Papers

Stoebenau, K., N. Viswasam, E. M. Sidze, and S. Madhavan. 2025. “ Integrating the In-Laws: Class and Kin Support Within Marriage in Urban Kenya.” Journal of Marriage and Family 1–14.

Kim, Seung Wan, Kirsten Stoebenau, Milka Omuya, Ann Muthoni, Raphael Musyoki, Rukia Nyambura, and Victor Ambula. “Hustling over the Life Course: Reconciling Cultural Norms and Socio-Economic Realities for Young Mothers in Nairobi, Kenya.” Advances in Life Course Research 65 (July 15, 2025): 100691–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2025.100691.

Madhavan, S., Sidze, E. M., Stoebenau, K. M., Wagner, M. A., & Wangui Wainaina, C. (2025). Does Marriage Benefit Maternal Mental Health? New Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465251330840

Myroniuk, Tyler W., Estelle M. Sidze, Michael J. White, Blessing Mberu, and Sangeetha Madhavan. 2025b. “The Nexus of the Risk of Depression and Residential Mobility for Urban Poor Mothers: New Longitudinal Evidence from Nairobi.” SSM – Mental Health 7:100430.

Madhavan, Sangeetha, Milka Omuya, Enid Schatz, and Caroline Wainaina. 2024. “Connecting with Shosho: Assessing the Role of Grandmothers in a Low-Income Population in Nairobi, Kenya.” Journal of Family Issues 0(0):1-20.

Madhavan, S. 2024. “Families on the Space–Time Continuum: Conceptualizing and Measuring Temporal and Spatial Dimensions.” Journal of Marriage and Family 86(5):1541–56.

Stoebenau, K., S. Madhavan, S. Kim and C. Wainaina. 2024. “Measuring Union Formalization for a New Generation of Family Demography: A Case Study from Urban Kenya.” Population and Development Review 50(1):87-116

Madhavan, S., K. Stoebenau and S. Kim. 2023. “Managing Uncertainty, Creating Stability: The Enduring Value of Kinship for Family Formation.” In R. Sooryamoorthy and E. Khalema (Eds.), Handbook of African Sociology. Oxford University Press.  

Blogs From the Field

Leveraging Virtual Meetings Spaces Such as Zoom for International Collaborations

Achieving Resilience Through Adversity

Survival Sex and the Value of Women

Unmasking Nairobi’s Informal Settlements

Faith Exploited

Presentations (Invited and Conference)

2025. Marital union strength and child development in Africa settings: New evidence from urban Kenya. Population Association of America Meetings, Washington, DC, April. (Best Poster Award Winner

2024. Does Marriage Marry Kin Networks? A Qualitative Analysis of Low- and High-Income Couples in Nairobi, Kenya. American Sociological Association Meetings, Montreal, CA, Aug 9-13.

2024. Does Marriage Benefit Maternal Mental Health? New Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya. Union of African Population Studies (UAPS), Lilongwe, Malawi, May 20-24.

2024. Does Kin Support Protect against Food Insecurity? New Findings from Nairobi, Kenya. Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, Columbus, OH, April 17-20. (Best Poster Award Winner)

 2024. Moms, Rootedness, and Mental Health in Two Nairobi Informal Settlements. Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, Columbus, OH, April 17-20. 

2024. Does Marriage Benefit Maternal Mental Health? New Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya. Annual Meetings of the Population Association of America, Columbus, OH, April 17-20.

2024.  Does Employment Status of Kin Benefit Mother’s Employment?  Meetings of the Population Association of America, Columbus, OH, April 17-20.                                                                                     

2024.  ‘Up to God’: Invoking the Divine to Cope with Insecurity in Nairobi. Presentation made at the African Studies Meeting, University of Indiana Bloomington, April. 

2024. Marriage in Urban Africa. Center for Health, Risk and Society, American University, Feb 21.

2024. Does Marriage Benefit Maternal Mental Health? New Evidence from Nairobi, Kenya. Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Feb 5.

2023. Families on the Space Time Continuum. Berkeley Population Center, University of California Berkeley, March 22.

2022. Developing a Culturally Salient Measure of Union Formalization in Urban Kenya. Presentation made at the Population Association of America Meetings, Atlanta, GA March.