Issues: 

Title : Access to Credit and Women's Work Decision: An Empirical Study in Rural Malawi

Author : Hema Swaminathan and Jill L. Findeis

Abstract : The objectives of this study are to answer the following:

Access to credit is defined as a variable that positively affects women's status and decision-making powers within the household by increasing their level of economic activity and giving them independent access to resources. This study differentiates between access to credit and participation in a credit program. A non-participating household that has access can still benefit as it can take on activities that are risky but yield a high return. The on-farm and off-farm participation decisions of married men and women and female heads are estimated through discrete models using data from rural Malawi. The estimation procedure accounts for endogeneity of access to credit to the participation decisions.

Author : Kamla Gupta and S.K. Singh

Abstract : With increasing agricultural development, industrialization, and urbanization India has experienced huge migration flows. These have significant implications for the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS spread. The present paper attempts to study the extent of knowledge of STDs and HIV/AIDS and the prevalence and correlates of risk-taking behaviors among migrant workers in Surat city of India utilizing data from a research project undertaken in 2000-2001 at International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. Major findings of the study suggest that a majority of the migrants in Surat city are aware of AIDS and have knowledge of at least one correct mode of transmission of HIV/AIDS. The awareness and knowledge of STDs and correct mode of their transmission is less widespread. A large proportion of migrant workers in the city, particularly long distance young migrants (age-group 20-30) stay alone or with friends. Their living arrangements have significantly affected the prevalence of risk-behavior such as visits to CSWs and extra marital relationship. An attempt is also made to determine the prevalence of multiple risk-traits among these migrants in order to identify the relative influences of contextual, social network and personal factors in the dynamics of drug use and risky sexual behavior.

Author : Lutfa Begum

Abstract : Adolescents ranging in age from 10 to 19 years constitute a large population group in the world. They number over one billion and the number is increasing. Since the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo 1994, a radical development has marked the field of adolescents' reproductive health. Today population studies are centred more on an individual's rights, needs, and ambitions than on demographic targets. The present paper is an attempt to study the socio-cultural and gender aspects of adolescents' reproductive health in Bangladesh from a process-context approach. This means that the adolescents' reproductive health behaviour is seen as the outcome of a process involving a series of individual decisions and actions occurring within social, economic, ecological, cultural and political contexts. Therefore, the needs and aspirations of adolescents are not only determined by biological and behavioural factors, but through socio-cultural and gender attitudes. Culture specific researches, policies, and programs can help adolescents to meet their fresh demands, flourish their innovative ideas, thoughts and equip them with the kind of education, skills, and outlook they need in a changing environment.