Australian Population and Migration Research Centre publications
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Browsing Australian Population and Migration Research Centre publications by Author "Agadjanian, V."
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Item Metadata only Contraception and abortion in a low-fertility setting: the role of seasonal migration(Alan Guttmacher Institute, 2013) Sevoyan, A.; Agadjanian, V.CONTEXT: Seasonal labor migration is common among men in many former Soviet republics. Little research has examined contraceptive use and induced abortion among women in such low-fertility, high-migration settings, according to husband’s migration status. METHODS: Combined data from 2,280 respondents of two surveys of married women aged 18–45 in rural Armenia—one conducted in 2005 and one in 2007—were used. Logistic regression analyses examined whether a husband’s migration status was associated with his wife’s current use of the pill or the IUD, or with the probability that she had had a pregnancy that ended in induced abortion. Additional analyses were conducted to determine whether relationships were moderated by household wealth. RESULTS: Women with a migrant husband were less likely than those with a nonmigrant husband to be currently using the pill or the IUD (odds ratio, 0.6); with increased household wealth, the likelihood of method use increased among women with a nonmigrant husband, but decreased slightly among women with a migrant husband. Overall, the probability that a pregnancy ended in abortion did not differ by migration status; however, the likelihood of abortion increased with wealth among women married to a nonmigrant, but not among those married to a migrant. CONCLUSIONS: Despite their husband’s absence, women married to a migrant may have an unwanted pregnancy rate similar to that of women married to a nonmigrant. Improved access to modern contraceptive methods is likely to be positively associated with contraceptive use among women with a nonmigrant husband, but not among those with a migrant husband.Item Metadata only Husbands' labour migration and wives' autonomy, Mozambique 2000–2006(Routledge, 2010) Yabiku, S.; Agadjanian, V.; Sevoyan, A.The separation of migrants from the family unit, as a result of labour migration, can have profound effects on family organization and the lives of family members. Using data from a 2006 survey of 1,680 married women from 56 villages in southern Mozambique, we examined the relationship between men's labour migration and the decision-making autonomy of women who stayed behind. The results show that both men's cumulative migration history and current migration status are positively associated with women's autonomy, and that the effects on autonomy may persist even after the man's return. Three intervening factors—women's employment outside the home, lower fertility, and residential independence from extended family members—did not fully mediate the effects of men's labour migration. This is consistent with the assumption that the migrant's absence has a 'direct' effect on his wife's autonomy.Item Metadata only Male migration, women left behind, and sexually transmitted diseases in Armenia(Wiley, 2010) Sevoyan, A.; Agadjanian, V.The effect of male circular labor migration on risks of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among women left behind has not been well studied. Our study examines this effect using data from a survey of 1,240 married women in rural Armenia, where international male labor migration has traditionally been very common. A multivariate comparison of women married to migrants and women married to non-migrants finds that the former, ceteris paribus, reported more STD symptoms, on average, and were more likely to report diagnosed STDs than the latter. However, in the case of STD symptoms, this effect is moderated by household income, as the predicted number of STD symptoms reported by migrants’ wives increases as income rises. The findings illustrate the complex tradeoffs that migration entails for left-behind women and are interpreted in the context of the literature on gender, migration, and STDs.Item Metadata only Religious affiliation and under-five mortality in Mozambique(Galton Foundation, 2013) Cau, B.; Sevoyan, A.; Agadjanian, V.The influence of religion on health remains a subject of considerable debate both in developed and developing settings. This study examines the connection between the religious affiliation of the mother and under-five mortality in Mozambique. It uses unique retrospective survey data collected in a predominantly Christian area in Mozambique to compare under-five mortality between children of women affiliated to organized religion and children of non-affiliated women. It finds that mother's affiliation to any religious organization, as compared with non-affiliation, has a significant positive effect on child survival net of education and other socio-demographic factors. When the effects of affiliation to specific denominational groups are examined, only affiliation to the Catholic or mainstream Protestant churches and affiliation to Apostolic churches are significantly associated with improved child survival. It is argued that the advantages of these groups may be achieved through different mechanisms: the favourable effect on child survival of having mothers affiliated to the Catholic or mainstream Protestant churches is probably due to these churches' stronger connections to the health sector, while the beneficial effect of having an Apostolic mother is probably related to strong social ties and mutual support in Apostolic congregations. The findings thus shed light on multiple pathways through which organized religion can affect child health and survival in sub-Saharan Africa and similar developing settings.Item Restricted The impact of male labour migration on women and households in rural Armenia(Peter Lang Publishing, 2015) Agadjanian, V.; Menjívar, C.; Sevoyan, A.; Mkrtichyan, A.This chapter presents results of several analyses dealing with the impact of men’s labor migration on their non- migrating wives and other household members in rural Armenia. It uses survey and qualitative data to examine the effects of migration on rural households’ attachment to their communities and on left- behind wives’ socio- psychological wellbeing, sexual and reproductive health, decision- making, and social relationships.Item Metadata only Տղամարդկանց միգրացիան և կանանց զբաղվածությունը հայաստանյան գյուղական համայնքներում(Yerevan State University, 2015) Sevoyan, A.; Agadjanian, V.; Gender inequalities in the labor market: Challenges and solutions in local and global contexts (7 Oct 2013 - 8 Oct 2013 : Yerevan, Armenia); Shahnazaryan, G.Several studies have shown that male migration is associated with decreased participation in paid labour force among women left behind. Typically these studies conclude that remittances received from migrant men, by boosting the household food and material security, often discourage women’s gainful employment, especially where the contribution of such employment to household income is trivial. However, there is also evidence of a positive effect of men’s migration on non-migrant women’s employment, but this positive effect is largely confined to urban areas, where job opportunities for women are more abundant. Some studies suggest that male labour migration from rural areas may also result in women’s increased involvement in agriculture and animal husbandry, to replace migrants’ labour and to keep household assets, such as land and livestock, fully utilized. Along with increased household chores and child-care responsibilities during the husband’s absence, additional labour in subsistence agriculture may add stress to the everyday life and wellbeing of the women left behind and other members of the household. However, it has been argued that the increased labour and responsibilities in the household contribute to women’s empowerment in the areas of origin by increasing their decision-making power and status in the household. Using data from 1040 household interviews conducted in Ararat and Tavush in 2005 and 1240 interviews conducted in Gegharkunik in 2007, we study the effect of male migration on women’s outside-the-home labour force participation and their involvement in subsistence agriculture. Employing random intercept logistic regression analysis for binary outcomes we test the association of husband’s migration with wife’s employment outside of the household, controlling for background - 108 - socio-demographic factors. To study the effect of male seasonal migration on women’s involvement in subsistence agriculture, we employ random intercept negative binomial regression, where the outcome is the average number of hours spent on working in the field and tending animals. The results show that having a migrant husband is associated with 34 percent lower odds of being employed than having a non-migrant husband (p<0.01), controlling for other factors. The results of the negative binomial regression show that being married to a migrant husband has a negative effect on the number of hours spent on agriculture and animal husbandry as well, controlling for other factors; however the effect is only marginally significant (p<0.1). While the results for women’s paid employment resonate with those of the cross-national literature, the same can not be said for the results on women’s involvement in agricultural activities. Unlike women in rural areas in other countries, women married to migrants in rural Armenia spend less time working in the field. While this means that these women may have a reduced workload, it also implies higher dependence on migrant remittances and lower status and independence in the household for them. Not only they are less likely to contribute to the household budget through paid employment, they are also less likely to contribute to household subsistence production, which may further reduce women’s bargaining power within a household with patriarchal values, undermine their status and impair their and their children’s wellbeing.