Relative Income,Relative Assets,and Happiness in Urban China

Does more money always mean that people are happier with their lives? To test the social comparison hypothesis as applied to happiness, this study uses survey data from the 2002 Chinese Household Income Project to examine the association between household economic resources and happiness in urban China. Household economic resources are measured as both income and assets (e.g., net worth and net worth minus home equity). In addition, the analyses include measures of relative income and relative assets. Results of ordinary least square regression analysis show a positive association of absolute income with the happiness score whereas relative income is negatively associated with happiness. Although household assets are a significant and positive predictor of self-assessments of happiness, measures of relative household assets do not correlate with happiness. Study findings suggest the level of happiness among urban populations could be increased through policies that promote pro-poor growth and equal distribution of economic resources. In addition, introducing asset-building policies as supplements to other social assistance programs may promote happiness.     

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.     

Loneliness and Subjective Well-Being Among Chinese Undergraduates: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy

Previous studies have shown a negative relationship between loneliness and one’s subjective well-being. However, it has not been fully examined within the Chinese context which highlights the importance of social relationship and interpersonal harmony for one’s life, and the mechanism between them has not been thoroughly explored. Based on social cognitive theory, this study examined the main effects of loneliness on individuals’ stress, depression, and life satisfaction, as well as the mediating effect of self-efficacy between them. Survey data were obtained from 444 Chinese undergraduates. The results of multiple regressions revealed that loneliness was negatively correlated with life satisfaction and positively correlated with stress and depression. Moreover, self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between loneliness and stress, as well as depression, and fully mediated the relationship between loneliness and life satisfaction. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

     

Family life course transitions and rural Household economy during China’s market reform

This article investigates the effect of family life course transitions on labor allocation strategies in rural Chinese households. We highlight three types of economic activity that involve reallocation of household labor oriented toward a more diversified, nonfarm rural economy: involvement in wage employment, household entrepreneurship, and/or multiple activities that span economic sectors. With the use of data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS 1997, 2000, and 2004), our longitudinal analyses of rural household economic activity point to the significance of household demography, life course transitions, and local economic structures as factors facilitating household labor reallocation. First, as expected, a relatively youthful household structure is conducive to innovative economic behavior. Second, household entrances and exits are significant, but their impacts are not equal. Life events such as births, deaths, marriage, or leaving home for school or employment affect household economy in distinctive ways. Finally, the reallocations of household labor undertaken by households are shaped by local economic structures: in particular, the extent of village-level entrepreneurial activity, off-farm employment, and out-migration.     

澳大利亚离婚家庭子女经济支持政策及其影响

澳大利亚每年的离婚人口数量较高,涉及未成年子女的离婚数量占到将近一半,每年有超过40000名18岁以下未成年子女正在承受着家庭离散之苦。与情感方面相比,经济上的变故给离婚家庭未成年子女带来更大的冲击。根据对澳大利亚离婚家庭的家庭收入、房屋拥有率、租房费用、资产总量以及经济压力这几个指标进行对比和分析,发现离婚对澳大利亚家庭经济水平具有严重负面影响,是导致澳大利亚离婚家庭子女福利降低的根源。随着离婚家庭经济水平的降低,澳大利亚离婚家庭的儿童保育费用下降、儿童教育支出减少、子女发展受到明显抑制。为此,澳大利亚不断完善相关法律法规,采取了诸多政策措施,在改善离婚家庭子女福利上积累了丰富的经验,取得了巨大成效,具体措施包括明确财产和抚养费分配的原则、优先考虑儿童最大利益、制定“儿童抚养计划”等。随着中国离婚程序的简化,中国离婚率已经从1984年的0.39%升至2018年的3.2%,超过了英、法、韩、日等国家。中国受离婚影响的未成年子女数量也随之不断增长,他们正承受着离婚带来的巨大的精神和物质压力。澳大利亚对离婚家庭子女的支持政策值得我国借鉴,建议我国以“儿童最大利益优先原则”确定抚养人,合理确定抚养费数额,加强抚养费执行与监管,这将有利于改善离婚家庭子女的生活,维护未成年子女利益,从而更有效地维护社会稳定发展。     

遗产动机对中国老年家庭储蓄率的影响

中国人口老龄化问题日益凸显,老年家庭储蓄率居高不下,标准生命周期假说理论已无法解释。基于中国家庭金融调查数据,从遗产动机视角分析老年家庭高储蓄率现象。研究结果表明,中国老年家庭遗产动机显著提升家庭储蓄率,遗产动机使得老年家庭储蓄率水平显著提高5%—10%左右。进一步研究发现,相比较于城市家庭,遗产动机对农村家庭储蓄影响显著;相对于高等财富家庭而言,遗产动机显著促进中低财富家庭储蓄率水平,说明“未富先老”使得老年家庭有更强的遗产动机进行储蓄;对于家庭不同生活状况的子女,遗产动机显著提升子女体制外工作和子女教育水平低的老年家庭储蓄率,表明中国老年家庭利他主义的遗产动机较强。本文为理解中国老年家庭的高储蓄提供了新的视角,可以为政府相关部门制定政策提供参考。     

Religiosity and quality of life in South Africa

Using nationally representative survey data, this paper explores the relationship between religiosity and quality of life. Three indicators of religiosity are used: (i) frequency of attendance at religious services or meetings, (ii) orthodoxy of beliefs in relation to Biblical teachings and (iii) religious denomination. Quality of life (QoL) is measured in terms of (i) household access to modern conveniences, (ii) self-assessed life satisfaction and (iii) level of satisfaction with government institutions. The data shows a significant but not very strong statistical relationship between religiosity and QoL. People who attend religious meetings most frequently and who hold the most orthodox religious views are thus more likely to have access to modern conveniences and to be satisfied with their lives. Satisfaction with government, however, tends to be highest amongst nominally religious people and lowest amongst both the most orthodox and the least religious.     

Liushou Women’s Happiness and its Influencing Factors in Rural China

The economic development of urban cities in China has attracted a large number of labour from the rural countryside. The married migrant workers will usually leave their wives’ homes to look after the other family members and the farmland. A special term liushou women, has been created for this group of women. Among the 87 million rural residents, 47 million of them are liushou women according to the recent survey conducted by China Agricultural University. They play a crucial role in the development of rural economy and an essential role to the social stability of rural China. In this research, the factors that influence the happiness of liushou women were investigated in the Western part of China. Based on the population investigated, it was found that the financial situation, personality, government efficiency, conjugal relationship and relationship with in-laws are the significant factors influencing the happiness of liushou women. This finding demonstrates that the Chinese women are willing to sacrifice their personal interest for the interests of their families.     

Minority Stress,Parenting Styles,and Mental Health in Brazilian Homosexual Men

ABSTRACT

Homosexual men are constantly exposed to prejudice and violence in Brazil. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between minority stress, parenting styles, and indicators of mental health problems in a sample of homosexual men. Method: quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational, and retrospective design. Participants were 101 Brazilian men who selfidentified as homosexuals, aged between 18 and 55 years. Results: concealing sexual identity was a predictor of depression and stress. Parental responsiveness was associated with a lower incidence of enacted stigma and depression. Conclusions: the mental health of homosexual men can be negatively affected by the need to conceal their sexual orientation. Parental responsiveness is a protective factor in terms of experiencing enacted stigma and depression. The results found in the study may be useful for counselors and social workers who are working with LGBT people and their families.     

Household structure and housing needs

This paper is mainly derived from the material presented in the preceding article by S. P. Brown. Indeed, while the previous analysis is of considerable intrinsic interest, the hypothetical population was constructed and its family distribution was shown for the purpose of providing a basis for estimates of housing needs. For several reasons it appeared to be essential to have such a basis. First, any housing programme has to take the future, as well as the present, distribution of households by type and size into account. Secondly, such a programme has to be designed so as not to prevent household formation—there should be dwellings for all potential households, so that involuntary doubling-up need not occur. Thirdly, most residential areas should have dwellings for an eventually stable population, that is, for one which has variety of age groups and of household types, and also fair stability of housing demand. Estimates of the distribution of potential ‘households’ could be derived from the ‘family’ distribution of the hypothetical population which reflects current demographic trends. Thus although this population is a ‘hypothetical’ one, it provides a realistic premise for considering housing needs, and because it is a ‘stationary’ one, it provides an especially suitable premise. Moreover, since the demographic characteristics of its ‘families’ and therefore of its potential households were established in far greater detail than has ever been the case in sample surveys of existing households, it was possible to classify households in the terms which appear to be most appropriate for the first draft of a housing programme, irrespective of social and economic variations in demand.

The first stage in following up Mr Brown's analysis was the conversion of ‘families’ into ‘households’. Two examples of the possible household distribution of the hypothetical population are presented. Example A, which gives a realistic, but not extreme, picture of the conversion of families into households, is used for the subsequent detailed analysis, while broader figures for distribution B are also included.

In the second stage the various types of household had to be distinguished. For estimating housing needs, two interrelated criteria of household classification are relevant—first, the stage in the life of a household, especially appropriate in considering space requirements; secondly, the age composition of households, which largely determines the type of dwelling needed.

The detailed distribution of households by size and type, based on this classification, is further translated into a distribution of dwellings by type and size. For this purpose, additional assumptions about the number of rooms and the type of dwelling needed by households of various types are introduced and applied to the hypothetical population, both to household distributions A and B. These assumptions are not based on accepted standards, nor do they suggest standards. They are merely used for the purpose of illustrating a possible method of estimating housing needs on the basis of a detailed picture of household structure. They are further designed to represent one possible compromise between economy in dwelling distribution, on the one hand, and flexibility of space for individual households, on the other.

In the final sections of the paper, the implications of the dwelling distributions here presented are discussed in relation to household mobility, and also with reference to the necessity for reconciling short-term and long-term housing needs in any housing programme.     

An Econometric Analysis of the Relationship Between Millennium Development Goals,Economic Growth and Financial Development in South Africa

The relationship between financial development, economic growth and millennium development goals are unsettled in the literature. Using four indicators of financial development, this paper studies the link between the three variables in South Africa. In general, per capita income improves per capita spending on education in the short run. However, total domestic credit to GDP ratio decreases spending on education. There are highly significant long run relationships among the variables. Improving access to private sector credit and increasing per capita incomes are associated with improvement in health outcomes in South Africa. There are no short run nor long run relationships between household spending on clothes, economic growth and financial sector development. Improved private sector credit also improves household spending on food. In general, there are long run relationships between per capita spending on food, per capita income and financial sector development.

     

Social Capital Inequality and Subjective Wellbeing of Older Chinese

Using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies, this study provides insights on comparative wellbeing outcomes for older people who are institutionally segregated into clusters that produce uneven social capital. We present the first study that examines how institutionalized social capital inequality, measured by the social capital gap generated by hukou (household registration) status in China, affects the wellbeing of older people. Our results show that high levels of social capital inequality are associated with lower subjective wellbeing, measured by life satisfaction. This general conclusion is robust to a number of sensitivity checks including alternative ways of measuring subjective wellbeing and inequality. We also find that the negative relationship between social capital inequality and subjective wellbeing is strongest for people with a non-urban hukou living in urban areas. Our findings highlight the need for policies aimed at narrowing the social capital gap and the dismantling of institutional structures that hinder upward social capital mobility.

     

Economic Theory and Subjective Well-being: Mexico

Several studies have been conducted on the topic of well-being. Most of them, however, have been done in industrialized countries where income is distributed relatively more equitatively and the population tends to be more homogeneous. This paper studies the relationship between subjective and economic well-being in Mexico, a country where the economic differences among the population are more clearly marked.

According to the economic definition of well-being, higher levels of income are associated with higher levels of well-being through greater levels of material consumption. Taking into consideration this definition, it is worth asking just how important income is for an individual's happiness?Existing studies in psychology have found a positive correlation between economic well-being (socioeconomic status) and subjective well-being (happiness). However, this positive relationship is weak and a large percentage of human happiness remains unexplained.

Although the mentioned studies make a good approximation of the existing relationship between income and happiness, the characteristics or specification of the function that generates the relationship between these two variables is often assumed to be linear and positive. The main objective of this paper is to investigate further the relationship between subjective and economic well-being. In this study different specifications and approaches are used to approximate the relationship between these variables.

An empirical analysis is made from the results of a survey conducted in two Mexican cities. The investigation studies the impact of demographic, social, and economic variables on subjective well-being in Mexico. Several hypotheses are tested to identify the relationship between household income and individual well-being. It is found that income does not have a strong influence on neither well-being nor on the probability of happiness. However, people tend to overstress the impact that additional income would have on their subjective well-being. This fact could explain the importance that people place on increasing their income level, and it could possibly explain the relative sense of dissatisfaction once a higher income level is achieved.

The relationship between income and the sense of basic need satisfaction is also explored. A main assumption in economic theory suggests the existence of a direct relationship between these variables; however, empirical results show this relationship to be extremely weak. Results indicate that subjective well-being is positively related to the sense of basic need satisfaction but not to income.

     

依赖与脆弱性：农民养老问题的一个实证分析——基于全国十个省份1000余位农民的调查数据

文章基于2009年全国十个省份30个行政村1000余位农民的调查数据，从“依赖性一脆弱性一养老困境”的逻辑关系出发．以农民养老的经济依赖途径为切入点。利用Multinomial Logistic回归模型，实证分析了农民养老的脆弱性及其影响因素。结果显示，那些同时具备女性、年龄较大、养儿防老观念比较强、家庭收入比较低、没有儿子、家庭整劳力比较少、纯农户和所在村经济情况比较差特征的农民，是依赖性最强的农民，他们面临的养老脆弱性程度也最高。由于现实生活中。全部具备上述所有条件的农民毕竟是少数。但农村社会政策刺定部门可以根据农民满足上述条件的多寡．来判断其养老脆弱性程度的高低。并以此为依据选择农村社会政策的重点关注对象。     

Incarceration and Household Asset Ownership

A considerable literature documents the deleterious economic consequences of incarceration. However, little is known about the consequences of incarceration for household assets—a distinct indicator of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to the survival of low-income families—or about the spillover economic consequences of incarceration for families. In this article, we use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study to examine how incarceration is associated with asset ownership among formerly incarcerated men and their romantic partners. Results, which pay careful attention to the social forces that select individuals into incarceration, show that incarceration is negatively associated with ownership of a bank account, vehicle, and home among men and that these consequences for asset ownership extend to the romantic partners of these men. These associations are concentrated among men who previously held assets. Results also show that post-incarceration changes in romantic relationships are an important pathway by which even short-term incarceration depletes assets.     

保障和激励:建立支撑我国城市家庭养老健康发展的有效机制

传统西方社会经济理论将养老方式的变革与工业化发展水平之间划上必然的联系。事实上 ,养老问题是一个与经济、文化、政治、人口等多方面因素密切相关的社会问题。在我国城市家庭养老功能趋于弱化的今日 ,政府应在保障和激励家庭养老方面有所作为 ,使家庭养老这一最为经济的养老方式在迎接人口老龄化的挑战中发挥更为出色的作用     

A discussion of the effect of development of commodity economy on rural fertility trend in the countryside]

A long-term commodity economy in China, according to this report, will help to improve family planning and to decrease the population. The new economic reforms have brought a commodity economy to rural areas of China and the result is an improved level of productivity and a higher standard of living. At this stage in China's economic development, many couples want to have more than 1 child which they could not afford before. This poses a new problem for family planning objectives. As the economy has shifted from a partially self-contained economy to a commodities-based one, more rural inhabitants want more children for the following reasons: 1) the economic system in China is based on the production of individual households (since agriculture in China today is still carried out by manual laborers, the household productivity rate is determined by the number of laborers it can provide); 2) as rural inhabitants have a higher income than before, they are no longer worried about fines; 3) decentralization reduces the governments financial resources and it is unable to follow through with, e.g., promises of 1-child family incentives and bonuses, and welfare. As a result, families do not uphold the family planning objectives. Family planning will eventually overcome these problems, however, through promotion of family planning campaigns and as the commodity economy advances and becomes more thoroughly developed. The author states that China is currently in the midst of an economic transition period which, once over, will see a decrease in the overall population.     

(Un-)becoming Chinese creatives: transnational mobility of creative labour in a ‘global’ Beijing

ABSTRACT

Drawing on qualitative research conducted on transnational creative workers in Beijing, this article shows how the vibrant interaction between global cultural industries and the local Chinese economy propels transnational labour mobility and affects the subjectification of transnational creative workers. Having come to China to enhance their careers, these professionals have been incorporated into the Chinese creative workforce, contributing to the Party State’s aspiration to use creativity as a growth engine for the economy and as a form of soft power. In terms of these workers’ everyday experience, however, China’s aspiration to ‘foreign creativity’ does not necessarily guarantee a privileged life. The State’s restrictions on migration and the insecure working circumstances within the Chinese creative workplace discourage these transnationals from fully integrating in Chinese society and the Chinese labour market. At the same time, this research shows that the precarious lives led by transnational creative workers in Beijing are also productive and generate the conditions for a situated cosmopolitan subjectivity. Such a cosmopolitan subjectivity fosters respect for cultural difference and relations of mutual understanding and care among both international and local subjects.     

Dynamics of Asset Poverty in South Korea

Studies of economic insecurity tend to focus on changes in incomes and transitions in and out of income poverty. Yet family economic conditions are shaped by more than just income. Levels of assets and wealth, and changes in these over time also play a role. To identify which groups of the poor have been structurally trapped in poverty over time, using the Korean Welfare Panel Study, we examined the dynamics of asset poverty from 2005 to 2014. We defined three asset poverty lines by operationalizing assets as resources for either future consumption or development. Findings show that asset poverty experience in a previous year significantly increased the probability to incur asset poverty by 5–12% for all analysis samples. In addition, the probability of incurring asset poverty decreased with home ownership, higher disposable income, and greater diversification of the household portfolio. Our findings suggest that the asset poor are likely to fall into structural and persistent poverty over time, and an asset-building approach is needed to improve the asset poverty status of households in South Korea.

     

Children's Economic Roles in the Maya Family Life Cycle: Cain,Caldwell, and Chayanov Revisited

This article examines the relationship between household demographic pressure and interage transfers for a group of Maya subsistence agriculturists in Yucatán, Mexico. The authors use data from a field study conducted in 1992–93 on individual time allocation, relative productivity by age and sex, and caloric costs of activities to estimate age schedules of average consumption and production. Using these, they investigate the net costs of children to their parents and find that children have a negative net asset value up to the time they leave home. The direction of net wealth flows in this group is downward, from older to younger, and in economic terms the internal rate of return to children is highly negative up to the time they leave home. Nonetheless, children play a critically important role in the family's economic life cycle. On average, girls offset 76 percent of their consumption costs before leaving home at age 19, and boys offset 82 percent before leaving home at 22. Without the contributions from children as a group, parents would have to double or triple their work effort during part of the family life cycle if they were to raise the same number of children. By the thirteenth year of the family life cycle, children as a group produce more than half of what they consume in every year, and after the twentieth year children produce more than 80 percent of what they as a group consume. The authors also find that the elderly in the sample, ages 50 to 65, produce more than they consume. Thus while children have a negative net asset value to parents, the timing of their children's economic contribution across the family life cycle plays a key role in underwriting the cost of large families.