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Labor migration is a massive global reality, and its effects on the well-being of nonmigrating household members vary considerably. However, much existing research is limited to cross-sectional or short-term assessments of these effects. This study uses unique longitudinal panel data collected over 12 years in rural Mozambique to examine long-term connections of womens exposure to husbands labor migration with womens material security, their perception of their households relative economic standing in the community, their overall life satisfaction, and their expectations of future improvements in household conditions. To capture the cumulative quality of such exposure, we use two approaches: one based on migrant remittances (objective) and the other based on womans own assessment of migrations impact on the household (subjective). The multivariable analyses detect a significant positive association between objective migration quality and household assets, regardless of womens current marital status and other characteristics. However, net of household assets, objective quality shows a positive association with life satisfaction, but not with perceived relative standing of the household or future expectations. In comparison, subjective quality is positively associated with all the outcomes even after controlling for other characteristics. These findings illustrate the gendered complexities of long-term migration impact on nonmigrants well-being.

Connections between labour migration and food security of left-behind households are still poorly understood. Using data from two waves of a longitudinal survey conducted among ever-married women in rural Mozambique, we employ multi-level ordered logit and negative binomial regressions to examine over time three possible pathways linking mens migration and its economic success to food security of left-behind households-agricultural investment, household material assets and womens local gainful employment. Our analyses find a significant positive association between migrations success, proxied by remittances, and food security and show that this association is largely mediated by households possession of material assets.

The study contributes to the understanding of the societal impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in the Global South by examining longer term implications of pandemic-induced disruptions and deprivations for social ties and psychosocial well-being. Using data from a survey of middle-aged women in rural Mozambique, the author finds a negative association between the pandemic-triggered household economic decline and perceived changes in the quality of relations with marital partners, non-coresident children, and relatives, but not with generally more distant actors, such as coreligionists and neighbors. In turn, multivariable analyses detect a positive association of changes in the quality of family and kin ties with participants' life satisfaction, regardless of other factors. Yet women's expectations for changes in their household living conditions in the near future show a significant association only with changes in the quality of relations with marital partners. The author situates these findings within the context of women's enduring vulnerabilities in low-income patriarchal settings.

As the rest of the developing world, Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced profound transformations in the institution of marriage. Yet, unlike most other regions, polygyny has remained widespread across the subcontinent. There is, however, evidence to suggest that the practice of polygyny is declining and that selection into polygynous unions based on sociodemographic characteristics is increasing assub-Saharan Africa undergoes rapid sociocultural, demographic, and economic change. Using data from 111 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 27 countries since the 1990s, we study recent trends in the prevalence of polygyny among currently married women, examine sociodemographic characteristics of women in polygynous unions, and test whether selection on these characteristics into polygynous unions has increased over time. We find that, net of other factors, the likelihood of being in a polygynous union has declined in most countries. We show that women who are less educated, non-Christian, and living in rural areas are more likely to be in a polygynous union and that in many countries, selection into polygynous unions on these characteristics has been growing. These findings contribute to the broader literature on marital and family change by providing new insights into recent trends in and patterns of polygyny across the subcontinent.

Premarital sex is normatively unacceptable in Afghanistan, yet rapid social and cultural transformation in the country may be changing these traditional norms. In dialogue with cross-national scholarship, we examine attitudes toward premarital sex and experience of premarital sexual behaviours among urban Afghan youth. We use data from 1256 never married individuals aged 15-29 surveyed in ten Afghan cities. The results show that respondents, on average, have moderately liberal attitudes toward premarital sex and that almost one quarter of them had engaged in either sexual foreplay or penetrative intercourse. Multivariable results indicate that premarital sexual attitudes and behaviours were significantly associated with several individual-level characteristics, family and intergenerational relationships, and social ties and interactions. At the same time, instructive gender variations emerge. The findings illustrate the dynamics of premarital sexual relations in this and similar contexts where such relations are traditionally stigmatised but multifaceted, societal changes increasingly challenge this stigma.

Considerable research in western, low-fertility contexts has examined minority-vs.-majority fertility differentials, typically focusing on minority groups cultural idiosyncrasies and on socioeconomic disadvantages associated with minority status. However, the formation and functioning of ethnic complexities outside the western world often diverge from the standard western model and so may their impact on fertility preferences, behavior, and outcomes. We expand on the previous research by analyzing ethnic variation in completed and desired fertility in the multiethnic transitional setting of Kyrgyzstan, where ethnic groups and their ethnolinguistic subparts are characterized by both different stages of the demographic transition and different positioning in the socioeconomic and political hierarchies. Using combined data from two rounds of a nationally representative survey, we find that ethnic-specific levels of completed fertility generally align with culturally shaped group-level normative propensities. In contrast, in desires to have a(nother) child, the ranking of the ethnic segments is more reflective of their collective societal positioning, with more disadvantaged segments having lower fertility desires, regardless of actual number of children and various other characteristics. We also find that ethnic homophily of respondents social milieu and their optimism about the future of their ethnic group are positively associated with fertility desires, even though these associations are more potently present among women, compared to men. We relate our findings to the extant scholarship and reflect on their implications for a better understanding of ethno-racial fertility dynamics and differentials in transitional contexts.

Post-imperial ethnic identities and divides are often constructed and construed through direct and indirect references to imperial legacies. In this study, we use nationally representative survey data to examine proficiency, use, and valuation of the Russian language - a major such legacy of the Soviet empire - in Kyrgyzstan, a multiethnic Central Asian nation with a long and complex history of ethnic and regional cleavages. The multivariable analyses produce instructive net variations in Russian proficiency and use across regional subgroups of ethnic Kyrgyz, the titular ethnicity, and between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, a marginalized ethnic minority. The analyses also show that the command and use of Russian increase with community ethnic heterogeneity. Yet, no variations along these axes are found in the perceived importance of Russian language knowledge for success in the domestic labour market. These findings are situated within the interconnected contexts of historical ethnolinguistic legacies, dynamics of nation-building, and geopolitics.

Legal status has shown far-reaching consequences for international migrants' incorporation trajectories and outcomes in Western contexts. In dialogue with the extant research, we examine the implications of legal status for subjective well-being of Central Asian migrant women in the Russian Federation. Using survey data collected through respondent-driven sampling in two large cities, we compare migrants with regularized and irregular legal statuses on several interrelated yet distinct dimensions of subjective well-being. We find that, regardless of other factors, regularized status has a strong positive association with migrants' perception of their rights and freedoms but not with their feeling of being respected in society. Regularized status is positively associated with self-efficacy and negatively with depression. Yet, no net legal status difference is found in migrants' views on their relations with other migrants or on treatment of migrants by native-borns. The findings are situated within the cross-national scholarship on the ramifications of racialized immigrant (il)legality and its implications for membership and belonging.

Considerable cross-national research has examined the impact of international labor migration on livelihoods in sending households and communities. Although findings vary across contexts, the general underlying assumption of this research is that migration represents a novel income-generating alternative to local employment. While engaging with this assumption, we also argue that in many sending communities where labor migration has been going on for generations, it is the decision not to migrate and instead to pursue local livelihood opportunities that might constitute a true departure from the expected behavior. Importantly, both the decisions to migrate and not to migrate are part of a household strategy shaped by gendered negotiation and bargaining. Building on these propositions, we use rich survey data from rural Mozambique, a typical setting of long-established large-scale international male labor out-migration, to examine married women's gainful employment outside subsistence agriculture as it relates to their husbands' migration or local work. We find a somewhat lower likelihood of employment among migrants' wives, compared with nonmigrants' wives, and this pattern strengthens with increased duration of migration. However, we also find substantial differences among nonmigrants' wives: women married to locally employed men have themselves by far the highest probability of employment, while wives of nonemployed men are no different from migrants' wives, net of other factors. These findings are discussed in light of interconnected gendered complexities of both migration-related and local labor market constraints and choices.

The Russian Federation is a major immigrant-receiving nation and hosts large immigrant populations from post-Soviet countries including Central Asia. However, there is yet little research on their health needs, and especially on mental health of immigrant women. This study uses qualitative data from 72 interviews with women from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan conducted in two large cities in Central Russia, Kazan and Nizhny Novgorod, from April 2014 to February 2017. This study examines psychological distress among immigrant women and applies a gendered socioecological lens to understand its causes. We have identified intersecting factors that operate at different levels and cause distress in Central Asian immigrant women in Russia. Gendered vulnerabilities, persistent worry about their families well-being, separation from loved ones, and limited sources of social support are key individual and interpersonal level of distress factors. Poor working and housing conditions along with economic hardships and concerns over their ability to reach the goals that guided their decisions to move to Russia reinforce experienced distress among immigrant women. Discrimination against Central Asian nationals and structural racism amplify challenges for immigrants psychological well-being and mental health in Russia. By investigating underlying factors of psychological distress among an understudied immigrant population, this study defines configurations of Russias risk environment and contributes to an understanding of migration as an important determinant of mental health.

OBJECTIVE: The study examines the association between polygyny and intimate partner violence (IPV) by focusing on the Muslim-vs.-Christian context of polygyny and on co-wives rank. BACKGROUND: Although prior research points to a higher incidence of IPV in polygynous unions, the association between polygyny and IPV are not well understood. In particular, the role of broader cultural and religious context of marriage and its connection with intra-marital dynamics have not been examined. METHOD: The study uses pooled data on over 42,000 women from the 2008, 2013 and 2018 rounds of the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey to examine the association of polygynous versus monogamous status of marriage, of Muslim versus Christian religious affiliation, and of co-wife rank within polygynous unions in both religions with womens reported experience of physical, emotional, and sexual IPV. Multivariate logit and propensity score models (PSM) are fitted, and the Rosenbaum bounds test is used to gauge the robustness of PSM results. RESULTS: Results show a clear disadvantage of polygynously married women, compared to monogamously married ones; IPV experience is more common among Christians than Muslims. Among women in polygynous marriages, senior wives are more likely to experience IPV than junior wives, but this difference is more pronounced among Christians. Results of a Rosenbaum bounds analysis indicate that unobserved selectivity does not present a challenge to causality between polygyny/wife rank and IPV, particularly when analyses are disaggregated by religion. CONCLUSION: Findings reflect multi-dimensional gender inequalities embedded in the institution of polygynous marriage and their harmful consequences for womens health and well-being.

ObjectiveThis study examines trends over several decades in bridewealth marriage and analyzes the association of bridewealth with women's experiences in marriage in a rural sub-Saharan setting.BackgroundBridewealth - payments from the groom's to the bride's family as part of the marriage process - has long been a central element of kinship and marriage systems in patrilineal sub-Saharan Africa. This payment, which symbolizes the transfer of sexual and reproductive rights from the wife's to the husband's family, is grounded in a collectivist-oriented family system that closely ties women's status and value to their reproductive capacity.MethodThe study draws on population-based longitudinal survey data collected in 2006, 2009, and 2011 from 1,552 women in rural Mozambique. We use multivariable regression to investigate whether year of marriage predicts being in a bridewealth marriage and whether bridewealth status predicts marital dissolution, women's decision-making autonomy, women's work outside of subsistence agriculture, or modern contraceptive use.ResultsThe proportion of marriages involving bridewealth payment has declined over time. While no difference by bridewealth status exists in women's autonomy levels or modern contraceptive use, women in bridewealth marriages are less likely to divorce over a five-year period and less likely to work outside of subsistence agriculture, net of other factors.ConclusionThese findings reflect the complexity of a modernizing marriage system. With the decline of bridewealth marriage, its meaning has evolved, becoming increasingly indicative of individual wealth and status rather than family control.

Labor migration is widespread and growing across the world. As migration grows, the economic outcomes of migration increasingly diversify, and so do its consequences for the well-being and health of both migrants and non-migrating household members. A considerable body of scholarship has examined the effects of migration on the physical and mental health of 'left-behind' household members. The impact of migration on mortality, particularly of non-migrating marital partners, is less well understood. Addressing this gap, we use data from a longitudinal survey of married women conducted over twelve years in rural Mozambique to examine the association between men's labor out-migration and their non-migrating wives' mortality. The analyses detect no significant differences when comparing non-migrants' wives to migrants' wives in the aggregate but point to instructive variation among migrants' wives according to the economic success of migration, as measured by the effects of migration on the household's material well-being. Specifically, women married to less successful migrants had higher mortality risks over the project span than women married to more successful migrants, regardless of other individual and household-level factors. Importantly for this setting with high HIV prevalence, the advantage of wives of more successful migrants is significant for HIV/AIDS-unrelated deaths but not for HIV/AIDS-related deaths. We situate these findings within the cross-national scholarship on migration and health.

ObjectiveThis study contributes to a better understanding of the role of Christianity in the persistence of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa.BackgroundMarital systems and practices are closely connected to religious norms, but these connections are often complex and contradictory. Polygynous marriage remains widespread in sub-Saharan Africa, including its heavily Christianized parts, where public opposition to it should be strongest.MethodsThe study analyzes a rich combination of quantitative and qualitative data from a predominantly Christian district in Mozambique. The data include a household-based survey, a census of the district's religious congregations, and focus group discussions and individual interviews with leaders and rank-and-file members of various churches.ResultsThe multivariate statistical tests point to instructive denominational differences in the prevalence and acceptance of polygyny, with the starkest contrast being between two types of African Initiated Churches - one that is more lenient on pre-Christian practices and the other that is vehemently opposed to them. These tests also show a contrast between church leaders and rank-and-file members, the latter being generally more accepting of polygyny, and illustrate variations in acceptability of polygyny across different church membership scenarios. The analysis of the qualitative data complements the statistical tests by highlighting ideological and social mechanisms through which polygynous marriage is both rejected and legitimized in Christian communities.ConclusionBoth condemnation and toleration of polygyny by Christian churches reflect the complexities of the transformation of sub-Saharan marital systems and of the role that religion plays in that process.

Polygyny has shown a positive association with intimate partner violence (IPV), yet the nature and mechanisms of this association are not well understood. This study uses data from rural Mozambique to distinguish women in polygynous unions by rank and co-residence. Findings show that senior wives report higher rates of violence than their junior-wife and monogamously married counterparts. At the same time, no difference is detected between junior wives and women in monogamous marriages. Additionally, the analysis finds that polygynously married women living away from their co-wives report higher rates of violence than both women co-residing with co-wives and women in monogamous unions, while the difference between the latter two categories is not statistically significant. However, the results also indicate that senior wives living away from their co-wives face particularly high risks of violence. These findings illustrate the social complexity of polygynous marriages and resulting differential vulnerabilities of women in them.

A growing body of research has argued that the traditional categories of stopping and spacing are insufficient to understand why individuals want to control fertility. In a series of articles, Timæus, Moultrie, and colleagues defined a third type of fertility motivation-postponement-that reflects a desire to avoid childbearing in the short term without clear goals for long-term fertility. Although postponement is fundamentally a description of fertility desires, existing quantitative research has primarily studied fertility behavior in an effort to find evidence for the model. In this study, we use longitudinal survey data to consider whether postponement can be identified in standard measures of fertility desires among reproductive-age women in rural Mozambique. Findings show strong evidence for a postponement mindset in this population, but postponement coexists with stopping and spacing goals. We reflect on the difference between birth spacing and postponement and consider whether and how postponement is a distinctive sub-Saharan phenomenon.

CONTEXT:Research on institutional child delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa typically focuses on availability and accessibility of health facilities. Cultural factors, including religion, that may facilitate or hinder the use of such services have not been well examined and remain poorly understood. METHODS:The relationship between religious affiliation and delivery in a health facility was explored using data from a household survey of 1,297 women aged 18-50 and a census of 825 religious congregations, both conducted in a predominantly Christian district in Mozambique in 2008. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were conducted to predict the likelihood of recent institutional delivery according to both individual religious affiliation and the concentration of religious congregations of certain denominations in the community of residence. RESULTS:Approximately 63% of deliveries occurred in a health facility. The odds of such deliveries were lower among women who belonged to Apostolic churches or had no religious affiliation than among members of Catholic or mainline Protestant churches, net of other factors (odds ratios, 0.5 and 0.6, respectively). In addition, regardless of a woman's religion, the odds that she had an institutional delivery increased by 9% for each additional Catholic or mainline Protestant congregation in her community of residence (1.1). CONCLUSIONS:Organized religion is associated with critical health outcomes in Mozambique and, potentially, in other Sub-Saharan African contexts. Policymakers should consider designing programs and interventions that promote the use of institutional delivery services among members of religious groups characterized by low use of these services and in areas where such religious groups have a strong presence.

BackgroundAccess 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.MethodsIn 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionsThe 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.

The large and growing denominational diversity of sub-Saharan Christianity has attracted considerable scholarly attention, but its implications for individual experiences and well-being remain poorly understood. I examine women's perceptions, assessments, and practices in everyday construction of church idiosyncrasies, clustering, and hierarchies and women's abilities and propensities to navigate along and across the corresponding organisational boundaries in a predominantly Christian setting in rural Mozambique. The analysis uses a combination of data from a census of religious congregations, a household survey, in-depth interviews, and participant observation conducted over a decade. It demonstrates that women's church involvement is socially indispensable yet also subjectively non-binding. Accordingly, church boundaries, while clearly delineated and recognised, are also seen as highly permeable. This permeability facilitates the crossing of those boundaries but may also disincentivise such crossing. Although rural women are increasingly capable of navigating through the religious space, they are generally precluded from exiting that space altogether, as secular options for non-family social anchoring remain very limited in this and other similar low-income patriarchal contexts. [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.

ObjectivesTo examine how the contraceptive behavior of women in rural southern Mozambique is shaped by their individual and household characteristics; community characteristics; access to family planning services; and characteristics of health facilities.MethodsQuantitative and qualitative data were collected mostly between January 20 and December 15, 2011, in rural areas of four districts in Gaza Province, Mozambique. The data included: a retrospective household-based survey of women of reproductive age (the analytical sample consisted of 1554 non-pregnant women in marital union); qualitative interviews with a subsample of surveyed women; a survey of communities where the women resided (n=56); and a survey of all health facilities in the study area (n=56). Binomial and multinomial logistic models were fitted to predict current use of modern contraceptive methods. Statistical analyses were complemented by insights from qualitative data.ResultsPositive associations were detected between contraceptive use and education, household wealth, and perceived HIV infection status. Distance to the clinic was negatively associated with contraceptive use. These effects were additive, with some varying by type of contraceptive method. Examination of qualitative data highlighted frequent cognitive dissonance between service providers and users.ConclusionA simultaneous consideration of user-level and provider-level perspectives on contraceptive use improves our understanding of contraceptive dynamics and can usefully inform policy.

BackgroundWomen's decision-making autonomy in developing settings has been shown to improve child survival and health outcomes. However, little research has addressed possible connections between women's autonomy and children's schooling.ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between rural women's decision-making autonomy and enrollment status of primary school-age children living in their households and how this relationship differs by child's gender.MethodsThe analysis uses data from a 2009 survey of rural households in four districts of Gaza province in southern Mozambique. Multilevel logistic models predict the probability of being in school for children between 6 and 14 years old.ResultsThe results show a positive association of women's decision-making autonomy with the probability of being enrolled in primary school for daughters, but not for sons. The effect of women's autonomy is net of other women's characteristics typically associated with enrollment and does not mediate the effects of those characteristics.ConclusionsBased on the results, we argue that women with higher levels of decision-making autonomy may have a stronger preference for daughters' schooling and may have a greater say in making and implementing decisions regarding daughters' education, compared to women with lower autonomy levels. Results also illustrate a need for considering a broader set of autonomy-related characteristics when examining the effects of women's status on children's educational outcomes.

The massive scale-up of HIV counseling, testing, and treatment services in resource-limited sub-Saharan settings with high HIV prevalence has significant implications for the course of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It also offers important broader policy lessons for improving access to critical health services. Applying GIS-based methods and multilevel regression analysis to unique longitudinal three-wave survey data from rural Mozambique, this study investigates the impact of a rapid expansion of HIV-related services on access to and utilization of HIV testing. The results illustrate the declining importance of spatial barriers to utilization of HIV testing services as these services expanded. In addition, the expansion of HIV-related services decreased the spatial variability of HIV testing among the survey respondents. At the same time, some important non-spatial variation, such as that in educational level, persisted despite the expansion of services. These results illustrate the process and consequences of health service diffusion.

Objective: The study deploys an ethnolinguistic conceptual framework to examine variations in different dimensions of marital conservatism in the Kyrgyz Republic, a post-Soviet nation in Central Asia, focusing on enduring, yet evolving, Russian linguo-cultural influence. Background: The global transformation of family and marriage systems has produced diverse local normative patterns that are historically rooted but are also reflective of context-specific contemporary socio-cultural, political, and economic transitions. The study investigates these patterns in a multi-ethnic setting where Soviet-era legacies, culturally pivoted on the use of the Russian language, have combined with post-Soviet exposure to both Western influences and rising neotraditionalism. Method: The study uses data from two rounds of a nationally representative cross-sectional householdbased survey, with each round including standardized interviews with over 2000 men and women aged 18-49. Multi-level regression models are fitted to predict ethnolinguistic variations in attitudes toward premarital chastity, optimal marriage age, support for parental preeminence in marital decisions, support for ethnic endogamy, and opposition to divorce, while accounting for universal correlates of marital conservatism, such as education, religiosity, and urbanicity. For most outcomes, the analyses examine separately how these attitudes apply to women versus men. Results: The results demonstrate the persistent normative imprints of the Russian linguistic and cultural influence but also instructive variations in them across the specific outcomes. They also suggest an overall rise in some aspects of marital conservatism. Conclusion: The findings elucidate the unique multidimensional complexities of family and marital change in transitional Eurasia, yet also its similarities with other post-colonial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Utilization of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services can significantly impact health outcomes, such as pregnancy and birth, prenatal and neonatal mortality, maternal morbidity and mortality, and vertical transmission of infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS. It has long been recognized that access to SRH services is essential to positive health outcomes, especially in rural areas of developing countries, where long distances as well as poor transportation conditions, can be potential barriers to health care acquisition. Improving accessibility of health services for target populations is therefore critical for specialized healthcare programs. Thus, understanding and evaluation of current access to health care is crucial. Combining spatial information using geographical information system (GIS) with population survey data, this study details a gravity model-based method to measure and evaluate access to SRH services in rural Mozambique, and analyzes potential geographic access to such services, using family planning as an example. Access is found to be a significant factor in reported behavior, superior to traditional distance-based indicators. Spatial disparities in geographic access among different population groups also appear to exist, likely affecting overall program success.

This study brings together the literature on social network approaches to social capital and health and on migration and HIV risks to examine how non-migrating wives of labor migrants use their personal networks to cope with perceived risks of HIV infection in rural southern Mozambique. Using data from a 2006 survey of 1,680 women and their dyadic interactions, we compare the composition of personal networks, HIV/AIDS communication, and preventive behavior of women married to migrants and those married to non-migrants. Results show that migrants' wives were more likely than non-migrants' wives to have other migrants' wives as personal network members, to engage in HIV/AIDS communication, and to discuss HIV prevention. However, they were no more likely to talk about HIV/AIDS with migrants' wives than with non-migrants' wives. They were also no more likely to talk about AIDS and its prevention than non-migrants' wives who express worry about HIV infection from their spouses. Finally, we detect that network members' prevention behavior was similar to respondents', although this did not depend on migration. We contextualize these findings within the literature and discuss their policy implications.