The outstanding characteristics of the population geography of the Sudan are seen in its vastness of the area, its low population density, its high population fertility, decreasing mortality rates and uneven distribution of developmental projects among its regions. All these have important effects upon the economic and de mographic characteristics of its population. They also underline the uneven distribution of the country's population, as a result of which large-scale migration movements occur. Three types of population movements in the Sudan are discussed; inter-provincial movements, rural-urban migration and seasonal migration for cotton picking in the Gezira scheme. In the discussion of the first type, the analysis covers issues related to the general levels of movements amongst the 18 provinces of the country, rates of in- and out-migration in each province and their net migration balances. Also, it discusses the spatial structure of the movement, and some gaining and losing provinces are singled out. The impacts of the movements and their selective nature are also revealed. Rural-urban migration to the capital city of Khartoum is studied using the 1983 census data, other published data and the author's 1988/89 survey of migrant households in the city. The scale of the migration and the characteristics of the migrants are analyzed. Additionally, the structure of the migrant households, literacy, occupation contrasts and links with the village are investigated. The reasons behind the migration decision and the reward of the rural-urban migration are also shown. Seasonal migration is discussed to disclose the nature of the movement and its patterns which are associated with the cotton picking operation in the Gezira scheme. The types of labour involved and labour market conditions are also investigated. The findings verified the seasonality of the movement to the scheme and the consistent relationship between migrants and tenants in the scheme.

No description available.

In this study, changes in the social and economic structure of a Northern Thai community are analysed in terms of demographic change. Although primarily an empirical study, it is hoped also to contribute to two associated theoretical problems. The first concerns the relationship between economic and demographic change in the process of social evolution. It is argued that rather than one or other variable being 'independent', such changes are a result of complex interaction between the variables over time. The second stems from the debate on the nature of Northern Thai social structure. Here the value of incorporating an analysis of demographic change in an anthropological study is exemplified by the evidence that apparent inconsistencies and contradictions found in the literature on communities in Northern Thailand can be explained to a large extent by an examination of their individual demographic histories. Fieldwork was conducted in Ban Pong Village in Chiengmai Province of Northern Thailand between 1972 and 1974. Following settlement of the village in the 1880s, the valley was gradually cleared for irrigated rice cultivation by a slowly growing population of migrants. Dominance by a minority of the population of the important local trade in fermented tea in the 1920s and 1930s at a time when land resources in the valley were almost exhausted and economic conditions had forced a number of farmers to sell their land, opened the way to the extreme economic polarization found in the community today. The problems facing the community have been compounded by the rapid growth of population occurring since the early 195os, which is largely the result of a decline in infant mortality. A family planning programme introduced to Ban Pong in 1967 provoked an immediate response, and within two years over 40% of fertile married women were using a modern method of birth control. The concomitant changes in marriage and residence patterns are considered in relation to population growth and fertility control.

In 1983 the Jamaican Parliament officially endorsed a National Population Policy which made the island the first in the Caribbean region to formulate such a policy. The Population Policy defined Jamaica's accelerating population as a negative constraint on the country's national development. One of the aims therefore, of the Policy was the introduction of replacement fertility i.e. a two child family. This was stipulated as a prerequisite to limit Jamaica's population growth. In an effort to disseminate the message of the two child family three mass media campaigns were conducted in the nineteen eighties. This thesis examines the efficacy of this replacement fertility campaign strategy in Jamaica's national development. The campaign's efficacy will be examined on the basis of its conceptualisation and implementation. This thesis constructs the argument that firstly, the conceptualisation of the media campaign was based on academically discredited views and assumptions on the role of the media in development. This position is substantiated in two ways. Firstly, through a semiotic analysis of the advertising campaign which revealed the implicit level of expectations concerning the campaign as well as the media's role in development. Secondly, through interviews with campaign planners and policy makers which disclosed the explicit expectations regarding the media and the campaign's function in development. It is argued that the ideological nature of the campaign's mythic structure, deciphered through the semiotic analysis, implies a role for the media in development which is consistent with the views of communication scholars who were advocates of the currently discredited Modernisation based model of communication in national development. An analysis of interviews with the campaign planners and policymakers demonstrates that their expressed views on the role of the media in development are identifiable with assumptions on this role inherent in the Modernisation paradigm. The thesis argues secondly, that the misinformed criteria and expectations directing the campaign are further reinforced by several features of the campaign design and implementation. It is shown that certain principles and practices of campaign design such as audience research, pretesting and interpersonal communication, which are academically proven ingredients of successful campaigns, were neglected in the campaign's construction. This calls into question the integrity of the campaign as a mechanism of social intervention. Further challenges to the campaign's efficacy are raised by findings from a social survey among the target group. This survey sought to assess the audience's view on the two child family; patterns of mass media use; sources of information on family planning; the credibility of these sources compared with the credibility of the media; contraceptive use and information needs on contraception.

No description available.

No description available.

Summary: In the past population geographers have tended to concentrate excessively on the task of mapping, discussing, and explaining the geographical distribution and pattern of change associated with demographical distribution and pattern of change associated with demographic problems and situations found in the developed world, namely Europe and the Americas. (Zelinsky: 1961). During the past decade, however, increasing attention has been given to the dynamics of population structure. This is particularly evident in the case of geographical mobility, and a considerable body of knowledge has already been accumulated on the spatial distribution of mortality. Human fertility, too, has become a major focal point for research. Part of this interest has been stimulated by the world-wide problem of excessive and unevenly distributed population growth. This has been coupled with the realization that fertility is the paramount influence on population growth rates, both in situations of sharply declining mortality, as in the economically advanced nations, and already low death rates, as in much of the rest of the world. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that, in a closed population, it is only when substantial changes in fertility occur that major shifts in age-structure become evident. Theory relating to population dynamics, especially fertility, has developed largely from studies of Western populations. According to Zelinsky there are as few as two identifiable demographic paradigms in current use. These are the so-called Laws of Migration (Ravenstein: 1883) and the Theory of Demographic Transition. This concept appears to have been introduced by Thompson (1929) and has since been restated in numerous forms. Perhaps the most elaborate is that presented by Cowgill: 1962-63)...

No abstract available. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.

The decision to have a child is one of the most significant two people can ever make. Specifically, couple can typically plan when to begin a family, how large a family they want. Thus if a couple is planning on having a child, they have the responsibility to consider and discuss many things involved in parenting such as family planning. The main purpose of this study is to assess the extent of spousal communication about family planning by focusing on the preferences concerning family size and the desire of additional children. Drawing on the literature review; the study address the conceptual definitions and notions of spousal communication about family planning, attitudes towards family planning and desired fertility, communication and desired fertility, and economic value of children. Using data from the 2000 Rwanda demographic and health survey, the study analyzed a set of selected socio-demographics factors and its correlation with the desire of more children within married people in Rwanda. The results reveal that husbands are more likely to desire additional children compared to their wives. Women in urban areas are more likely to stop childbearing compared to those who live in rural areas and the reverse for man. However education and employment are also associated to the desire for no more children and are significant in the multivariate analysis. As expected son preference is important and affect the desire for additional children, then within any given parity, couples with one or more sons are more likely to stop childbearing compared to those who have no sons. The analysis of the impact of spousal communication about family planning shows that partner who discuss on family planning are more likely to desire no more children than their counterparts who have never discussed the issue. In order to enhance the spousal communication about family planning in Rwanda and improve attitudes towards family planning, it is proposed to promote IEC as a tool of intervention to increase the awareness of spacing and limitation of childbearing. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2006.

A single mother is defined as a mother with one or more children, who is neither married nor living with a partner. The second demographic transition characterized by the decline of marital fertility and an increase in non-marital childbearing has led to increased numbers of single mothers in western countries (Heuveline, Timberlake and Furstenberg, 2003). A recent study of families living in greater Johannesburg and Soweto conducted by the centre for Reproductive health at Witwatersrand University reports an increase of single mothers in families of all racial groups in South Africa (Keeton, 2004). Single mothers are associated with higher levels of poverty and dependence on welfare (Fitzgerald and Ribar, 2004), which may affect the wellbeing of their children. The study introduces two theories, modernization and rationale choice theory that could be used to explain the high incidence of single mothers in South Africa. The modernization theory predicts that the increase in out-of-wedlock births is a result of modernization and westernization. On the other hand, proponents of the rational choice theory argue that premarital pregnancies are a rational decision to prove fecundity and facilitate marriage. Some authors have found an association between the rational choice theory and dependence theory, according to which poor young women exchange sexual favours for gifts to obtain financial support outside marriage (Al-Azar, 1999). While both theories inform the study and contribute to the conceptual framework, the rational choice theory is argued to be the more appropriate to explain the increase in number of single mothers in South Africa. The 2002 General Household Survey (GHS) is used to obtain the count of single mothers and a profile of their characteristics. Other surveys questionnaires have been inspected to find out whether it is possible to measure the number of single mothers in the country. The author found that, with the exception of the 1998 Demographic Household Survey (DHS), the 1996 census and one of the October household surveys (OHS), it is not possible to provide an accurate count of single mothers using South Africa's national surveys. Reasons for this limitation are provided in the paper. This study focuses on women aged between 18 and 49 years. To obtain the count of single mothers, it was first established whether a woman was a mother of a child younger than 18 years who lives with her. The next step was to establish the marital status of the woman and to find out if she had a partner living with her. In this study it is important to distinguish between de jure and de facto single mothers. A de jure single mother living with her child(ren), is unmarried and does not have a partner. De jure single mothers are compared to other types of mothers including married mothers with father present (partnered mothers), married mothers with father absent (de facto single mothers), mothers with children older than 18 years or mothers not staying with their children (other mothers) and women who do not have children (childless women). Using the 2002 GHS the paper provides the count and some key characteristics of single mothers, including social and economic characteristics of education level and employment status. These characteristics of single mothers and women are profiled at individual and household level. The results of the analysis show that the prevalence of single mothers in South Africa is high in relation to other sub-Saharan African countries. The study supports other research that there is no significant difference between marital and non-marital fertility because the proportion of de jure single mothers is almost similar to the proportion of married mothers with father present (partnered mothers). This study finds that single mothers occur in higher proportions among African/black and coloured populations and are on average younger than 25 years of age. Reasons suggested for the high incidence of single mothers include teenage pregnancy, poverty and unemployment. The groups most affected by poverty and unemployment are African/blacks and coloureds. When comparing socio-economic characteristics of de jure single mothers and other types of mothers -for instance partnered, de facto single mothers and childless women - the study findings indicate that de jure single mothers are poorer than married mothers for most of the indicators. However, there is also a group of married mothers where the father is absent (de facto single mothers) who also show poor statistics compared to partnered mothers. Partnered mothers are better off in most all the indicators used in this study. A key limitation of this study is that it is cross sectional and therefore does not account for rapid changes in distribution and characteristics of mothers. This makes it somewhat difficult to establish whether models of the modernization or rational choice can explain the high incidence of single mothers. The paper concludes with recommendations and a discussion on some of the important implications that the relatively high proportion of single mothers has for poverty levels of women in South Africa and the effect this might have on their children. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.