratic elections in 1994, this situation is changing and more studies are being conducted to examine various aspects of the demography of South Africa. Using the 1996 and 2001 South African population censuses, the paper presents the salient features of the population of South Africa. In particular, this paper critically examines the 1996 and 2001 censuses to bring out major demographic characteristics of the population of South Africa. The paper concludes that fertility has remained more or less constant during the period under review, mortality has worsened as a result of HIV/AIDS epidemic and migration between and within regions has increased as a result of easing of the restrictions imposed by pre-1994 government. The finding of the study has some policy implications. There is need to develop intellectual capacity for studying the demography of South Africa.
Background High childhood disease prevalence and under-five mortality rates have been consistentl... more Background High childhood disease prevalence and under-five mortality rates have been consistently reported in Nigeria. Vaccination is a cost-effective preventive strategy against childhood diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the determinants of Incomplete Vaccination (IV) among children aged 12–23 months in Nigeria. Method This cross-sectional design study utilized the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) dataset. A two-stage cluster sampling technique was used to select women of reproductive age who have children (n = 5,475) aged 12–23 months. The outcome variable was IV of children against childhood diseases. Data were analyzed using Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation and Bayesian binary regression models (α0.05). Visualization of incomplete vaccination was produced using the ArcGIS software. Results Children’s mean age was 15.1 ± 3.2 months and the median number of vaccines received was four. Northern regions contributed largely to the IV. The lik...
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