Measuring the sexual system and union formation among adolescents in developing countries by Peter Xenos. East-West Center Working Papers, Population and Health Series, No. 90. May 1997. 36 pp.

Abstract

Both sexual relations and union formation occur in diverse forms in developing countries. Adolescent reproductive and related behavior can no longer be understood entirely, or even primarily, within the narrow domain of union formation or "marriage," but rather in a broader framework of casual, commercial, and committed sexual relations, all occurring before as well as after the onset of "marital union."

Global data on age-specific fertility rates and age-specific marital fertility rates, assembled for 84 countries, show that delayed marriage (rising percentages single) is often associated with rising marital fertility rates. This rise may be genuine, but in some instances it reflects problems with the way that surveys record marital versus premarital birth events or measure union status and the age at onset of first union. This paper reviews three approaches to survey-based data collection: (a) the standard DHS approach; (b) the traditional KAP/fertility survey approach; and (c) the youth sexuality survey approach. It goes on to discuss a number of specialized youth sexuality surveys conducted in Asia using the third approach, made necessary because most Asian DHS rounds have not included people who are unmarried.