Cumulative Disadvantage and Health: Long-Term Consequences of Obesity?

Drawing from cumulative disadvantage theory, the health consequences of obesity are considered in light of the accumulation of risk factors over the life course. Two forms of compensation are also examined to determine if the risk due to obesity is persistent or modifiable. Analyses make use of data from a national survey to examine the consequences of obesity on disability among respondents 45 years of age or older, tracked across 20 years (N = 4,106). Results from tobit models indicate that obesity, especially when experienced early in life, is consistently related to lower-body disability. The results also show that obesity has long-term health consequences during adulthood, altering the life course in an enduring way. Compensation was not manifest from risk-factor elimination (weight loss), but rather through regular exercise. Although there is evidence for long-term consequences of risk factors on health, the findings suggest that more attention should be given to compensatory mechanisms in the development of cumulative disadvantage theory.     

SEGMENTED ASSIMILATION AMONG MEXICANS IN THE SOUTHWEST

This article examines segmented assimilation among foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexicans. Using the 2000 census, this article investigates how immigrants' length of residence in the United States and nativity affect the earnings and self-employment outcomes of low- and high-skilled Mexican men and women in the Southwest. Findings reveal that the earnings of low-skilled, foreign-born Mexicans decrease as immigrants reside in the United States longer and are generally lower among the U.S. born than the foreign born. In contrast, the earnings of high-skilled, foreign-born Mexicans increase as immigrants reside in the United States longer and are generally higher among U.S.-born Mexicans than foreign-born Mexicans. Moreover, self-employment participation decreases as immigrants reside in the United States longer and is lower among the U.S. born than the foreign born, regardless of skill. Since self-employment results in lower earnings, a decline in self-employment indicates economic progress. Furthermore, men are generally better off than women. Drawing from segmented assimilation theory, findings support the "downward assimilation" hypothesis among low-skilled Mexicans and the "Anglo-conformity" hypothesis among high-skilled Mexicans. Overall, this research provides evidence of intragroup differences in segmented assimilation among foreign-born and U.S.-born Mexicans in the Southwest.     

The effects of life events and interpersonal loss on exercise adherence in older adults

Associations of life events and interpersonal loss with participation in home- and group-based exercise were studied in 97 older adults (64 % women, 70.2 +/- 4.1 years). Life events were assessed with a modified Social Readjustment Rating Scale at baseline and 6 and 12 months. Exercise logs and class-attendance records documented exercise participation. Participants experienced 3.62 +/- 3.56 unique life events over the course of the study, and 28 participants reported an interpersonal loss (5 men, 23 women). Number of life events was negatively associated with home-based exercise participation (p <.05); among women, this association approached significance (p =.06) for class-based exercise. Women who experienced an interpersonal loss had lower class-based participation than those who did not (p =.02), but home-based participation rates were unaffected. Life events, particularly interpersonal loss, appear to have a negative impact on exercise in women, and this effect appears greater for class-based than for home-based exercise.     

Spouses’ earnings association and inequality: A non-linear perspective

We analyze the association between spouses’ earnings taking account of non-linearities along both spouses’ distribution of earnings. We also document the non-linearity of the relationships between earnings and labor force participation, earnings and couple formation, and earnings and number of children. Using simulations, we then analyze how changes in spouses’ rank-dependence structure, labor force participation and couple formation contribute to the upsurge in inequality in the U.S between 1967 and 2018. We find that an increased tendency towards positive sorting contributed substantially to the rise in inequality only among dual-earner couples, while it contributed little to overall inequality across households. Temporal and distributional heterogeneity are important, as earnings association had a more substantial role in the bottom of the earnings distribution and in recent years. The decline in couple formation contributed substantially to the rise in inequality, while the increase in female labor force participation and the fertility decline had equalizing effects.

     

The participation of women in the labour force of Latin America: fertility and other factors

The level of labor force participation among Latin American women, when compared with participation rates for other countries, is the lowest in the world. Only 20% or less of women 10 years of age and older are economically active. This level did not change much between 1950 and 1970. Few women work in agriculture. The following factors are considered for their effect on labor force participation of urban women: marital status, education, income, and the structure and stage of development of the society. Married women have a low participation rate. More highly educated women are more likely to work, but there must be demand for their work services. As the economy of various countries has progressed, female participation in domestic services has decreased, in industry has remained constant between 1960 and 1970, and in social services has expanded. It is concluded that work participation for married women will only increase with the following changes: 1) improved educational opportunities for women; 2) structural change and modernization in the economy; and 3) reduced family fertility. Changes in the first 2 factors are more important than reduced fertility. Since 1960, only Chile and Costa Rica have had a 25% decline in fertility rates.     

Individuelle und kontextuelle Determinanten der Teilhabe an Sozialkapital

We ask for conditions influencing membership in social organizations as strongholds of social capital. Beside individual characteristics, contextual factors such as political, social, or economic settings are also taken into consideration to explain individual decisions to participate in social organizations. The influences of individual and contextual level factors are tested simultaneously in several multi-level analyses. The results show that membership in social associations on the one hand is affected by individual characteristics such as marked trust in others, high level of education, church attendance, strong ties with the neighbourhood, age and sex, and on the other hand by contextual factors such as a catholic social context and institutional settings. In particular, Swiss direct democracy offering larger possibilities of participation facilitates membership in social organizations.     

Life-course perspective for physical activity and sports participation

The purpose of this paper was to discuss physical activity and sports participation in a life-course framework, long-term tracking, determinants, and correlates of physical activity from childhood to old age, and present possible causal links and pathways for the continuity of physical activity. It seems that intensive participation in general in physical activity and sports, as well as participation at school age, are important predictors of adulthood participation. Especially, inactivity rather than activity tends to track from youth to adulthood. Socioeconomic status, place of residence, and personal upward social mobility are related to participation. If physical activity is at a low level in early adulthood, it does not easily become a part of life later on, particularly among blue-collar workers, women, and people with initially poor perceived health. Furthermore, in old age, earlier physical activity seems to be the key determinant along with gender. Repeated social reinforcement in the form of support for autonomy, competence, and relatedness is important especially in transition periods and life events such as secondary schooling, change in employment, and change in family structure. In contrast, retirement presented itself as a good chance of starting new leisure time activities. A life-course approach provides understanding on long-ranging developmental trajectories. According to these results in particular, the polarization of exercise to the active and inactive portions of the population is accumulated over time, and gender and social background features require special attention.     

Mincer's Overtaking Point and the Life Cycle Earnings Distribution

In 1958 Jacob Mincer pioneered an important approach to understand earnings distribution. In the years since Mincer's seminal work, he as well as his students and colleagues extended the original human capital model, reaching important conclusions about a whole array of observations pertaining to human well-being. This line of research explained why education enhances earnings; why earnings rise at a diminishing rate throughout one's life; why earnings growth is smaller for those anticipating intermittent labor force participation; why men earn more than women; why Whites earn more than Blacks; why occupational distributions differ by gender; why geographic and job mobility predominate among the young; why unemployment is lower among the skilled; and why numerous other labor market phenomena occur. This paper surveys the answers to these and other questions based on research emanating from Mincer's original discovery. In addition, this paper provides new empirical evidence regarding Mincer's concept of the overtaking age–a topic not currently well-explored in the literature. In this latter vein, the paper shows that Mincer's original finding of a U-shaped (log) variance of earnings over the life cycle is upheld in recent data, both for the United States as well as at least seven other countries.     

Why older Australians participate in exercise and sport

Research on variables that encourage older adults to exercise is limited. This study was carried out to identify the participation motives of older Australians involved in regular exercise and sport. The 815 participants (399 men, 416 women) ranged in age from 55 to 93 years (M = 63.6, SD = 7.8) and were participating in their activities of choice at least once per week. All participants completed the Participation Motivation Questionnaire for Older Adults. The most common exercise/sport activities that participants were involved in were walking, golf, lawn bowls, tennis, and swimming. The most highly reported motives for participation were to keep healthy, liking the activity, to improve fitness, and to maintain joint mobility. Principal-components analysis of the questionnaire revealed 6 factors: social, fitness, recognition, challenge/benefits, medical, and involvement. Analyses of variance showed significant differences in reasons for participation in exercise and sport based on gender, age, education level, and occupation.     

MONEY MATTERS:

This study examined the significance of earnings ratios, for the division of family work and gender-role attitudes among 136 physician couples in Israel. Consistent with resource theory, 'moderns' (both earned the same) and 'innovatives' (wives earned more than the husbands) had a more egalitarian division of labor in the home and gender-role ideology than 'conventionals' (the husbands earned more than the wives). A discriminant analysis revealed that the three groups of men were distinguished primarily by their behavior in the family - the lower their relative earnings, the greater their participation in child-care and housework - and by the relative importance they attributed to their wives' career success. The three groups of women were distinguished by their attitudes - women who earned less than their husbands had more traditional gender-role attitudes and attributed lesser importance to their own career success than to that of their husbands', but were more satisfied with their ability to combine family and work than women who earned the same or more. The innovative couples combined a strong joint commitment to both their work and their children.     

The Life Satisfaction Advantage of Being Married and Gender Specialization

This investigation examined whether the life satisfaction advantage of married over unmarried people decreased over the past 3 decades and whether the changes in contextual gender specialization explained this trend. Contextual gender specialization was defined as a country‐year‐specific share of married women who fully specialize in household work. The author used representative data from the World Values Survey–European Values Study integrated data set for 87 countries (N = 292,525) covering a period of 29 years (1981–2009). The results showed that the life satisfaction advantage of being married decreased over time among men but not among women. Furthermore, the decline of contextual gender specialization correlated with this trend in developed but not in developing countries. In developed countries the life satisfaction of unmarried people increased as the contextual gender specialization declined, whereas the life satisfaction of married people was not affected.     

Employment-based retirement plan participation: geographic differences and trends, 2010

LATEST DATA: This Issue Brief examines the level of participation by workers in public- and private-sector employment-based pension or retirement plans, based on the U.S. Census Bureau's March 2011 Current Population Survey (CPS), the most recent data currently available (for year-end 2010). SPONSORSHIP RATE: Among all working-age (21-64) wage and salary employees, 54.2 percent worked for an employer or union that sponsored a retirement plan in 2010. Among full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 21-64 (those with the strongest connection to the work force), 61.6 percent worked for an employer or union that sponsors a plan. PARTICIPATION LEVEL: Among full-time, full-year wage and salary workers ages 21-64, 54.5 percent participated in a retirement plan. TREND: This is virtually unchanged from 54.4 percent in 2009. Participation trends increased significantly in the late 1990s, and decreased in 2001 and 2002. In 2003 and 2004, the participation trend flattened out. The retirement plan participation level subsequently declined in 2005 and 2006, before a significant increase in 2007. Slight declines occurred in 2008 and 2009, followed by a flattening out of the trend in 2010. AGE: Participation increased with age (61.4 percent for wage and salary workers ages 55-64, compared with 29.2 percent for those ages 21-24). GENDER: Among wage and salary workers ages 21-64, men had a higher participation level than women, but among full-time, full-year workers, women had a higher percentage participating than men (55.5 percent for women, compared with 53.8 percent for men). Female workers' lower probability of participation among wage and salary workers results from their overall lower earnings and lower rates of full-time work in comparison with males. RACE: Hispanic wage and salary workers were significantly less likely than both white and black workers to participate in a retirement plan. The gap between the percentages of black and white plan participants that exists overall narrows when compared across earnings levels. GEOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES: Wage and salary workers in the South and West had the lowest participation levels (Florida had the lowest percentage, at 43.7 percent) while the upper Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast had the highest levels (West Virginia had the highest participation level, at 64.2 percent). OTHER FACTORS: White, more highly educated, higher-income, and married workers are more likely to participate than their counterparts.     

A Research Note on Family and Income Distribution: The Equalizing Impact of Married Women's Earnings in Metropolitan Brazil*

Using the 1985 Brazilian Annual Household Survey (PNAD), this study analyzes the extent to which the labor force participation of married women influenced familyincome inequality. The marginal impact on family earnings is decomposed into two components, one generated uniquely by differences in earnings inequality between spouses and another produced by imperfect assortive mating on spouses' earnings. Results show that the correlation among spouses' earnings is significantly less than one (0.4), and that the level of earnings inequality is more than 50 percent higher among wives than husbands. Because these forces are offsetting, wives' labor income has a negligible impact on family-income inequality in Brazil. The results demonstrate the importance of isolating the influence of imperfect assortive mating from that due to inequality in earnings between men and women.     

International Migration and Religious Participation: The Mediating Impact of Individual and Contextual Effects1

Supported by previous empirical work, theory from sociology of religion and migration provide testable hypotheses in predicting changes in immigrant religious participation surrounding the migratory event. Due to data constraints, however, these hypotheses have escaped broad‐based analysis. Using the New Immigrant Survey (NIS), religious participation from pre‐ to postmigration time periods is found to decrease among recent immigrants to the United States. Individual‐level characteristics (i.e., gender, familial conditions, employment) do not substantially explain this decline; alternatively, contextual‐level factors (i.e., religious pluralism and religious concentration) partially mediate this drop in immigrant religiosity.     

Personality and labor force participation across the life course: A longitudinal study of women's careers

The influences on and consequences of women's labor force experience are examined using data from members of the Berkeley longitudinal studies born between 1920 and 1929. In adolescence, these women were overwhelmingly oriented toward marriage and family rather than career, yet more than two-thirds eventually spent substantial time in the paid labor force. Consistent labor force participation was lower for women who had been attractive, outgoing, feminine, self-confident, and status seeking in their high school years. High labor force participation, however, was associated with increases in self-confidence, status seeking, assertiveness, and intellectual investment between adolescence and later adulthood. The demographic correlates of labor force participation changed over the life course: as family responsibilities diminished in the later middle years, both family composition and husband's occupational status decreased in importance, while the importance of a woman's own education level and her husband's expected retirement income increased.     

Long-term employment and earnings among low-income families with children

Self-support through employment has become much more important for low-income mothers and welfare recipients as a result of welfare reform and decline of welfare caseloads. This study used the 2004 longitudinal panels of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) to examine longitudinal patterns and trajectories of employment and earnings and to identify factors associated with long-term employment and earnings success among low-income mothers. The results indicate that despite the high proportion of low-income mothers employed, a substantial number were unable to sustain employment and had low earnings. Only 37% of low-income mothers experienced earnings success. Moreover, nearly half of the sample who had successful employment trajectories experienced stagnant or decreasing earnings. Results highlight the importance of considering the level, trend, and stability of employment and earnings in categorizing employment and earnings success. The factors associated with both long-term employment and earnings success included education, work disability, earnings of other adults in the family, homeownership, and state unemployment rates. Results also revealed some differences in factors that determined these two outcomes. The findings point to the importance of advocating for social policies that provide additional income and employment supports for low-income families with children.     

Marriage and Women's Earnings from Work

Abstract

Marital status and earnings from work for women are studied using the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), Young Women's Cohort. The study focuses on how being continuously married affects the earnings of women from young adulthood through their pre-retirement years. Earnings from work are measured by average annual wages between 1968 and 1999. Bivariate findings suggest that marriage and family are associated with lessening the wage-earning potential of women over the life course but multivariate analysis shows no effect beyond that of other measures accounted for in the study. Education and number of hours worked are positively related to earnings outcomes and the number of dependents has a negative effect. Policy makers who are calling for an increase in marriage-promoting activities for TANF recipients are using marriage as a primary solution for eliminating poverty and thereby ignoring real ways to help women earn more for themselves and their families. The use of TANF funds for encouraging marriage in general is also of questionable economic advantage to non-welfare women.     

Midlife and older displaced workers: A comparison of predisplacement and new earnings

The economic consequences of business closings and worker layoffs are of great concern to today's work force. The study compares earnings of 755 workers previous to displacement to 422 displaced workers with new earnings. Variables are identified using the data supplement of the 1988Current Populations Survey: Displaced Workers. Displaced workers employed in professional and white-collar positions have more favorable predisplacement earnings and new earnings than workers from other job sectors, but displaced workers who are homeowners and those who have health care coverage before and following job displacement have a decline in earnings. Displaced workers with some high school education and workers with 30 to 39 years of job tenure also experience decreased wages. Overall, displacement of American workers stifles the economy and negatively influences the human capital of the nation's work force. Her major research interests include displaced worker issues, work and family policy, and the economics of aging. Her major research interests include labor force participation of midlife and older persons.     

The Relationship Between Wife’s Education and Husband’s Earnings: Evidence from 1960 to 2000

Previous research finds a positive relationship between a wife’s education and her husband’s earnings using data from the 1960s. Earlier theories suggest that benefits accrue from informational sharing between partners in a marriage. This paper tests the hypothesis that a wife’s education is positively associated with her husband’s earnings, using data from the 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, and 2000 Censuses. Between 1960 and 2000, the educational attainment and labor-force participation of married women has increased dramatically. As women have embarked upon their own careers, has their education continued to be positively associated with their husbands’ earnings? Yes. The coefficient of the wife’s education remains positive and significant for all the years under study. The size of the coefficient decreases, however, from 1960 to 2000.     

A longitudinal evaluation of government-sponsored job skills training and basic employment services among U.S. baby boomers with economic disadvantages

Job skills training is a cost-effective strategy for improving employment among individuals who have low income and employment barriers, but few U.S. government-sponsored employment program participants have received such training. To better understand long-term gains from job skills training, this study compared employment and earnings trajectories between program participants who received job skills training and those who received basic services only. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we estimated 33-year employment and earnings trajectories among U.S. baby-boomer cohorts while accounting for baseline group heterogeneity using inverse propensity score weighting. We found increases in employment rates over the life course, especially among Black women. Job skills training also increased earnings by up to 69.6 % compared to basic services only. Despite the long-term gains in employment and earnings, job skills training participation is not sufficient to address gender as well as racial and ethnic gaps in full-time employment. Findings reinforce the importance of incorporating job skills training as an essential service element of government-sponsored employment programs to improve long-term labor market outcomes among Americans with economic disadvantages.