Drought and migration: a case study of rural Mozambique.

Migration is commonly seen as a last resort for households impacted by climate shocks, given the costs and risks that migration typically entails. However, pre-existing labor migration channels may facilitate immediate migration decisions in response to climate shocks. This study explores the relationship between migration and droughts in a rural Sub-Saharan setting from which men commonly migrate in search of non-agricultural employment. We use data from the Men's Migrations and Women's Lives project, which includes a longitudinal household panel conducted in rural Mozambique between 2006 and 2017, and combine it with the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index, a high-resolution climate measure. The fixed-effect models assess the lagged impact of droughts on the labor migration status of male household heads. We find an immediate increase in migration following a drought, peaking in the first year, then diminishing in the second year, with a slight resurgence in the third year. However, by the sixth-year post-drought, the likelihood of being a migrant turns negative. These findings demonstrate the complex associations of climate shocks with labor migration in low-income rural settings.

Labour migration and food security in rural Mozambique: Do agricultural investment, asset building and local employment matter?

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 men's migration and its economic success to food security of left-behind households-agricultural investment, household material assets and women's local gainful employment. Our analyses find a significant positive association between migration's success, proxied by remittances, and food security and show that this association is largely mediated by household's possession of material assets.

Long-term Consequences of Men's Migration for Women's Well-being in a Rural African Setting.

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 women's exposure to husband's labor migration with women's 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 woman's own assessment of migration's impact on the household ("subjective"). The multivariable analyses detect a significant positive association between "objective" migration quality and household assets, regardless of women's 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.

The COVID-19 Pandemic, Social Ties, and Psychosocial Well-Being of Middle-Aged Women in Rural Africa.

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.

(Il)legality and psychosocial well-being: Central Asian migrant women in Russia.

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.

Imperial legacies, nation building, and geopolitics: ethno-regional divides and the Russian language in Central Asia.

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.

The Contradictions of Liminal Legality: Economic Attainment and Civic Engagement of Central American Immigrants on Temporary Protected Status.

This study examines how Temporary Protected Status (TPS) may shape immigrants' integration trajectories. Building on core themes identified in the immigrant incorporation scholarship, it investigates whether associations of educational attainment with labor market outcomes and with civic participation, which are well established in the general population, hold for immigrants who live in the "liminal legality" of TPS. Conducted in 2016 in five U.S. metropolitan areas, the study is based on a unique survey of Salvadoran and Honduran TPS holders, the majority of immigrants on this status. The analyses find that TPS holders with higher levels of educational attainment do not derive commensurate significant occupational or earnings premiums from their education. In contrast, the analysis of the relationship between educational attainment and civic engagement detects a positive association: more educated TPS holders are more likely to be members of community organizations and to participate in voluntary community service, compared to their less educated counterparts. These findings illustrate the contradictions inherent to TPS as it may hinder certain aspects of immigrant integration but not others. This examination contributes to our understanding of the implications of immigrants' legal statuses and of immigration law and policy for key aspects of immigrant integration trajectories.

Group Normative Propensities, Societal Positioning, and Childbearing: Ethno­linguistic Variation in Completed and Desired Fertility in Transitional Central Asia.

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.

The Transformation of Polygyny in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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.

Challenging the stigma of premarital sex in urban Afghanistan.

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.

When leaving is normal and staying is novel: Men's labor migration and women's employment in rural Mozambique.

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.

Bridewealth Marriage in the 21st Century: A Case Study from Rural Mozambique.

OBJECTIVE: This 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. BACKGROUND: Bridewealth - 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. METHOD: The 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. RESULTS: The 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. CONCLUSION: These 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.

Men's migration and women's mortality in rural Mozambique.

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.

Worry, work, discrimination: Socioecological model of psychological distress among Central Asian immigrant women in Russia.

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 Russia's risk environment and contributes to an understanding of migration as an important determinant of mental health.

Revisiting the polygyny and intimate partner violence connection: The role of religion and wife's rank in Nigeria.

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 women's 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 women's health and well-being.

Condemned and Condoned: Polygynous Marriage in Christian Africa.

OBJECTIVE: This study contributes to a better understanding of the role of Christianity in the persistence of polygyny in sub-Saharan Africa. BACKGROUND: Marital 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. METHODS: The 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. RESULTS: The 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. CONCLUSION: Both 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 and Intimate Partner Violence in Mozambique.

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.

Religion and Use of Institutional Child Delivery Services: Individual and Contextual Pathways in Mozambique.

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.

RESUMEN Contexto: La investigación sobre los servicios institucionales de parto en África Subsahariana se enfoca generalmente en la disponibilidad y accesibilidad de las instituciones de salud. Los factores culturales, incluida la religión, que pueden facilitar o dificultar el uso de dichos servicios no han sido examinados a fondo y siguen siendo deficientemente comprendidos. Métodos: Se exploró la relación entre la afiliación religiosa y el hecho de atender el parto en una institución de salud mediante el uso de datos de una encuesta de hogares de 1,297 mujeres en edades de 18­50 años y un censo de 825 congregaciones religiosas. Ambos estudios se llevaron a cabo en 2008, en un distrito predominantemente cristiano en Mozambique. Se realizaron análisis de regresión logística multinivel para predecir la probabilidad de un parto institucional reciente con base tanto en la afiliación religiosa individual como en la concentración de congregaciones religiosas de ciertas denominaciones en la comunidad de residencia. Resultados: Aproximadamente, el 63% de los partos tuvieron lugar en una institución de salud. Las probabilidades de ese tipo de partos fueron menores en mujeres que pertenecían a las iglesias apostólicas (razón de probabilidades, 0.5) o que no tenían una afiliación religiosa (0.6), que en miembros de las iglesias católica o protestantes históricas, independientemente de otros factores. Además, sin importar la religión, las probabilidades de que una mujer hubiera tenido un parto institucional aumentaron en 9% por cada congregación católica o protestante histórica adicional en su comunidad de residencia (1.1). Conclusiones: La religión organizada puede tener una influencia fundamental en los resultados de salud en Mozambique y, potencialmente, en otros contextos de África subsahariana. Los encargados de formular políticas deben considerar el diseño de programas e intervenciones que promuevan el uso de servicios de parto institucionales entre miembros de grupos religiosos caracterizados por un reducido uso de estos servicios y en áreas en donde tales grupos religiosos tienen una presencia significativa.

RÉSUMÉ Contexte: La recherche sur l'accouchement médicalisé en Afrique subsaharienne se concentre généralement sur la disponibilité et l'accessibilité de structures sanitaires. Les facteurs culturels, y compris la religion, qui peuvent faciliter ou entraver le recours à ces services ne sont guère examinés et restent mal compris. Méthodes: Le rapport entre l'affiliation religieuse et l'accouchement en établissement de santé a été étudié sur la base des données d'une enquête de ménages concernant 1 297 femmes âgées de 18 à 50 ans et d'un recensement de 825 congrégations religieuses, menés tous deux dans un district principalement chrétien du Mozambique en 2008. Des analyses de régression logistique multiniveaux ont été effectuées pour prédire la probabilité d'un accouchement récent en milieu médicalisé en fonction de l'affiliation religieuse individuelle et de la concentration de congrégations religieuses de certaines confessions dans la communauté de résidence. Résultats: Environ 63% des accouchements avaient eu lieu en structure sanitaire. La probabilité de ces accouchements était moindre parmi les femmes membres d'Églises apostoliques (RC, 0,5) ou sans affiliation religieuse (0,6), par rapport aux membres de l'Église catholique ou des Églises protestantes traditionnelles, après correction d'autres facteurs. De plus, indépendamment de la religion de la femme, la probabilité qu'elle ait accouché en milieu médicalisé augmentait de 9% par congrégation catholique ou protestante traditionnelle dénombrée dans sa communauté de résidence (1,1). Conclusions: La religion organisée peut affecter d'importants résultats de santé au Mozambique et, potentiellement, dans d'autres contextes d'Afrique subsaharienne. Les décideurs politiques doivent envisager la conception de programmes et d'interventions qui favorisent le recours aux services d'accouchement médicalisé parmi les membres des groupes religieux caractérisés par un faible recours à ces services et dans les zones où ces groupes ont une forte présence.

Economic Swings, Political Instability and Migration in Kyrgyzstan.

Individual-level migration responses to economic fluctuations and political instability remain poorly understood. Using nationally representative survey data from Kyrgyzstan, we look at variations in levels and propensities of internal and temporary international migration and relate them to changes in the economic and political environment in that Central Asian nation in the first decade of the century. A multinomial event history model predicting yearly risks of both types of migration detects no clear association of internal migration risks with episodes of heightened political instability but shows a decrease in those risks in response to the strongest economic shock of the observation period. In comparison, international migration risks, while also insensitive to political turmoil, appear to increase at the time of the most pronounced economic downturn. The results also point to instructive patterns in migration propensities by type of area of residence, education, gender, and ethnicity. These findings are interpreted in light of complex intersections of demography with politics, economy, and culture in this transitional Eurasian setting.

Spacing, Stopping, or Postponing? Fertility Desires in a Sub-Saharan Setting.

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.