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This study contributes to the growing body of literature on the outcomes of labour migration by focusing on the effects of migrant legal status on the economic and perceptual measures of migration success. To study the effects of legal status, we use a sample of Central Asian migrant women who work in Russia and of their native counterparts who occupy the same positions on the labour market. Similar to the studies in the developed settings, we find that a temporary legal status is associated with an earnings penalty and that permanent legal status corrects this earning disparity. We also find that both temporary and permanent migrant status is positively associated with perceptions of pay inequality but that, irrespective of these perceptions, both types of migrants are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs than natives. We interpret these findings within the legal and social context of migrant economic incorporation in Russia and relate them to the findings from other migrantreceiving settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provision of effective contraception to HIV-positive women of reproductive age is critical to effective management of HIV infection and prevention of both vertical and horizontal HIV transmission in developing countries. This exploratory retrospective study examines contraceptive use during the prolonged post-partum period in a sample of 285 HIV-positive and HIV-negative women who gave birth at four rural maternity clinics in a high HIV-prevalence region in Mozambique. Multivariate analyses show no significant variations by HIV status in contraceptive timing (mean time to first contraceptive use of 7.1 months) or prevalence (31% at time of survey) but detect a moderating effect of fertility intentions: while HIV status makes no difference for women wishing to stop childbearing, among women who want to continue having children, or are unsure about their reproductive plans, HIV-positive status is associated with higher likelihood of contraceptive use. Regardless of HIV status, virtually no condom use is reported. These results are situated within the context of a rapidly widening access to post-partum antiretroviral therapy in the study site and similar sub-Saharan settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Men’s labor migration has been shown to affect marital stability in various contexts, but heterogeneity in the relationship between migration and marital outcomes is not well understood. This study employs longitudinal data from rural Mozambique, a rapidly changing setting with massive yet diverse male labor out-migration, to examine the associations between husband’s migration and union dissolution. It analyzes variation in the likelihood of dissolution according to the success of migration and assesses the degree to which this association is influenced by women’s decision-making autonomy. Results show no overall association between husband’s migration status and the likelihood of dissolution but substantial differences between unions of more successful and less successful migrants. Women’s decision-making autonomy is associated with an increased risk of divorce for women married to migrants but greater marital stability for women married to nonmigrants. Implications of these findings for union stability in sub-Saharan and similar developing settings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Migrant-vs.-native differentials in reproductive behavior are typically examined through the prism of socioeconomic and cultural constraints that characterize the migration process and experiences. However, the literature seldom factors in migrant legal status because necessary data is rarely available. OBJECTIVE The study seeks to fill this important gap by looking at variations in induced abortion and contraceptive use not only between migrants and nonmigrants but also among migrants of different legal statuses in the Russian Federation. METHODS We use unique survey data collected in urban Russia from Central Asian working migrant women of different legal statuses - regularized vs. irregular - as well as their native counterparts. Binomial and multinomial logistic regressions are fitted to model abortion experience and current contraceptive use and method choice. RESULTS The results point to higher overall use of abortion among natives, but also to significant differences between migrants with regularized and irregular legal statuses. With respect to contraception, while no variation in overall use between migrants and natives or between migrants of different legal statuses is detected, instructive migrant-vs.-native differences in method choice emerge. CONCLUSIONS The findings underscore the importance of migrants' legal status, along with their other characteristics, for a better understanding of their reproductive behavior and for more effective corresponding policies. CONTRIBUTION The study offers pioneering insights into the intersection of migration, legality, and fertility in contemporary Russia and contributes to the cross-national scholarship on migration and reproductive behavior and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classic demographic theories conceptualize desired family size as a fixed goal that guides fertility intentions over the childbearing years. However, a growing body of research shows that fertility plans, even nominally long-term plans for completed childbearing, change in response to short-term conditions. Because of data limitations, much of this research has focused on low-fertility contexts, but short-term conditions are likely to be even more important in high-fertility contexts. This paper uses three waves of survey data collected in rural Mozambique to study predictors of the desire to stop childbearing in a context of relatively high fertility and high individual and social instability. We use fixed effects models to assess how women’s desires to stop childbearing are shaped by demographic factors, household economic conditions, and health status, controlling for constant individual characteristics. Results provide evidence that fertility desires both reflect stable underlying goals and evolve in response to individual and social circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Unlike in most of the world, HIV incidence in the former Soviet Union continues to rise. While international labor migration has been identified as a potentially important contributor to this trend, most attention has been focused on risks of male migrants themselves. This study uses recent household survey data to examine HIV-related perceptions and actions of migrants’ leftbehind wives in Armenia. Multivariate logistic regression analyses show that migrants’ wives are significantly more likely to suspect their husbands of extramarital sex than are non-migrants’ wives. The analyses detect greater worries about HIV infection and a higher likelihood of spousal communication on HIV matters among migrants’ wives, compared to non-migrants’ wives, but these differences are largely explained by the suspicion of husband’s extramarital sex. Finally, no difference between the two categories of women in the probability of consistent condom use with husbands is found. These findings are interpreted within the context of patriarchal culture and unequal gender relations in Armenian society as they are further reinforced by male migration. Implications of these findings for policies to increase women’s awareness of HIV risks associated with migration and their ability to reduce those risks are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Korea was among the first countries to report both an abnormally high sex ratio at birth (SRB) and its subsequent normalization. We examine the role of son preference in driving fertility intentions during a period of declining SRB and consider the contribution of individual characteristics and broader social context to explaining changes in intentions. We employ data from the National Survey on Fertility, Family Health and Welfare that span 1991-2012. We find that reported son preference declined to a great extent but remained substantial by the end of the observation period, and that the intention to have a third child still differed by sex of existing children. Change in individual-level factors does not explain the decline in son preference, suggesting that broad social changes were also important. This study provides a better understanding of how son preference evolves in the post-transitional context of very low fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of international labour migration on human wellbeing and socioeconomic development in communities of origin is an important yet understudied issue in contemporary migration research. This study examines whether men's labour migration from rural Armenia to Russia and other international destinations enhances the economic and social connections of the left-behind households to their communities or, on the contrary, undermines those connections and encourages household members' own migration. Using survey data, it compares families of migrants and non-migrants with respect to ownership of productive and major non-productive assets in the community and women's non-farm labour force participation, their social engagement in the village, and their desires to migrate abroad. The results of statistical tests indicate that men's migration is negatively associated with households' asset ownership and with women's non-farm employment. The results for women's social engagement in their villages are less consistent. Finally, regardless of economic attachment, social engagement, and a host of other factors, wives of migrants were significantly more likely to wish to move abroad than women married to non-migrants, and the difference in propensity to emigrate between migrants' and non-migrants' wives increases with duration of husband's migration. We situate these findings in the context of Central Eurasia's international labour migration system and discuss their implications for future migration trends and for socioeconomic development of Armenia and similar settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on women's reproductive behavior and family planning in developing countries is usually focused on western contraceptive methods and rarely addresses indigenous contraception, such as herbs, amulets, and charms that are believed to prevent pregnancy. However, the available data demonstrate that indigenous contraception is widely known, and its prevalence often rivals that of western methods. Based on qualitative data collected in Greater Maputo, Mozambique, in 1993, this study explores and analyzes women's choice between western methods--mainly oral contraceptives, intra-uterine devices and injectables--available from state-run family planning clinics, and indigenous contraception, a combination of herbal and magical medicine, provided by traditional healers. The study demonstrates that women's choice between the two types of methods is determined by their sociodemographic characteristics and cultural background, access to these methods, perceptions of the effectiveness and undesirable side-effects of these methods, and by restrictions imposed by the providers. Although indigenous methods may not compete with western contraception in the long run, their present-day persistence warrants the attention of scholars and policymakers who intend to integrate women's concerns and constraints in the design of family planning systems. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: getinfo@haworthpressinc.com]

The influence of religion on health remains a subject of considerable debate both in developed and developing settings. This study examines the connection between the religious affiliation of the mother and under-five mortality in Mozambique. It uses unique retrospective survey data collected in a predominantly Christian area in Mozambique to compare under-five mortality between children of women affiliated to organized religion and children of non-affiliated women. It finds that mother's affiliation to any religious organization, as compared with non-affiliation, has a significant positive effect on child survival net of education and other socio-demographic factors. When the effects of affiliation to specific denominational groups are examined, only affiliation to the Catholic or mainstream Protestant churches and affiliation to Apostolic churches are significantly associated with improved child survival. It is argued that the advantages of these groups may be achieved through different mechanisms: the favourable effect on child survival of having mothers affiliated to the Catholic or mainstream Protestant churches is probably due to these churches' stronger connections to the health sector, while the beneficial effect of having an Apostolic mother is probably related to strong social ties and mutual support in Apostolic congregations. The findings thus shed light on multiple pathways through which organized religion can affect child health and survival in sub-Saharan Africa and similar developing settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study employs survey data from rural Mozambique to examine how men's labor migration affects their non-migrating wives' perceptions of HIV/AIDS risks. Using a conceptual framework centered on tradeoffs between economic security and health risks that men's migration entails for their left-behind wives, it compares women married to migrants and those married to non-migrants while also distinguishing between economically successful and unsuccessful migration. The analysis finds that the economic success of men's migration, rather than migration itself, significantly predicts women's worries about getting infected by their husbands or their own extramarital partners, and their husbands' stance on condom use. These findings are situated within a broader context of socio-economic, gender, and marital dynamics and vulnerabilities produced or amplified by male labor migration in sub-Saharan and similar developing settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using survey and ethnographic data collected in Maputo, Mozambique, in 1993, this study focuses on the socio-economic and reproductive characteristics of a group of women who were forced to flee from rural areas to Maputo as a result of a prolonged civil conflict. The study finds that due to adverse individual and contextual factors, displaced women are spatially and socially isolated and economically marginalized in that urban setting. Religious participation offers one of the few channels for their integration into the mainstream society, but its effectiveness is questioned. The social isolation of this group of women is demonstrated by their reproductive and contraceptive characteristics. Although internally displaced women may eventually adjust to the urban environment, heir disadvantaged situation may make this adjustment particularly lengthy and painful. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Background: Access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services is critical for such outcomes as pregnancy and birth, prenatal and neonatal mortality, maternal morbidity and mortality, and prevention of vertical transmission of infections like HIV. Health facilities are typically set up where they can efficiently serve the nearby targeted population. However, the actual utilization of health care can be complicated as people sometimes bypass the closest or nearby facilities for various reasons such as service quality. A better understanding of how people actually utilize health services can benefit future health resource allocation as well as health program planning.Methods: In this study, we use prenatal care as an example of a basic, widely available service to investigate women's choice and bypassing of SRH facilities as well as potential influencing factors at the geographic, clinic, household, and individual levels. The data come from a population-based survey of women of reproductive age in rural Mozambique. The spatial pattern of utilization of health clinics for prenatal care is explored by geographical information system (GIS)-based spatial analysis. Logistic regression is fitted to test the hypotheses regarding the effect of distance, service quality, and household/individual-level factors on the bypassing of the nearest clinic.Results: The results indicate that most women living near clinics tend to utilize the closest facilities for prenatal care and those who travel farther mainly do so to seek better services. Further, for women who live far from a clinic (> 5.5 km), service quality still plays an important role in the facility bypassing while the effect of distance is no longer significant. The bypassing of nearest facility is also affected by individual characteristics such as age, HIV status, and household economic conditions.Conclusions: The findings help to better understand health facility choice and bypassing in developing settings, in general, and in resource-limited Sub-Saharan settings, in particular. They offer valuable guidance for future health resource allocation and health service planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]