Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2005
Abstract
This working paper investigates the links between changing age at marriage and premarital sexual behavior in 27 sub-Saharan African countries in which Demographic and Health Surveys were conducted between 1994 and 2003. Using multiple-decrement life tables to examine the competing risks of premarital sex and marriage without prior sexual experience, we answer the largely unaddressed question of how reductions in the prevalence of early marriage have affected the likelihood of initiating premarital sex. Our analysis reveals that although the age of first sexual activity has either remained the same or increased, a shift in the context of sexual debut from marriage to before marriage has taken place in many countries. We assess whether the increase in the proportion of young women who report premarital sex is influenced by an increase in exposure resulting from delayed marriage or by an increase in the rate of premarital sex. The evidence on this point is mixed; in some settings greater exposure “explains” more of the increase, whereas in others an increased rate of premarital sex dominates.
DOI
10.31899/pgy2.1037
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Mensch, Barbara, Monica J. Grant, and Ann K. Blanc. 2005. "The changing context of sexual initiation in sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Division Working Paper no. 206. New York: Population Council. Version of record: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2006.00147.x
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