Premarital Fertility Research Articles

Influencing Factors on Premarital Fertility Intentions Among Urban Women in China and In the United States——A Comparative Study

Influencing Factors on Premarital Fertility Intentions Among Urban Women in China and In the United States——A Comparative Study

Premarital Fertility in Benin: Trends and Disparities

Premarital Fertility in Benin: Trends and Disparities

Comparing Cohabiting Unions and Formal Marriages Among Adolescent Girls in Zambia: The Role of Premarital Fertility and Parental Support

PurposeIn developing countries, approximately one in three girls marry before the age of 18; however, early marriage is not a homogenous experience. Cohabitation can be either a precursor or an alternative to marriage, yet studies and programs often conflate marriage types. The purpose of this study is to understand the underlying factors and stability of cohabiting and formal child marriage unions among adolescent girls. MethodsThis mixed-methods study draws on four rounds of quantitative data collected annually between 2013 and 2016 as part of a longitudinal study among girls 10–19 years old in Zambia. In-depth interviews were conducted in 2017 with 32 girls, divided by formal unions and informal unions, randomly selected from the quantitative sample. Multivariate logistic models were estimated to test key associations and Cox regression models used to estimate the hazard of separation/divorce by a certain age. ResultsQualitative findings highlighted that informal unions did not typically have approval of the couples’ parents and frequently ended in separation. As compared to formal unions, having both families’ approval was associated with 69% lower odds of cohabiting (odds ratio = 0.31, p < .001), while forced entry into union due to pregnancy was associated with 61% greater odds of cohabiting (OR = 1.61, p < .05). Being in a cohabiting union was associated with a 43% greater hazard of union dissolution (hazard ratio = 1.43, p < .05). DiscussionThere are key differences between formal marriages and cohabitation among adolescent girls and young women that should be considered when addressing early marriage in research and programs.

Fertility and HIV risk in Africa

This paper examines the role of social and cultural norms regarding fertility in women's HIV risk in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fertility is highly valued in most African societies, and premarital fertility is often encouraged to facilitate marriage. This incentivizes unprotected premarital sex and escalates HIV risk. I build a rich lifecycle model linking women's decisions concerning sex, fertility and education to HIV infection and calibrate it to match Kenyan data. Quantitative results show that premarital fertility motives account for 13 percent of HIV prevalence among young Kenyan women and that a combination of fertility motives and contraception cost accounts for nearly one-third of this prevalence. Various policies are evaluated. While an HIV treatment subsidy would reduce HIV prevalence to the greatest extent, its effectiveness would be severely mitigated by increased risky sex.

Premarital Fertility and Marital Timing in Malawi.

In Malawi, Africa, the median age at first marriage is among the lowest on the continent and adolescent fertility rates are among the highest. Using high-frequency panel data from the country designed to follow single women and men into marriage, we examine the extent to which premarital fertility is associated with the timing of marriage. Two notable findings emerge. First, premarital fertility typically leads to a more rapid transition into marriage, compared to not having had a premarital conception or birth, and this effect is as strong for men as it is for women. Second, among women with premarital fertility, those who are wealthier, and those who have two parents alive, have lower odds of not marrying. Among men with premarital fertility, however, no patterns predict their subsequent marital outcomes. This study contributes to the literature on fertility and marriage in sub-Saharan Africa by including men in the analysis.

Anencephaly: Case report and literature review

Premarital screening is a worldwide activity that aims to diagnose and treat unrecognized disorders and reduce the transmission of diseases to couples and children. This study was aimed at assessing the perception and acceptance of premarital fertility screening among final year students of the college of health sciences, University of Ilorin, Kwara state.

Perception and Acceptance of Pre-Marital Fertility Screening among Final Year Students of College of Health Sciences at a University in North Central, Nigeria

Premarital screening is a worldwide activity that aims to diagnose and treat unrecognized disorders and reduce the transmission of diseases to couples and children. This study was aimed at assessing the perception and acceptance of premarital fertility screening among final year students of the college of health sciences, University of Ilorin, Kwara state.

Women's Marital Experiences Following Premarital Fertility in Sub‐Saharan Africa

AbstractObjectiveThe 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.BackgroundPremarital 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 whether premarital fertility is associated with forming unions that are less stable, polygynous, or more violent.MethodWe analyze Demographic and Health Survey data for 25 sub‐Saharan African countries to describe women's marital experiences following a premarital pregnancy or premarital birth (relative to marital pregnancy and birth). We estimate country‐specific, two‐stage Heckman probit models to understand whether, conditional on having married, premarital pregnancy or premarital birth is associated with union instability, and among women currently married, polygyny and intimate partner violence.ResultsIn most countries, unions following a premarital pregnancy or premarital birth were less stable relative to unions in which pregnancy occurred only after marriage. Premarital births were also associated with a higher likelihood of entering a polygynous union, especially in West and Central African countries, as well as a greater likelihood of being in a physically violent union, particularly in East and Southern African countries.ConclusionThe associations between premarital fertility and women's subsequent marital experiences raise questions about the broader health and life course implications for the women and children involved.

Providers, Unmarried Young Women, and Post-Abortion Care in Kenya.

Young women and girls in Kenya face challenges in access to abortion care services. Using in‐depth and focus group interviews, we explored providers’ constructions of these challenges. In general, providers considered abortion to be commonplace in Kenya; reported being regularly approached to offer abortion‐related care and services; and articulated the structural, contextual, and personal challenges they faced in serving young post‐abortion care (PAC) patients. They also considered induced abortion among young unmarried girls to be especially objectionable; stressed premarital fertility and out‐of‐union sexual activity among unmarried young girls as transgressive of respectable femininity and proper adolescence; blamed young women and girls for the challenges they reported in obtaining PAC services; and linked these challenges to young women's efforts to conceal their failures related to gender and adolescence, exemplified by pre‐marital pregnancy and abortion. This study shows how providers’ distinctive emphasis that young abortion care‐seekers are to blame for their own difficulties in accessing PAC may add to the ongoing crisis of post‐abortion care for young women and adolescent girls in Kenya.

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 a 7 percent decline. Adolescent premarital childbearing, in particular, has shown marked decline in several countries. Furthermore, although the rising age of marriage exerts clear upward pressure on premarital fertility, decomposition analyses indicate that in half of the countries examined, other factors such as delayed sexual debut and use of contraception counteract this effect. These results temper concerns about the rising numbers of unwed mothers and demonstrate that countries can simultaneously delay marriage and achieve relatively stable, or even declining, levels of premarital childbearing.

Religião e fecundidade entre adolescentes no Brasil

The objective of this study was to examine the association between the age of having one's first child in adolescence and before marriage and religious involvement in Brazil, measured by religious affiliation and frequency of attendance at religious services or masses. The objective of this study was to examine the association between the age of having one's first child in adolescence and before marriage and religious involvement in Brazil, measured by religious affiliation and frequency of attendance at religious services or masses. Transverse data obtained from the National Survey of Demographics and Health of 1996 and the National Survey of Demographics and Health of Women and Children of 2006 were utilized. Cox proportional risks models were employed to estimate the association between religion and age of having one's first child premaritally and during adolescence. The results indicate a strong association between premarital fertility in adolescence and religious involvement in both 1996 and 2006. In 1996, frequency of attendance at religious service s or masses was more important than religious affiliation in explaining the age at which one had her first child. In 2006, belonging to a Pentecostal church comes to predominate. The results presented in this study are encouraging insofar as they show that Protestant adolescents, particularly Pentecostals, have a reduced risk of adolescent premarital motherhood. This result was not expected, given that Pentecostalism predominates in the less advantaged population groups, with lower incomes and levels of education and residence in urban areas, where adolescent fertility is also concentrated in Brazil. Future studies must be undertaken with the purpose of understanding how the various mechanisms of religious influence operate in the life and behavior of adolescents in Brazil.

Widowhood, illegitimacy, marital reproduction and female longevity in a rural Spanish population

Using data from parish and civil registers in a rural community in northwest Spain (Los Nogales), family reconstitution provided 1502 complete reproductive histories, of which 584 corresponded to first marriages of women dying after their 50th birthday. A homogeneous sample consisting of women married in the period 1877–1899 ( N = 311) provided information concerning their reproductive performance, including ages at first and last maternity and number of children born alive and surviving, which was related to the mother's post-menopausal longevity, also considering premarital fertility and her marital status (widow/married). The results obtained indicate that mothers with a lower proportion of children dying before the first birthday and the age of 15 (mainly males) have a greater post-reproductive longevity. Moreover, women with a more protracted end to their reproductive period and greater fertility live for more years beyond their 50th birthday. These results do not prove a causality between maternal longevity and more successful reproduction; instead, they are indicative of a holistic condition of health. A wide spectrum of favorable biological and environmental factors will have positive consequences for a woman's life trajectory, affecting both her reproductive performance and her own likelihood of surviving.

Pathways and Barriers to Condom Use Among Ariaal Agro-pastoralists of Northern Kenya

Recent sexual behavior surveys in the Ariaal community of Karare, Marsabit District, northern Kenya, indicate a rapid increase in male condom use among unmarried men and women. Increased condom use stems from the Kenyan government’s expanding HIV/AIDS programs to the remote parts of northern Kenya, resulting in easier access to condoms. This paper employs a modified reasoned action approach model to analyze 2009 survey data to understand how Ariaal sexual culture adapts to this policy. Univariate analysis indicates that for unmarried men and women, condom use is more strongly linked to pre-marital fertility prevention than HIV/AIDS protection, reflecting the long-standing Ariaal proscriptive norm against pre-marital fertility. Multiple regression and path analysis show gender-specific pathways to condom use, reflecting established and emergent sexual behavior. For women, significant pathways include the ability to obtain condoms and to refuse sex without condoms. For men, social norms and beliefs/attitudes including concern for their sexual partners are important pathways.

Premarital Birth Among Young Hispanic Women: Evidence from Semiparametric Competing Risks Analysis

The existing literature on welfare effects on marriage and fertility has largely focused on groups of white and black women. By contrast, Hispanic women have received little attention. This paper examines the effects of welfare generosity on a sample of young Hispanic women’s premarital fertility and marriage choices. A bivariate competing risks duration model framework allows us to identify the process of young women’s premarital fertility and the process of marriage, effectively controlling for observed characteristics and unobservables. Our findings indicate a 10% increase in welfare generosity results in a 10% increase in premarital births and a 7% decrease in marriages by age 24; both effects are significant.

Social context of premarital fertility in rural South-Africa.

A qualitative study was conducted in Agincourt, a rural area of South Africa, to document the perceptions and attitudes towards premarital fertility and late marriage among young adults of both sexes. Two focus groups and 35 individual interviews were conducted among 17-30 year olds, randomly selected. Most interviewees perceived premarital fertility as undesirable, and a new phenomenon in a context of major social changes, in particular loss of authority of parents and increasing freedom of the youth. In contrast, late marriage was perceived as positive, by both sexes, primarily for economic reasons. Much stigma was associated with premarital fertility, from friends, institutions and families who occasionally apply mild or severe sanctions. Consequences of premarital fertility were numerous: school abandonment, economic adversity, health risks, stigmatization. In extreme cases, premarital fertility might lead to exclusion and deviant behavior. Premarital fertility was ultimately due to a lack of contraception among young women, and to refusal of abortion for religious reasons, and is associated with the risk of contracting STD's.

Premarital fertility and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.

The paper investigates the complex relationships between premarital fertility and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan African countries. The DHS surveys provided data to compute the prevalence of premarital fertility, defined as any birth before the first marriage. The UNAIDS database provided data to compute the prevalence of HIV infection among pregnant women. Results indicate a moderate association between the prevalence of premarital fertility and the prevalence of HIV infection (correlation coefficient = 0.64, P < 0.0001), and similar geographical patterns. Compared with the average pattern, outlier countries had either high levels of premarital fertility and relatively low HIV prevalence (Liberia, Madagascar, Gabon, Congo), or high levels of HIV prevalence despite low levels of premarital fertility (Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe). The overall relationship is discussed in light of the relationships between age at marriage, permissiveness and lack of protection during intercourse and their impact on premarital fertility and HIV infection among women.

HIV and Fertility Decline in North-Central Namibia 1980-2004

The aim of this study was to estimate the development of fertility and the impact of HIV on this development in North-Central Namibia from 1980 to 2004. The main sources of data consisted of parish registers for eight Evangelical Lutheran congregations, the 1992 and 2000 Namibia Demographic and Health Surveys and the 1991 and 2001 population censuses. Developments in fertility were studied using the total fertility rate (TFR), age-speci? c fertility rates (ASFR), and standardized fertility distributions. The results show that fertility declined from 5.0 in 1980-89 to 4.1 in 1990-99 and to 3.5 in 2000-04. Among women in the 25-29 age group and older, fertility declined, while fertility among adolescents increased. Both age at ? rst marriage and premarital fertility increased during the study period. During the 1990s, HIV infection explained 25-29% of the decline in total fertility. If mortality continues to increase as a result of the HIV epidemic while fertility continues to decline, both because of HIV infection and for other societal reasons, the implications for future population growth rates and the countrys demographic structure are pronounced.

Fertility in Namibia. Changes in fertility levels in North-Central Namibia 1960-2001, including an assessment of the impact of HIV

The aim of this study was to estimate the development of fertility in North-Central Namibia, former Ovamboland, from 1960 to 2001. Special attention was given to the onset of fertility decline and to the impact of the HIV epidemic on fertility. An additional aim was to introduce parish registers as a source of data for fertility research in Africa. Data used consisted of parish registers from Evangelical Lutheran congregations, the 1991 and 2001 Population and Housing Censuses, the 1992 and 2000 Namibia Demographic and Health Surveys, and the HIV sentinel surveillances of 1992-2004. Both period and cohort fertility were analysed. The P/F ratio method was used when analysing census data. The impact of HIV infection on fertility was estimated indirectly by comparing the fertility histories of women who died at an age of less than 50 years with the fertility of other women. The impact of the HIV epidemic on fertility was assessed both among infected women and in the general population. Fertility in the study population began to decline in 1980. The decline was rapid during the 1980s, levelled off in the early 1990s at the end of war of independence and then continued to decline until the end of the study period. According to parish registers, total fertility was 6.4 in the 1960s and 6.5 in the 1970s, and declined to 5.1 in the 1980s and 4.2 in the 1990s. Adjustment of these total fertility rates to correspond to levels of fertility based on data from the 1991 and 2001 censuses resulted in total fertility declining from 7.6 in 1960-79 to 6.0 in 1980-89, and to 4.9 in 1990-99. The decline was associated with increased age at first marriage, declining marital fertility and increasing premarital fertility. Fertility among adolescents increased, whereas the fertility of women in all other age groups declined. During the 1980s, the war of independence contributed to declining fertility through spousal separation and delayed marriages. Contraception has been employed in the study region since the 1980s, but in the early 1990s, use of contraceptives was still so limited that fertility was higher in North-Central Namibia than in other regions of the country. In the 1990s, fertility decline was largely a result of the increased prevalence of contraception. HIV prevalence among pregnant women increased from 4% in 1992 to 25% in 2001. In 2001, total fertility among HIV-infected women (3.7) was lower than that among other women (4.8), resulting in total fertility of 4.4 among the general population in 2001. The HIV epidemic explained more than a quarter of the decline in total fertility at population level during most of the 1990s. The HIV epidemic also reduced the number of children born by reducing the number of potential mothers. In the future, HIV will have an extensive influence on both the size and age structure of the Namibian population. Although HIV influences demographic development through both fertility and mortality, the effect through changes in fertility will be smaller than the effect through mortality. In the study region, as in some other regions of southern Africa, a new type of demographic transition is under way, one in which population growth stagnates or even reverses because of the combined effects of declining fertility and increasing mortality, both of which are consequences of the HIV pandemic.

PREMARITAL FERTILITY IN NAMIBIA: TRENDS, FACTORS AND CONSEQUENCES

Premarital fertility, defined as fertility before first marriage, was found to be highly prevalent in Namibia. According to data from the 1992 and 2000 DHS surveys, the proportion of premarital births was 43% for all births, and 60% for the first birth. This seemed to be primarily due to a late mean age at first marriage (26.4 years) and low levels of contraception before first marriage. Data were analysed using a variety of demographic methods, including multiple decrement life table and multivariate logistic models. Major variations were found by ethno-linguistic groups: Herero and Nama/Damara had the highest levels of premarital fertility (above 60%); Ovambo and Lozi had intermediate levels of premarital fertility (around 40%); Kavongo and San appeared to have kept a more traditional behaviour of early marriage and low levels of premarital fertility (around 20%). The largest ethno-linguistic group, the Ovambo, were in a special situation, with fast increasing age at marriage and average level of premarital fertility. Whites and mixed races also differed, with Afrikaans-speaking groups having a behaviour closer to the average, whereas other Europeans had less premarital fertility despite an average age at marriage. Ethnic differences remained stable after controlling for various socioeconomic factors, such as urbanization, level of education, wealth, access to mass media, and religion. Results are discussed in light of the population dynamics and political history of Namibia in the 20th century.

Pre-Marital Fertility and Labour Market Opportunities: Evidence from the 1970 British Cohort Study

This paper investigates the effect of earnings and employment opportunities on pre-marital fertility. Using data from a sample of British women born in 1970, we estimate an independent competing risk harzard model of fertility and cohabitation decisions. Our results show that individual earnings opportunities are negatively related to pre-marital fertility but do not affect union formation. Local male unemployment, on the contrary, is a positive determinant of single motherhood and a negative factor in cohabitation decisions. The latter result is consistent with the Wilson hypothesis as it shows the existence of a direct effect of male joblessness on co-residential relationships.