Longitudinal Analysis of the Domains of Satisfaction Before and After Disability: Evidence from the German Socio-Economic Panel

The aim of this paper is to analyse the effect of the onset of disability on life satisfaction and five different domains of satisfaction (health, household income, housing, job, leisure) for German individuals. Particular attention is paid to examining whether individuals can adapt to disability over time before and after its onset in terms of satisfaction. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) for the period 1984?C2008, we estimate an innovative fixed-effects model on life satisfaction and each domain of satisfaction for working-age males (aged 21?C58), which allows us to estimate lag and lead effects and thus to test the anticipation and adaptation hypotheses. Although individual obtain complete adaptation to disability in terms of global life satisfaction (5?years after the onset), this adaptation is not complete in all domains of satisfaction. For example, despite the fact that the levels of health satisfaction drop as the individual becomes disabled, after the onset it increases but the levels are lower than those reached before the onset. In contrast, the adaptation is especially faster in the terms of leisure satisfaction (3?years after the onset), household income and housing satisfaction (5?years after the onset in both cases). Our results support the findings obtained in other psychological studies that conclude that the domain of disability extends far beyond health related concerns to encompass the person??s well-being definition of self and social position. Finally, these findings may help policy makers and government to promote social and economic measures and actions lead to increase the scores of global well-being and specific domains of satisfaction of this collective.     

Health-Related Quality of Life Among Abused Women One Year After Leaving a Violent Partner

This is the first follow up study measuring quality of life among abused women who have left their abusive partner. The women (n = 22) answered a questionnaire while staying at women’s shelter and one year later. The aim was to examine long-term effects of intimate partner violence against women on health-related quality of life. Health-related quality of life was measured using the SF-36 Health Survey and the WHOQOL-BREF. The meantime for living in a violent partnership was 11 years, most of the women had children under 10 years living with them, low income and were on sickness absence or disability pension. About half of the women had experienced threats of violence and 6 had experienced violent acts after leaving their partner. SF-36 scores after one year were significantly better in vitality (t-test, P < 0.001), mental health (t-test P < 0.001) and social domains (t-test, P < 0.04). WHOQOL-BREF scores did not change significantly from baseline, showing that the SF-36 showed more responsiveness in this population. Regression analysis showed that serious physical violence reported at baseline predicted significantly less improvement in physical and mental health and role-emotional in the SF-36 and in social relationships and environmental health in the WHOQOL-BREF. High psychological violence at baseline predicted significantly less improvement in mental health in the SF-36 and in social relationships and environmental health in the WHOQOL-BREF.     

Poverty,Inequality and Deprivation in South Africa: An Analysis of the 1993 SALDRU Survey

This paper analyses poverty and inequality in South Africa based on data from a comprehensive multi-purpose household survey undertaken in 1993 to provide baseline statistics on poverty and its determinants to the new government. The paper shows that South Africa has among the highest levels of income inequality in the world and compares poorly in most social indicators to countries with similar income levels. Much of the poverty in the country is a direct result of apartheid policies that denied equal access to education, employment, services, and resources to the black population of the country. As a result, poverty has a very strong racial dimension with poverty concentrated among the African population. In addition, poverty is much higher in rural areas, and particularly high in the former homelands. Poverty among female-headed households and among children is also higher than average. Moreover, poverty is closely related to poor education and lack of employment. The poor suffer from lack of access to education, quality health care, basic infrastructure, transport, are heavily indebted, have little access to productive resources, and are heavily dependent on remittances and social transfers, particularly social pensions and disability grants. The paper uses an income-based definition of poverty for most of the analysis. In addition, it develops a broad-based index of deprivation including income, employment, wealth, access to services, health, education, and perceptions of satisfaction as its components. While on average the two indicators correspond fairly closely, the income poverty measure misses a considerable number of people who are severely deprived in many of the non-income measures of well-being. This group of severely deprived not identified by the income poverty measure consists predominantly of Africans living in rural areas, concentrated particularly in the province of KwaZulu/Natal.     

Correlates of subjective well-being in Northern Wisconsin

This paper presents the results of an attempt to relate socioeconomic status, family status, social participation and personal disruptions of statuses and roles to an index of life satisfaction in rural sectors of Northern Wisconsin. While income, education and occupational status and level of living explain very little of life satisfaction, social participation variables explain somewhat more and disruptions of marital ties, job, physical well-being and residence explain most. Analyses by age and sex show that contacts with friends, relatives and church attendance are more important for the young, employment for the middle-aged and village residence more important for the older persons. The analysis supports the notion that life satisfaction results from the discrepancy between the aspirations and expectations of the individual and his ability to satisfy them within his environment. Education is negatively associated with subjective well-being when other variables are controlled. The influence of social involvement upon life satisfaction suggests the need for a modification of the aspiration-attainment model to include the integrative-expressive as well as the adaptive-instrumental processes of the individual.     

Combining vertical service with horizontal service to promote family planning]

How Bazhong County of Sechuan Province, China, carries out family planning through a combination of what are termed vertical and horizontal services is described. Vertical service refers to assistance such as premarital education, prenatal hygiene, child health care, and family planning, while horizontal service refers to household assistance for married women. Premarital education is designed to help young people acquire sufficent knowledge about family planning, hygiene, and eugenics, and stresses the disadvantages involved in marriages between close relatives. Prenatal hygiene provides safe and convenient medical accommodations for delivery of the child as well as maternal care. Child health services assure that the best facilities are to be made available for physical examinations, vaccinations, and medical treatment. The family planning program involves comprehensive measures such as distribution of contraceptives and safe sterilization. In addition, the county provides medical assistance for couples unable to have children. Horizontal service providing household assistance for married women promotes scientific farming (e.g., how to use fertilizer), helps people increase their income by teaching them skills, and provides social services to improve life style and education. These vertical and horizontal services have brought about substantial improvements in the standard of living, family harmony, and population control.     

Productive Activity and Life Satisfaction in Korean Elderly Women

The purpose of this study is to explain the effect of participation in productive activities on life satisfaction and its implications for social evaluation of productive aging. This study uses data collected from 1,250 elderly women living in urban areas. The regression model was used to examine the influence of elderly women's participation in productive activities on their life satisfaction. Elderly women who participate in volunteer work, learning, and social group activities commonly recognized their activities as meaningful, feeling like worthwhile members of society, and evaluated such activities as very positive. In contrast, elderly women who participated in household chores and family care activities expressed a negative life satisfaction. The difference in life satisfaction regarding productive activities stems not only from the physical and environmental differences but also from the gap between the official social value underpinned by the recognition of surrounding people, their support, and the value of productive activities.     

Living Arrangements and Quality of Life Among Chinese Canadian Elders

This paper examines the role of living arrangements in thequality of life of community-dwelling Chinese elders (aged 65 andover) currently residing in Vancouver and Victoria, BritishColumbia. Data are based on a random sample of 830 persons[response rate = 71.5%], who were interviewed in their homes inthe language of their choice in 1995–96. Three dimensions ofquality of life – satisfaction, well-being and social support –are examined for married men and women [living with spouse alonevs. living intergenerationally] and widowed women [living alonevs. living intergenerationally]. Few differences are found formarried persons, especially women; for widows, living alonesignificantly reduces quality of life in a number of areas.Regression analyses indicate that living arrangements are not asignificant predictor of life satisfaction or well-being formarried men and women. For widows, living arrangements determinewell-being but not life satisfaction.Overall, age, health status, and social support (havingfriends/confidante) are better predictors of quality of life forelderly Chinese Canadians than are living arrangements. Findingshighlight the importance of: empirically distinguishing maritalstatus and living arrangements in studying the quality of life ofelders; not homogenizing Chinese Canadian seniors with regard toliving arrangements; and focussing on Chinese elderly widows wholive alone as a group at risk of low well-being.     

Perceived Social Policy Fairness and Subjective Wellbeing: Evidence from China

This study examined the relationship between perceived fairness of social policies and subjective well-being. Two types of policies examined were related to income distribution and social security. Subjective well-being was measured by work and life satisfaction. In addition, subjective well-beings between different income, age, and education groups in the context of perceived social justice were compared. With data from a random telephone survey conducted in Beijing, China among 2,113 respondents, findings from structural equation modeling indicate perceived fairness of social security and income distribution policies are positively associated with subjective well-being. After controlling for income, age, and education, the effect of income distribution fairness on work satisfaction was still positive and significant but had decreased in intensity, while the effect size on life satisfaction had changed little. Effects of social security fairness on both life and work satisfaction were still significant but had changed in different directions after adding demographic variables, in which the effect on life satisfaction had increased, while the effect on work satisfaction had decreased in size.     

The Compensating Income Variation of Social Capital

There is a small but growing literature on the determinants of social capital. Most of these studies use a measure of trust to define social capital empirically. In this paper we use three different measures of social capital: the size of the individual’s social network, the extent of their social safety net and membership of unions or associations. A second contribution to the literature is that we analyze what social capital contributes to our well-being. Based on this, we calculate the compensating income variation of social capital. We find differences in social capital when we differentiate according to individual characteristics such as education, age, place of residence, household composition and health. Household income generally has a statistically significant effect. We find a significant effect of social capital on␣life␣satisfaction. Consequently, the compensating income variation of social capital is substantial. Thanks to Tijl Woortman for his research assistance.     

生计策略对农村留守妇女婚姻满意度的影响①——性生活质量的调节作用

构建性生活质量调节下的生计策略对婚姻满意度影响分析框架,利用安徽巢湖问卷调查数据,本文以非留守妇女和准留守妇女为参照,描述了农村留守妇女的生计策略、性生活质量和婚姻满意度现状,并采用有序回归方法对生计策略和性生活质量对婚姻满意度的影响进行了分析。结果表明：家庭再生产策略对非留守妇女婚姻满意度有显著的积极影响;工资性工作和家庭再生产策略对准留守妇女婚姻满意度有显著的消极影响;农业生产策略对留守妇女婚姻满意度有显著的积极影响,家庭经营和工资性工作策略则对留守妇女婚姻满意度有显著消极影响。此外,性生活质量不仅本身对非留守妇女和留守妇女的婚姻满意度有较强的促进作用,同时也在生计策略对婚姻满意度的影响过程中发挥不同的调节作用。上述发现对提高农村留守妇女婚姻福利有重要启示。     

Cross-National Comparison on Family Satisfaction: Super-Specialization Versus Super-Equality

Research has documented that women still assume the main burden of domestic tasks and childcare within the household, despite the recent changes towards a greater equality. This division of labor has clear implications in satisfaction with family life. However, little research has combined other domestic responsibilities, such as decision making and care of dependent relatives with housework to study satisfaction, from a comparative perspective. In this article, data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)-2012 are used to explore the effects of a proposed index on balance in the couple, for women and men separately, through different multilevel models. The results suggest that the empowerment that could be assumed from a leading role in decision making does not improve satisfaction and that super-equality is the option yielding the highest levels of satisfaction, regardless their hours of paid-work. Differences by countries persist after controlling for individual and contextual variables, with the Latin American countries being those with the most satisfied populations.

     

Women’s Well-Being in Iran: Territorial Analysis Using a Multidimensional Approach

This paper employs a multidimensional index for assessing women’s well-being in Iranian provinces using demographic and health survey macro data. Besides economic status as a traditional dimension for objective well-being, other factors such as health, education, risk, and technology as well as self-reported life satisfaction and happiness (psychological well-being) have been included as non-material well-being dimensions. We found that the values of women’s well-being are distributed unequally across the provinces. Southern provinces demonstrate the worst performances and central provinces have the best. Generally, Iranian women are in poor condition in terms of economic variables (e.g. income and participation in the job market), psychological well-being (life satisfaction), HIV literacy, use of the internet, and access to mass media. On the other hand, in recent years, they have made significant progress in education (such as the rate of literacy, high school degree), and health (safe pregnancy care and nutritional supplements).     

A life satisfaction measure based on judgment theory

A life satisfaction measure is developed in this paper drawn from a judgment-type theory. This measure is based on the theoretical notion of life satisfaction being a function of a comparison between perceived life accomplishments and a set of evoked standards. These standards are classified as to their derivative sources (e.g., the life accomplishments of relatives, friends, associates, past experience, self-concept of strengths and weaknesses, and average person in a similar position) and different forms (e.g., standards based on ideal, expected, deserved, minimum tolerable, and predicted outcomes). Two studies were conducted on the elderly to ascertain the internally consistent and possessing construct validity correlations through high and internally consistent and possessing construct validity correlations through high and positive correlations with the Delighted-Terrible Life Satisfaction Scale; through significant and positive correlations with cognitive age, income, employment, education, marital status, social contact, activity, religiosity, morale, television viewership, and selfrated health; and through nonsignificant correlations with chronological age, gender, and parenthood.     

Materialism and Quality of Life

An attempt is made in this paper to establish a foundation for a theory of materialism and quality of life. The theory posits that overall life satisfaction (quality of life) is partly determined by satisfaction with standard of living. Satisfaction with standard of living, in turn, is determined by evaluations of one's actual standard of living compared to a set goal. Materialists experience greater dissatisfaction with their standard of living than nonmaterialists, which in turn spills over to overall life causing dissatisfaction with life in general. Materialists experience dissatisfaction with their standard of living because they set standard of living goals that are inflated and unrealistically high. These goals set by materialists are more influenced by affective-based expectations (such as ideal, deserved, and need-based expectations) than cognitive-based ones (such as predictive, past, and ability based expectations). Materialists' ideal standard-of-living expectations are influenced by social comparisons involving remote referents, more so than comparisons involving standards that are situationally imposed. Examples of situationally-imposed standards are perceptions of wealth, income, and material possessions of family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and so on. In contrast, examples of standards based on remote sources are perceptions of standard of living of others in one's community, town, state, country, other countries; perceptions of standard of living of others based on gender, age, education, ethnicity, occupation, and social class. This tendency to use remote referents in social comparisons may account for materialists' inflated and value-laden expectations of their standard of living. Materialists' deserved standard-of-living expectations are influenced by the tendency to engage in equity comparisons involving income and work. Thus, materialists compare themselves with others that seem to have more income and worked no harder. These equity comparisons generate feelings of inequity, injustice, anger, or envy. These emotions may also account for materialists' inflated and value-laden expectations of their standard of living. Materialists' standard-of-living expectations based on minimum needs are influenced by the tendency to spend more than generate income. This proclivity to overconsume and underproduce may be partly responsible for materialists' inflated and value-laden expectations of their standard of living.     

Asset Impacts on Life Satisfaction in an Asset-Rich Country: Focusing on Older Adults in Singapore

Using a representative sample, this study examined the extent to which assets matter for life satisfaction among older adults in Singapore. Singapore is a particularly useful context to explore the relationship between life satisfaction and assets because almost all Singaporeans own their own house, regardless of income level. First, this study used a latent profile analysis to assess patterns of life satisfaction. Then, asset impacts on this pattern of life satisfaction were examined, while controlling for contextual and health factors. The study found that financial assets matter for life satisfaction of older adults in Singapore. In particular, older adults in both the moderate life satisfaction class (LSC) and the High LSC were likely to have higher financial assets. Comparatively, other economic indicators such as real assets, total debts, and monthly household income were not significantly related to life satisfaction of older adults in the Moderate and High LSC compared to the Low LSC. However, real assets and monthly household income were significant predictors distinguishing the Moderate LSC and the High LSC. Throughout the models, total debts were not considered as a significant predictor of life satisfaction differences. This paper concludes by providing several policy and practice implications.     

Living Arrangement and Life Satisfaction of the Elderly in South Korea

With a rapid aging population in South Korea, the elderly living alone has received particular attention from researchers and stakeholders. Although previous research has found that living alone negatively affects life satisfaction of the elderly, much remains unclear about how life satisfaction of the elderly changes over time as their living arrangement change. To advance knowledge on life satisfaction of the elderly, using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging we tested the association between life satisfaction (overall life, health, and financial) of the elderly and their living arrangement. Our longitudinal research found that the elderly living with family had significantly higher life satisfaction compared to those living alone between 2006 and 2016. In addition, individuals who had a superior economic profile and maintained physical activity and social relations showed higher life satisfaction than their counterparts. Our findings suggest that to improve the life satisfaction of the elderly living alone, both material and psychological support programs are needed. Future research is needed to account for the multi-faceted nature of life satisfaction.

     

Perceptions of Fortune and Misfortune in Older South African Households: Social Assistance and the ‘Good Life’

It is commonly assumed that better living standards will boost subjective well-being. The post-apartheid South African government subscribes to this idea; its social policies aim to provide ‘a better life for all’. Since the coming of democracy in 1994, the state has built over 3 million houses and supplied electricity and clean water to poor households. By 2009, an estimated 43 % of households were beneficiaries of social grants. The question is whether this investment in services and social assistance translates into higher well-being of citizens. It is argued that older people’s experience of positive change in their life circumstances can be taken as a litmus test of progress in society. The paper reports results of a sample survey conducted in 2009 that inquired into the living circumstances and well-being of 1,000 older low-income households in two provinces linked by a labour migration route. Older households were defined as ones with a member 55 years and older. The sample was drawn among three approximately equal-sized subgroups: Rural black households in the former ‘homelands’ of the Eastern Cape Province, and black and coloured households in Cape Town in the Western Cape Province. The majority of the households in the survey had been interviewed in an earlier survey conducted in late 2002. Both material and non-material changes had occurred in the household situation over the 6-year period between 2002 and 2009. Access to housing and infrastructure had improved but financial difficulties and debts continued to plague many of the surveyed households. Rural black households appeared to be worst off among the three categories of older households with the lowest level of living; coloured households best situated with the highest level of living. Urban black households, many of whom were immigrants to Cape Town, appeared to have experienced the greatest fluctuations in their material circumstances between 2002 and 2009 and a mix of fortune and misfortune. Results indicated that social grants, which provided a modicum of financial security and peace of mind, made the crucial difference between fortune and misfortune for vulnerable households. Securing a social pension and other grants appeared to be the main route to good fortune for the rural households in the study. Households in Cape Town required wage income in addition to grant income to get by in the city. This mix of income sources diluted urban households’ dependence on social assistance. Regression model results suggest that income and financial security play a significantly more important role in boosting the well-being of low-income older households than access to services. Pooling of income, a common practice in pensioner households, contributed significantly to household satisfaction.     

Gender Differences in the Consequences of Divorce: A Study of Multiple Outcomes

In this study, I examined gender differences in the consequences of divorce by tracing annual change in 20 outcome measures covering four domains: economic, housing and domestic, health and well-being, and social. I used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and fixed-effects panel regression models on a sample of N = 18,030 individuals initially observed in a marital union, N = 1,220 of whom divorced across the observation period (1984–2015). Three main findings emerged from the analysis. First, men were more vulnerable to short-term consequences of divorce for subjective measures of well-being, but postdivorce adaptation alleviated gender differences in these outcomes. Second, a medium-term view on multiple outcomes showed more similarity than differences between women and men. The medium-term consequences of divorce were similar in terms of subjective economic well-being; mental health, physical health, and psychological well-being; residential moves, homeownership, and satisfaction with housework; and chances of repartnering, social integration with friends and relatives, and feelings of loneliness. Third, the key domain in which large and persistent gender differences emerged were women’s disproportionate losses in household income and associated increases in their risk of poverty and single parenting. Taken together, these findings suggest that men’s disproportionate strain of divorce is transient, whereas women’s is chronic.     

The Influence of Value Orientations and Demographics on Quality-of-Life Perceptions: Evidence from a National Survey of Singaporeans

This paper explores the linkages between value orientations, demographics and the quality of life perceptions for Singaporeans based on a nationwide values and lifestyles study conducted in 2001. The quality of life perception is assessed using cognitive evaluations of satisfaction with life in general (subjective personal well-being) and with aspects of living in Singapore (subjective social well-being). Five different value orientations, namely family values, materialism, status consciousness, societal consciousness and traditionalism, are examined for their effects on quality of life. The key demographics used are gender, age, marital status, education and personal income.