We compare the impact of socioeconomic deprivation on risky sexual outcomes in rural and urban Kenya. Quantitative data are drawn from the Demographic & Health Surveys (DHS) and qualitative data from the Sexual Networking and Associated Reproductive and Social Health Concerns study. Using two...

Single motherhood in sub-Saharan Africa has received surprisingly little attention, although it is widespread and has critical implications for children’s well-being. Using survival analysis techniques, we estimate the probability of becoming a single mother over women’s life course and...

This paper examines the effects of girl’s early marriage on the risks of acquiring HIV/AIDS. It explores the counterintuitive finding that married adolescent girls in urban centers in Kenya and Zambia have higher rates of HIV than sexually active unmarried girls, by comparing several...

A large and increasing proportion of HIV transmissions in sub-Saharan Africa occur within marriage. Condom use within marriage could, therefore, be an important prevention strategy, but there is considerable debate about whether married couples would be willing to use condoms. This paper...

This paper reports on recent research that explores the role of the marriage institution in facilitating economic activity in two urban labor markets: Kisumu, Kenya and Bombay, India. Kin and affine networks, organized around the marriage institution, are shown to improve the individual's labor...

This paper explores new roles that traditionally rural kinship networks organized around the marriage institution might play in improving labor market outcomes in urban Africa. Using new data from Kisumu, Kenya, and controlling for selection into marriage, we find that marriage significantly...

This article investigates whether a market for unsafe sexual activity exists among nonmarital, noncommercial sexual relationships in a high HIV/AIDS environment. The exchange of money for sex without a condom is well known within commercial sexual partnerships, but it is unclear from the...