The percentage of women over 40 who said they had a mammogram in the past 2 years declined from 2000 to 2005, according to a study published in Cancer (Reuters Health).

Does Female Schooling Reduce Fertility? Evidence from Nigeria by Una Okonkwo Osili and Bridget Terry Long (NBER Working Paper No. 13070)

The Effect of Labor Migration and Remittances on Children’s Education Among Blacks in South Africa by Yao Lu and Donald J. Treiman (California Center for Population Research [UCLA] working paper CCPR-001-07)

High-deductible health insurance plans are more costly for women, because women need more routine medical exams, according to a new study using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data. (Washington Post)

In The Feminization of Migration: Limits of the Data, a new article available from the Population Reference Bureau, Nancy Yinger describes gaps in data on female migrants, who account for about half of all immigrants worldwide.

Marriage historian Stephanie Coontz, in the Boston Globe Magazine, argues that well-educated, highly successful women now “triumph” in marriage, contrary to popular belief.

The Kaiser Family Foundation updated its fact sheets on HIV/AIDS in December 2006:

• Black Americans and HIV/AIDS
• Latinos and HIV/AIDS
• Women and HIV/AIDS in the United States

Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion In Uganda: Causes and Consequences (PDF) is a new report from the Alan Guttmacher Institute.

More women are now living without a spouse than with one, according to a New York Times analysis of census data. This figure reflects a growing trend away from marriage as the main organizing force in adults’ lives.

Ethiopian women are at increased risk for HIV transmission because of gender inequality (kaisernetwork.org Daily HIV/AIDS Report).

While both boys and girls face challenges, “the benefits of girls’ education, in terms of improving health, women’s empowerment, and family well-being, probably does make girls’ education the highest-returning social investment in the world,” according to Gene Sperling, director of the Center for Universal Education at the Council on Foreign Relations.

On the occasion of the opening of Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in South Africa, the Christian Science Monitor discusses African girls’ education.