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Existing knowledge of how maternal autonomy relates to child undernutrition in Nigeria is few and limited to children under 24 months old. Nothing is known about how it affects older children. Therefore, this study investigated whether mothers’ household autonomy affects children 24–59 months, as do children under 24 months old. We used data from 2018 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey, which is a nationally representative survey. Samples include 3502 and 5463 children under 24 months and between 24 and 59 months old, respectively. Three anthropometry indexes were used to determine child undernutrition: weight-for-height, height-for-age, and weight-for-age, which indicate wasting, stunting, and underweight, respectively. Three domains of maternal autonomy: decision-making, financial-control, and mobility, were operationalized using responses from mothers. Results from logistic regression analysis show that in unadjusted models, maternal decision-making autonomy and mobility were associated with undernutrition in both samples. After adding covariates, only associations between maternal decision-making autonomy and underweight in children 24–59 months old retained statistical significance. Findings show that gendered social inequalities are linked to differences in child nutritional outcomes. Future studies could investigate how feeding practices mediate associations between maternal autonomy and childhood undernutrition.

IntroductionIn recent decades, there has been a significant increase in childlessness. This paper analysed childlessness in China, specifically examining its socio and regional disparities.MethodsWith data from China’s 2020 population census, supplemented with data from China’s 2010 population census and 2015 inter-censual 1% population sample survey, we used a basic indicator of age-specific childlessness proportion, a decomposition method, and probability distribution models to analyse, fit and project childlessness.ResultsWe presented age-specific childlessness proportions for women as a whole and by socioeconomic features, decomposition and projection results. The childlessness proportion increased markedly from 2010 to 2020, reaching 5.16% for women aged 49. The proportion is highest for city women, followed by township women, and is lowest among village women, at 6.29%, 5.50% and 3.72 % for women aged 49, respectively. The proportion for women aged 49 with high college education or above was 7.98%, and only 4.42% for women with junior high school education. The proportion also exhibits marked provincial discrepancies, and the total fertility rate is negatively correlated with childlessness at the province level. The decomposition results distinguished the different contribution of change in educational structure and change in childlessness proportion for subgroups to the total childlessness proportion change. It is projected that city women, women with high education will have higher childlessness proportion, and the proportion will further increase with the rapid increase in education level and urbanisation.ConclusionsChildlessness has risen to a relatively high level, and varies among women with different characteristics. This should be taken into consideration in China’s countermeasures to reduce childlessness and curtail further fertility decline accordingly.

Sexual harassment is a serious problem, and with a growing population of college students in China, the phenomenon is becoming prevalent. Using the 2010 data from the Third Survey on Chinese Women’s Social Status, we examined relationships between understanding of sexual harassment and experience/response among Chinese college students. The results show that college students understand physical sexual harassment better (88%; unwanted sexual requests: 92%) than verbal and visual sexual harassment (54% and 70%, respectively). Understanding is higher among females than males, with a margin between eight to 21%. At a prevalence of 30%, the experience of verbal sexual harassment is the highest compared to other forms of harassment. Males were more likely to experience verbal and visual sexual harassment, while females were more likely to experience physical sexual harassment. In any event of sexual harassment, expressing dissatisfaction and stopping it is the response strategy that most resonates with respondents. It varied between 62% and 70% across forms of sexual harassment. Reporting to teachers or school authorities resonates least, varying between 0.30% and 2.28%. Understanding sexual harassment was strongly associated with a reduced likelihood of harassment. The equivalent odds ratios varied between 0.41 and 0.33 ( p < .001), or 59–67% reduced likelihood across the forms of sexual harassment. Understanding sexual harassment was also strongly associated with an increased likelihood of not reacting passively or staying silent. Odds ratio varied between 1.99 and 3.86 ( p < .001), about a minimum of twofold increased likelihood. Parents should strive to involve in their children’s sex and sexual rights education, particularly during adolescence, to help them inculcate values against sexual harassment. Also, colleges and universities can bolster their curriculum with elective courses on sex education and regularly organize symposiums on sexual harassment to create a better understanding and awareness among students.

Background: China now faces multiple challenging demographic and public policy problems that have emerged from four decades of sex-selective induced abortions The sex-selective induced abortion of female fetuses has been under-examined quantitatively in China.Methods: Using annual data on the officially registered number of births, induced abortions, and SRB data, we estimate the annual number of sex-selective abortions and then estimated two related proportions over the past decades.Results: The annual proportions and number of selective abortions rose in the 1980s with the strict family planning policy and the diffusion of sex identification technology, remained at a high level between 1990 and 2010, and then declined, totaling 29.70 million. The abortion of second-order female fetuses was the largest proportion of all sex-selective abortions but declined after 2000 partly due to the change in birth composition by order. Children's composition affected sex-selective practice. Village selective abortions accounted for the majority of all selective abortions but decreased markedly in 2010 with changes in birth composition by residence. The rural-urban comparison by order indicated that urban couples were not less likely to abort female fetuses than their rural counterparts. Sex-selective abortions still exhibit provincial differences.Conclusions: In China, due to the long-standing preference for sons, easy access to sex-selective technologies, and the spontaneous fertility decline, the practice of selectively aborting female fetuses would existed for a long time despite China has outlawed such practices, and the imbalanced sex structure may take many years to normalize.

Background Existing knowledge on the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) in the context of Nigeria is minimal and limited to a lifelong measure of IPV experience. An abuse experienced a long time ago may not have as much negative effect as that encountered at a more proximal time to the breastfeeding phase. To this effect, we examined this relationship with maternal IPV experienced around the time of pregnancy and postpartum. Method We analyzed data from the 2013 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. The sample includes 2668 breastfeeding mothers having a child aged under 6 months. The outcome variable was EBF or mixed-feeding (24 h recall). The exposure variables were: the maternal experience of psychological, physical, and sexual intimate partner violence. Also, there was an experience of any form of IPV and frequency score of intimate partner violence. Analysis includes chi-square and t-test bivariates, complete case and imputed logistic regressions for binary outcome. Results In the imputed analysis, compared to mothers who experienced no IPV, those who experienced IPV had a 26% reduced likelihood of EBF practice (AOR 0.74; 95% CI 0.55, 1.00). Also, a unit dose of maternal IPV experience was associated with a 5% reduced likelihood of EBF practice (AOR 0.69; 95% CI 0.49, 0.98). Among the three forms of IPV, physical IPV had the highest effect size. Physical IPV was associated with a 37% reduced likelihood of EBF practice (AOR 0.63; 95% CI 0.44, 0.90), while psychological IPV was associated with a 34% reduced likelihood of EBF practice (AOR 0.66; 95% CI 0.47, 0.92), when compared to the respective reference groups. On the other hand, those who reported sexual IPV were just as likely to breastfeed as those who did not (AOR 0.94; 95% CI 0.62, 1.41). Conclusions In this study, maternal IPV is associated with EBF practice. Policies aimed at promoting EBF should also be framed to combat IPV against pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Based on social influence theory, the Risk-Coping-Social Appraisal model, and data on land desertification, its social influence, and the adaptive measures of 506 households surveyed in Ordos and Bayan Nur, Inner Mongolia, China, we used the Heckman two-stage model and a multinomial logistic model and found the following. First, the perception of land desertification was a prerequisite for eco-migrants to employ adaptive strategies but did not necessarily indicate the adoption of adaptive countermeasures. Second, the social influences eco-migrants experienced at their resettlement site had a significant effect on their ability to employ countermeasures to land desertification. Third, asset variables that reflected migrant's coping ability positively affected perceptions of land desertification and subsequent adaptive countermeasures. To mitigate the negative effects of climate change and land desertification, the local government should encourage migrants to accumulate assets and help migrants to integrate into their new community. This can be achieved by propagandizing information on climate change through a range of channels, diversifying publicity content, and guiding migrants to learn about new technologies and methods for reducing land desertification to minimize related economic losses.

ObjectivesWith the postponement in age at marriage, increase in life expectancy, and acceptance of divorce in China, the marital duration in each state has changed gradually. This study seeks to depict the trends and gender differences of marital duration in China from 1982 to 2015.DesignWe calculated and depicted the trends of and gender differences in marital duration, including single, marriage, divorce, widowhood duration and the proportion of each duration to the remaining life expectancy at 15.ResultsThe single duration of Chinese men and women was slightly reduced and then extended, with that of men longer than women, showing a narrowing trend in gender difference. The marriage duration of Chinese men and women is lengthening, with that of women longer than men, demonstrating a widening gap in gender difference. However, the proportion of marriage duration in life expectancy at age 15 increased and then declined, with that of men higher than women. The divorce duration of Chinese men and women slightly reduced and then lengthened, but men tend to stay divorced for longer periods than women, and the gender difference is narrowing. The widowhood duration of Chinese men and women is shortening, with women having longer widowhood than men, and the gender difference has been shrinking.ConclusionsWith the socio-economic and demographic transition, the marital duration in each state has changed gradually, and will have an important impact on fertility level and pension burden.

Despite the declining gender gap in education is consistently documented at the national level in China, little is known about the gendered pattern in education at the household level. This study a...

Background The period fertility in China has declined to very low levels, and the completed cohort fertility rate (CFR) has also decreased significantly. However, the exact fertility rate remains controversial. While the tempo effect has played a significant role in China’s period fertility decline, child underreporting has to be taken into consideration in China’s fertility research. Methods By using the census data from 1982 to 2010, and the 1% population sample survey data from 1995 to 2015, we systematically analyzed China’s fertility and its trends since the 1980s using period fertility measures, adjusted period fertility measures, cohort fertility measures, and indirect estimation methods. Results The results show that marriage postponement significantly affects the TFR decline. Even after eliminating the tempo and parity structure effect, the adjusted TFR has fallen below 1.5, and the first-order fertility rate dropped to 0.9 in 2015. The CFR for women aged 45–49 declined from 5.37 in 1982 to 1.62 in 2015 mainly because of a decrease in fourth and higher-order births from 1982 to 1990, a decrease in second and third births from 1990 to 2000, and a decrease in second births from 2000 to 2015. Indirect estimation methods yielded a TFR in the range of 1.5–1.6 for the period 2000–2010 and an average TFR of 1.49 for the period 2011–2020. Conclusions The traditional norm of universal marriage and childbearing for Chinese women is changing. China’s fertility has been steadily declining, as measured by both period and cohort indicators. Following the historical change, fertility may continue to decline even after introducing the universal three-child policy in China in 2021.

Many older adults in China are facing a severe shortage of social support. Although siblings play a crucial role in providing support for older adults, their importance has not received enough attention in China. Applying multilevel logistic regression models to the data from the 2018 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey, we explored the influence of gender composition and birth order on older adults’ sibling relationships in the context of Chinese cultures (Patrilocality, Patriarchality, and Ti). We found that the gender composition of the sibling and elder was significantly associated with the frequency of visits, with the male sibling-male elder dyad interacted most. Siblings were more likely to frequently visit an elder whose birth order was higher than their own. While the gender composition-frequency of visits association was only significant in the urban areas, birth order had a significant influence on the frequency of visits both in the rural and urban areas.

Background From 1982 to 2010, the country’s crude death rate (CDR) dropped sharply, fluctuated, and finally slightly declined. There is a big difference in CDR between urban and rural areas. From 1982 to 1990, the CDR in the country and the countryside declined, and the CDR in cities and towns rose. After 1990, the CDR in cities gradually decreased, the CDR in towns first fell and then rose, and the CDR in the countryside steadily increased. The CDR is affected by changes in the age-specific death rate (ASDR) and age structure. Methods This paper decomposes CDR changes into the influence of declines in ASDR and the impact of age structure changes based on 1982, 1990, 2000, and 2010 census data. Results The decline in ASDR reduces the CDR, and the aging population increases the CDR (including cities, towns, and the countryside). At the same time, decomposing the difference between the countryside and cities (or the countryside and towns) CDRs found that after 1990, the influence of ASDR differences and age structure differences increased with time. Our results revealed a more significant effect of ASDR differences. The combined effect of two factors (ASDR and age structure) makes the 0, 1–14, 15–64 age groups reduce the CDR, and the 65+ age group increases the CDR. In addition, the 0-year-old group has a not negligible impact on the changes in CDR, although it accounts for a small proportion of the total population. Conclusions The influence of ASDR and age structure differs over time (1982 to 1990, 1990 to 2000, and 2000 to 2010) and across regions (cities, towns, the countryside). Considering the slow decline in ASDR and the accelerated aging population, we can infer that the CDR in 2020 will stabilize or even rise slightly instead of dropping significantly (compared with the CDR in 2010). This study provides a basis for the formulation of relevant public health policies.

China’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has drawn much attention, but contributions of individual provinces to the high national SRB have been neglected in the literature despite marked regional differences across the country. Using data from China’s censuses and inter-census surveys since 2000, we devised a decomposition method and examined the changes in provincial composition of births (PCB), parity composition by province (PCP), and male proportion by parity (MPP) and their contributions to the change in national SRB. We found that the national SRB change was most heavily influenced by the change in PCP and MPP, whereas at the provincial level the magnitude of PCB contribution was much larger than those of PCP and MPP. Due to the marked difference in SRB by parity, the decline in the proportion of first births and an increase in the proportion of higher-order births increased the national SRB. The consistent decline in the proportion of males in second and above parity births lowered national SRB, while the male proportion of first-parity births increased national SRB. Different provinces contributed to the change in national SRB at different levels of magnitude, and the above three factors exhibited regional differences.

Many factors have contributed to the decline in China’s fertility level. Using China’s population census data from 1990, 2000 and 2010, the present study investigates the factors causing the decline in China’s fertility rate by decomposing changes in two fertility indices: the total fertility rate (TFR) and the net reproduction rate (NRR). The change in the TFR is decomposed into the change in the marital fertility rate (MFR) and the change in the proportion of married women (PMW). Four factors contribute to the change in the NRR. The following are the main findings. A drop in the MFR caused a decrease in the TFR and the NRR between 1989 and 2000. However, the change in MFR increased TFR and NRR between 2000 and 2010. Marriage postponement caused a decline in the fertility level between 1989 and 2000 as well as between 2000 and 2010. The effect of the MFR and marriage postponement varied with age and region and also between urban and rural areas.

China is a country with a unique history of gender traditions and birth-control regulations. Traditional gender role attitudes, closely related to son preference, exert entrenched influence on the ...

After more than three decades of implementation, China’s one-child policy has generated a large number of only children. Although extensive research has documented the developmental outcomes of being an only child, research on the parent–child relational quality of the only child is somewhat limited. Using China Education Panel Survey (2014), this study examined whether the only child status was associated with parent–child relationships among Chinese junior high school students. It further explored whether children’s gender moderated the association between the only child status and parent–child relationships. Two-level ordered logit models suggested that only children were more likely to report a close relationship with their mothers and fathers compared to children from multiple-child families (including two-child families). Taking birth order into consideration, we found that, only children were more likely to have close parent–child relationships than firstborns, whereas no significant differences were found between only children and lastborns. Interaction analyses further suggested that the only child advantages were gender-specific: the positive effects of the only child status were stronger for daughters than for sons, that is, daughters benefited more from being only children. Our findings highlight the importance of considering children’s gender and birth order in exploring the only child effects in the Chinese context. Additional analyses about sibling-gender composition indicated female children were more likely to be disadvantaged with the presence of younger brothers, whereas male children benefited more from having older sisters. This reveals that the son preference culture is still deep-rooted in the Chinese multiple-child families.

Domestic violence (DV), also commonly referred to as intimate partner violence or spousal abuse, is a global public health issue that affects the physical, psychological, sexual, and reproductive health of women. We examined the sociocultural factors associated with the attitude toward DV perpetrated against women in Afghanistan. We used data from the 2015 Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey, consisting of an ever-married sample of 29,461 women and 10,760 men aged 15 to 49 years. Our dependent variable, attitude toward DV, was determined from responses on acceptance of wife-beating in five scenarios, and the group of socio cultural factors was selected based on evidence from previous studies. Our main analytical method was logistic regression, using the survey design. Our findings indicated that factors such as an increase in years of education and living in a wealthier household reduce the likelihood of acceptance of DV among men and women. Ethnicity was also associated with the attitude toward DV, but the magnitude varied across ethnic groups and gender. Furthermore, an increase in age and living in the urban area were associated with nonjustification of DV among women, but not among men. On the other hand, frequent exposure to the media increases the likelihood of acceptance of DV among men, but not for women. The result of the present study suggests that there are economic, social, and cultural aspects to the attitude toward DV among men and women in Afghanistan. Therefore, policies designed at changing the socio cultural perception of the people are of importance in other to bring about a change in attitude, and even combat the prevalence of DV.

To improve health and reduce the rapidly increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in children, the Chinese government has formulated childcare standards, with the Growth and Development Check (GDC) as the main content. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of the GDC on lowering the risk of childhood overweight and obesity. Using the 2014 China Family Dynamics Survey and propensity score matching (PSM), this article examined the impact of the GDC on overweight/obesity in children aged 5 years and younger. The results revealed that the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) was 17.80 kg/m2, and the prevalence of overweight/obesity was 24.62% in children. Children whose parents were aware of the GDC had a lower BMI and a lower risk of overweight/obesity than those whose parents were not aware of it. Children who engaged in the GDC in the last 12 months had a lower BMI and a lower chance of overweight/obesity than those not engaged.

There has been some research on factors affecting China&rsquo, s rising sex ratio at birth (SRB), but the spatial dependence has been largely neglected. With China&rsquo, s census and sample survey data and the dynamic spatial Durbin model, we analyzed the changes in SRB in China. We found that SRB and its influencing factors were spatially correlated at the provincial level. For direct effects, urbanization significantly reduced SRB in this region, while strict family planning policies increased SRB in the local region. For indirect effects, the increase in per capita Gross Domestic Product and urbanization led to an increase in the SRB of the neighboring regions through population mobility. By comparison, educational improvement in one region benefited the neighboring provinces and reduced SRB.

Background : Marriage has a positive effect on health. After the dissolution of a marriage, the health of divorcees worsens. The focus of this paper is on whether remarriage can help a person regain the health benefits that comes with marriage. Methods: This study used the national baseline data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS), a survey conducted from 2011 to 2012, this article applies instrumental variables to deal with the endogenous problems and to investigate the association between remarriage after divorce and late-life health. Result: According to descriptive statistics, among the 235 middle-aged and elderly respondents with a history of divorce, 46% remarried, 75% of them thought their SRH was fair or bad, 15% of them suffered from ADL impairment and the scale score for depression averaged 9.33 ( SD =7.1). According to the regression results, compared with divorcees who have not remarried, those who remarry suffer less from depression and have better self-rated health. There are gender differences reflected in the relationship between remarriage after divorce and mental health. Remarriage can promote the mental health of men, but there is no significant correlation between remarriage and the mental health of women. Conclusion: Marriage has a protective effect on health, and remarriage can help people regain the health benefits. Key words: ADL ; Depression; Self-rated health ; Instrumental variable; Remarriage after divorce

China has experienced the verticalization of family structure. It has changed the support between aging parents and adult children among middle-aged adults who are often in the position of providing support to older and younger generations (sandwiched situation). Using data from China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, we studied the support choice of middle-aged people. Results show that middle-aged people who provided support to older generations were also more likely to provide support to younger generations. Couples of whom neither spouse has a brother were less likely to financially support their parents only and provide instrumental support to their children only than couples of whom both spouses have brothers. Couples of whom one spouse has a brother were more likely to favor their children financially than couples of whom both spouses have brothers. These imply that sandwiched situation is harder to balance through family solidarity.

BackgroundChina’s sex ratio at birth (SRB) has declined in the past decade but still exceeds the normal level. This study seeks to depict the SRB trend in the past two decades.MethodsWe depicted the SRB trend, including SRB by birth order, children composition, residence and hukou type, education, race and province using latest data available from multiple data sources and standardisation and decomposition methods.ResultsThe SRB remained around 120 in the first decade from 2000 to 2010, and recently declined and approached the normal level during 2010–2020. The SRB for second births and first births converged to the normal level, whereas the SRB for third and above births exceeded the normal level. The rising proportion of second births increased, whereas the decreasing proportion of first births reduced the overall SRB. Parents with only daughters are more likely to abort a female fetus in pursuit of a son, while parents with only sons are more likely to abort a male fetus in pursuit of a daughter. It also shows difference in SRB by residence, hukou type, educational attainment and race. Urban SRB was lower than rural SRB, by the residence and hukou type, but higher than rural SRB after being standardised. Provinces still exhibit differences by original categorised policy even after the implementation of the universal two-child policy.ConclusionsChina’s SRB has declined substantially during the past two decades, but the negative effects need to be tackled.

China currently has the world’s most skewed national sex ratio at birth. In this paper, we use data from China’s 2001 National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Survey and employ hierarchical logistic models to study how macro factors (mainly fertility policy and economic indicators, as represented by per capita GDP of the village units sampled in this research) and micro factors (mainly fertility intention and sex composition of children) affect the gender of the next birth. We find that the effect of fertility policies is intertwined with the sex composition of children already born. For those couples who have had a son (or sons), fertility policy exerts no effect; but for those with only daughters, the effect is significant. Furthermore, fertility intention, independent from fertility policy, has a significant effect on the gender of the next birth.

China’s one-child policy, introduced in the late 1970s, has been in effect for over three decades. This article reviews China’s low fertility rate and the implementation of this stringent birth con...

Objectives: Increased mortality after spousal bereavement has been observed in many populations. Few studies have investigated the widowhood effect in a traditional culture where the economy is underdeveloped. In this study, we assessed whether the widowhood-associated excess mortality exists and differs by gender and living arrangement in rural China. Methods: The data used in this longitudinal study come from the survey “Well-being of Elderly Survey in Anhui Province (WESAP)”, which was conducted every three years between 2001 and 2015 in rural townships of Anhui province. Excluding cases with missing values and restricting the sample to respondents who were married or widowed with adult children at baseline and in follow-up, analyses were carried out on 2,471 adults aged 60 and above. Cox regression was applied to examine the effects. Results: Spousal loss decreased mortality for older rural Chinese and there was a gender difference in this effect. Analyses also show that living with adult children after spousal loss played a protective role in reducing the risk of older men’s death, though it tended to increase older men’s mortality risk in general. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the widowhood effect is culture-specific and spousal loss reduces rather than increases the mortality risk of rural elders in China, which implies that caring for an ill spouse is still a big burden in current rural China though family-based assistance acts as functional solidarity for older people, especially for widowers.

A massive amount of rural labor in China has migrated to urban areas and transferred to non-agricultural employment. This has resulted in issues regarding how to effectively arrange land that was contracted to them under the household contract responsibility system. Using survey data collected in Jiangsu Province and a multinomial logit model, this article discusses three methods of land arrangement utilized by rural–urban migrant workers (family farming, land transfer and abandonment) and examines the correlates of land arrangement methods. We find that there is a significantly positive relation between family size and the family farming option. The improvements in human capital, higher wages, greater job stability, and a longer commute time between migrants’ cities of employment and their hometown are significantly correlated with land transfer or abandonment. These findings can elucidate China’s land policy in the context of massive rural–urban migration.