The National Work–Life Balance Index©: The European Case

More than 5 years since the outbreak of the global financial crisis, a flurry of evidence is emerging on the effects of the ensuing economic downturn on unemployment and poverty rates in rich countries, but less is known about cross-country differences in subjective assessments of the crisis and whether adults in households with children were affected to a greater extent. This paper investigates differences in the perceived impact of the economic crisis between adults in households with and without children in 17 European countries, using data from the Life in Transition Survey 2010 in a multilevel modelling framework. It also explores differences in the coping strategies that households adopted to deal with the decline in income or economic activity. Everything else being equal, perceptions of the crisis were more widespread in countries with higher rates of child poverty, lower economic growth and lower GDP per capita. Across countries, perceptions of the crisis closely trailed subjective indicators of financial difficulties from other international surveys conducted in 2010. Adults in households with children were more likely to report an impact of the crisis, with larger differences in countries with higher rates of monetary child poverty. Adults in households with children also adopted a greater variety of coping strategies than the rest, prioritizing expenditure on basic necessities, while cutting back on luxuries and holidays. Nevertheless, many still reported reduced consumption of staple foods as a result of economic difficulties.     

The Multidimensional Conception of Social Exclusion and the Aggregation Dilemma: A Solution Proposal Based on Multiple Correspondence Analysis

Social Indicators Research - The main objective of the article is twofold. On the one hand, it aims to offer a critical analysis of the different operationalizations of the concept of social...     

Substitution and Presence Effects of Children on Mothers’ Adult Care Time

This article analyzes the effects of the presence of children on the time devoted to adult care. Using the 2002 Spanish Time Use Survey (STUS), we examine two possible effects of children: (i) a negative effect, the Substitution Effect, associated with active childcare, and (ii) a positive effect, the Presence Effect, associated with passive childcare. Our results show that both effects have significant impacts on the ways in which mothers devote time to adult care activities. We find that an additional child in the family, under age 18, reduces the probability of caregiving, the Substitution Effect, while the presence of children during adult care, the Presence Effect, increases the probability of caregiving.     

Working for a Better Life: Longitudinal Evidence on the Predictors of Employment Among Recently Arrived Refugee Migrant Men Living in Australia

Although a number of studies have investigated the predictors of employment among refugee migrants, there is a dearth of evidence from longitudinal data. This study investigated the cross‐sectional and longitudinal predictors of employment among 233 adult refugee men living in South‐East Queensland, Australia. Participants were interviewed four times at six‐month intervals between 2008 and 2010. Using a conceptual model developed from the literature, Generalized Estimating Equations were used to model the predictors of employment. Over time, the employment rate increased from 44 per cent to 56 per cent. Region of birth, length of time in Australia, seeking employment through job service providers and informal networks, and owning a car were significant predictors of employment. Contrary to previous research, English language proficiency was not a significant predictor when other variables were controlled for. Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications decreased the chances of finding employment. The policy and programme implications are discussed.

Policy Implications

• Recognition of refugee migrants' overseas‐gained skills and qualifications does not guarantee them securing employment.
• Recognition of overseas skills and qualifications should be accompanied by educating employers, especially those outside the traditional migrant employment ‘niches’, about the resources and capabilities of refugee migrants, and the value of their qualifications.
• Fostering programmes that target the needs of job seekers from refugee backgrounds could enhance their employment outcomes.
• Supporting refugee migrants getting their drivers' licence and establishing favourable loan programmes that enable refugee migrants to buy a car can have a positive impact on their workforce participation.

     

Parents’ education as a determinant of educational childcare time

We analyze the relationship between parents’ education and the time devoted to childcare activities, with a focus on activities aimed at increasing the child’s human capital. We use the sample of opposite-sex couples with children under age 18, from Spain (2002) and the UK (2000), included in the Multinational Time Use Study. By estimating a seemingly unrelated regressions tobit model, we find that mothers’ education is associated with an increase in the time devoted to educational childcare by fathers in both Spain and the UK, while it is associated with an increase in the time devoted to educational childcare by mothers in Spain. We also find that fathers’ education has no effect on the time devoted to educational childcare time by either parent. It seems that what really matters in determining the time devoted to educational childcare at the couple level is the educational level of the mother.     

The International Multidimensional Fertility Index: The European Case

We propose an index to measure the degree of ability or desire of the population in a given country to have children, via an analysis of certain factors that may have a positive or negative influence on the fertility rate of that country. Using data for the twenty-eight countries of the European Union, and Principal Components Analysis, we construct the International Multidimensional Fertility Index as a combination of four dimensions: (1) Economy and family, (2) Attitudes and habits, (3) Work–Life Balance, and (4) Policy, along with nineteen distinct variables. We find that Denmark, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are among the countries with the highest value of the index, and they also have high fertility rates within the EU. At the other end of the spectrum, Latvia, Cyprus, and Greece, are ranked in the last positions according to our index, countries that also present low values in their fertility rates. We also find a positive correlation between the value of our index and country fertility rates, an indication that our index may be capturing country differences in the conditions for bearing children, with higher values of the index indicating better conditions for childbirth and childrearing. To the extent that international data becomes available, our methodology will allow for the construction of international rankings, helpful in identifying cross-country differences in the conditions for fertility.     

Emotional Climate in Organizations: Applications in Latin American Prisons

Two studies in Latin American prisons analyzed the relation between emotional climate and subclimates, organizational culture, stress, coping, and social support. In the first study, emotional climate was measured in prisons in three different countries by asking employees and prisoners how they perceived the climate in their own group and how they perceived the climate in the outgroup. Employees perceived more positive and less negative emotions in their own group than the prisoners perceived in theirs. The employees correctly perceived high levels of loneliness and sadness in the prisoner group but perceived more guilt and anger and less hope than inmates reported. Within their own group, detainees perceived less joy and confidence in the institution and much more sadness and loneliness than did employees. Participation in institutional activities was associated with a more positive emotional climate. In a second study, using data compiled from five different prisons, it was again found that prisoners perceived high amounts of sadness and loneliness. A negative balance of climate among detainees was associated with a violent and avoidance subculture and with a negative climate among employees. A more positive balance of climate was associated negatively with PTSD and avoidance coping and positively with internal locus of control and subjective social support. The results suggest the importance of distinguishing between positive and negative emotional climate.     

Political compromise and endogenous formation of coalitions

A one-dimensional model of spatial political competition with endogenous party formation is developed. It is proved that at equilibrium there are only two parties. These parties propose alternatives in the extreme positions of the policy space. The adopted policy, however, is a compromise between these two extremes. Received: 28 May 1996 / Accepted: 5 February 1997     

Interregionalism in Transnational Interest Networks: Euro-Asian Civil Society and the EU–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement

The study of interest groups is still a relatively small field of political science. The process of globalization has brought about the evolution of interest networks from national organizations to regional and transnational networks. This article uses the modes of political participation framework created by Jayasuriya and Rodan, in order to study the created spaces used by public interest networks at an interregional level. The empirical case study relates to Asia-Europe Meeting: the Europe-Asian interregional institution, and the work of public interest networks stemming from the civil society organizations that shadow it in opposing the EU–Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free trade agreement (FTA). We find that the ‘modes of political participation’ model explains quite accurately the political spaces created by civil society in the EU–ASEAN FTA. We extend the framework by adding a fifth space, lobbying, which appears out of isomorphism. This concept represents the adoption by organizations of practices carried by other institutions they interact with. In this case, public interest networks have adopted the practice of directly influencing policy-makers that was the prerogative of private interest groups.     

Comentario

Resumen

Presentamos una nueva escala para medir el estrés de aculturación de los autóctonos ante la inmigración, concretamente sudamericana. Hemos partido del concepto de amenaza percibida tomado de la Teoría Integrada de la Amenaza (Stephan y Stephan, 1996). Un análisis de componentes principales realizado con una muestra de 770 participantes ofrece una estructura compuesta por dos dimensiones: estrés de interacción y estrés por recursos. La escala final está formada por 16 ítems más tres de control de la deseabilidad social. Los análisis de fiabilidad han encontrado unos índices de consistencia interna muy satisfactorios, de.91 para la escala general de estrés de aculturación y de.91 y.88 para las dos subescalas. Los datos obtenidos permiten ofrecer un instrumento de medida que constituye una contribución en el estudio de los procesos de aculturación.