SummaryThis study examined the relationship between orphanhood status, living arrangements and sexual debut. The study is important in the context of southern Africa, where a substantial number of children live apart from their parents because the parent is dead or living elsewhere, and where female adolescents face disproportionate sexual and reproductive health risks. Data for female adolescents were taken from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in seven southern African countries. Unadjusted and adjusted hazard ratios of sexual debut were estimated using Cox Proportional Hazard models. The results from multivariate analyses showed that non-co-residence with biological parents was significantly associated with higher risk of sexual debut in five of the seven countries. Using pooled data, the results showed that father absence was associated with higher risk of sexual debut - whether the father was deceased or living elsewhere. Interventions to delay sexual debut among female adolescents should seek to promote father-adolescent co-residence and improve access to education.

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Using longitudinal data collected between 1999 and 2006 for Agincourt Demographic Surveillance Area (ADSA), the paper examines the effect of marital status and co-residence on mortality of women aged between 20 and 80. The Cox Proportional Hazard Model is used to investigate the relationship between mortality and marital status, woman's country of origin, co-residence, and marital duration for married women. The number of months the husband was resident in the ADSA is used as a proxy for co-residence. Divorced/separated and widowed women had a higher probability of dying compared to those who were married. In addition, being married to a migrant partner increased the woman's probability of dying. Thus the study concludes that marital status and co-residence both affect mortality.