"A future not of riches but of comfort": the emigration of pauper children from Bristol to Canada, 1870-1915

This article examines the emigration of orphan and deserted children from Bristol to Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This emigration was organised and financed by the local Boards of Guardians and, as such, raises important questions about the way in which state agencies cared for dependent children. The emigration of Poor Law children is explored in relation to debates about childcare, poverty, racial degeneration and imperialism. Of particular interest is the role played by women in promoting child emigration and the article considers the women's contribution to discourse and practice, both locally and nationally. The dynamics of emigration are analysed by using both British and Canadian sources and the tensions associated with pauper emigration are examined in some detail.     

Socio-economic and cultural differentials in contraceptive usage among Ghanaian women

Data from the Ghana Fertility Survey of 2001 married women in 1979-1980 were subjected to logistic regression to determine the factors influencing contraceptive use. In this Ghanaian sample only 22 women and no men were sterilized, 11% used an efficient contraceptive method and 8% were using an inefficient method. The most prevalent methods were abstinence by 6% and pill by 5%. The variables analyzed were birth cohort, age at 1st marriage, education, occupation, religion, ethnicity, rural/urban residence, northern/southern residence and number of children desired number of living children. All these factors were dichotomized, e.g., cohort: born before or after 1950. Factors positively significant for contraceptive use were younger women (20% more likely), married at age 20 or older (82% more), education (150% for any method, 67% for an efficient method), professional occupations, protestants, urban residence, southern residence, desire fewer children. Factors negatively associated with contraception were agricultural work (50% as likely), non-Christian religion, both traditional and Moslems (75%), desiring more children and living in the north. Unexpectedly, living in the northern undeveloped region was strongly linked with use of an efficient contraceptive. A factor without significant effect was ethnicity, Akan or non-Akan. These results were discussed with a general review of the literature on determinants of contraceptive use.     

‘A future not of riches but of comfort’: The emigration of pauper children from Bristol to Canada, 1870–1915

This article examines the emigration of orphan and deserted children from Bristol to Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This emigration was organised and financed by the local Boards of Guardians and, as such, raises important questions about the way in which state agencies cared for dependent children. The emigration of Poor Law children is explored in relation to debates about childcare, poverty, racial degeneration and imperialism. Of particular interest is the role played by women in promoting child emigration and the article considers the women's contribution to discourse and practice, both locally and nationally. The dynamics of emigration are analysed by using both British and Canadian sources and the tensions associated with pauper emigration are examined in some detail.     

Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Contraceptive Users in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the social and demographic characteristics of contraceptive users in Ghana, using the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS) data (1993). Analysis has revealed that contraceptive use among women is quite low. Women's age, marital status, educational level, and place of residence are some of the factors that relate significantly to contraceptive use. The reasons most frequently cited for non-use of a modern birth control method are the desire to have children, lack of knowledge, and health concerns. The data show little motivation among women to practice family planning. Suggestions for effective family planning are provided.     

Editorial note: referees

Abstract

This study investigates three methods to handle dependency among effect size estimates in meta-analysis arising from studies reporting multiple outcome measures taken on the same sample. The three-level approach is compared with the method of robust variance estimation, and with averaging effects within studies. A simulation study is performed, and the fixed and random effect estimates of the three methods are compared with each other. Both the robust variance estimation and three-level approach result in unbiased estimates of the fixed effects, corresponding standard errors and variances. Averaging effect sizes results in overestimated standard errors when the effect sizes within studies are truly independent. Although the robust variance and three-level approach are more complicated to use, they have the advantage that they do not require an estimate of the correlation between outcomes, and they still result in unbiased parameter estimates.     

Emigration and Schooling among Second‐Generation Mexican‐American Children1

In this Research Note, we investigate the prevalence and patterns of second‐generation Mexican‐American children's migration to and return from Mexico during childhood and consider the consequences of this migration for their schooling. Around one in ten second‐generation Mexican‐American children live in Mexico for some of their childhood. Strong patterns of return to the U.S. through childhood argue for their being considered as part of the Mexican‐American second generation even when in Mexico. Their rates of school enrollment in Mexico are much lower than for second‐generation Mexican‐American children remaining in the U.S. and cannot be explained by their weakly negative selection into emigration. We conclude that country of residence is a far more important determinant of schooling outcome than is migrant status in that country.     

Research on international migration and census data co-operation in Latin America

Population censuses in Latin America have generally recorded the place of birth of all persons enumerated. The use of those data for the study of international migration has been less common because international movements were judged to be a relatively weak factor determining demographic change in the majority of Latin American countries and because the data gathered were generally not tabulated with sufficient detail. During the 1970s, the UN Latin American Demographic Center (CELADE) realized that international migration was not necessarily a minor factor in their evolution and launched a program to improve the quality and availability of census information on the foreign-born population enumerated by each country. The program on International Migration in Latin America (IMILA) has therefore been in operation for more than 10 years and has been successful in eliciting the in-depth tabulation and exploitation of census information in the majority of Latin American countries and in the 2 main receivers in the Americas: Canada and the US. As part of the IMILA project, CELADE has become the depository of magnetic tapes with census information on the foreign-born population, thus gaining greater flexibility in the exploitation of the data available. On the basis of the information gathered, CELADE has published twice in the past decade a compilation of tabulations of the foreign-born population by country of enumeration, country of birth, age, and sex. Although census data on place of birth are not free from problems, particularly in countries where illegal migrants may not be adequately enumerated by a census, they are a valuable source of reasonably comparable information on the overall impact of migration in receiving countries and are often the only source of information on emigration from the sending countries.     

Does Life in the United States Take a Toll on Health? Duration of Residence and Birthweight among Six Decades of Immigrants

We used data from the 1998–2009 waves of the National Health Interview Survey to investigate cohort differences in low birthweight among US‐born children of mothers arriving in the United States between 1955 and 2009, cohort‐adjusted patterns in low birthweight by maternal duration of residence in the United States, and cohort‐adjusted patterns in low birthweight by maternal duration of US residence stratified by age at arrival and region of origin. We found a consistent deterioration in infant health with successive immigrant cohorts and heterogeneous effects of cohort‐adjusted duration in the United States by age at arrival and region. Most notably, we found evidence that maternal health (as proxied by low birthweight) deteriorates with duration in the United States only for immigrant mothers who came to the United States as children. For mothers who arrived as adults, we found no evidence of deterioration. The findings underscore the importance of considering age at arrival and place of origin when studying post‐migration health trajectories and provide indirect evidence that early life exposures are a key to understanding why the United States lags other developed nations in health.     

Municipal records in nineteenth century Dutch emigration research

Dutch emigrant registration records for the nineteenth century are examined in an effort to shed light on the local circumstances of the Dutch emigration movement. "Since nineteenth century emigration took place mostly through primary contacts this article will examine the newly established immigrant settlements as 'communities transplanted'...which directs our research to include local municipal records such as population censuses, population registers (which were supplemented after 1861 with registers of in- and out-migration), tax records, and records of vital events like marriage, birth and death registers. The quality and availability of these records vary from place to place, but generally speaking, in the case of the Netherlands, they are of high quality since population registration at the municipal level was required by law. The source of information for the local records are the population registers (Bevolkings Registers) which were originally constructed on the basis of information obtained from the 1850 population census...."     

Today's second generation: evidence from the 1990 U.S. census

"The prospects for today's second generation will be considerably shaped by their current social, economic and demographic status. This article provides a statistical portrait of children of immigrants by analyzing data from the 1990 U.S. Census of Population and Housing. With the second generation defined as children under age 18 with at least one foreign-born parent, the study describes place of residence; household demographic, social and economic circumstances; household head's socioeconomic status; and characteristics of children themselves. Data on second-generation children are broken down by year of immigration of parents and child's nativity. Data for children with native-born parents are provided for comparison."     

Opting in to Opt out? Emigration and Group Participation in Albania

The objective of this paper is to determine whether the participation in social organizations represents a complement or a substitute with respect to international emigration. To address this research question, an instrumental variable approach is used, as group participation and international migration are potentially jointly determined. This is the case if the family considers emigration and group participation as alternative strategies to cope with uncertainty or a liquidity need, or alternatively when the family decides to invest in group participation in order to gain information helpful to emigrate. The results of the empirical estimation reveal that families participating in social organizations are more likely to migrate internationally and therefore social networks act as a complement for emigration. This may indicate that families recourse to social networks in order to collect important information that facilitates international migration.     

Theoretical Considerations and Empirical Evidence on Brain Drain Grounding the Review of Albania’s and Bulgaria’s Experience1

The objectives of this paper are: first, to briefly review the different theoretical aspects of brain drain and its potential positive or negative, direct or indirect effects on the economy of the home country; second, to highlight the limited empirical research on some of these issues; and third, to discuss on this grounding the empirical evidence on the nature and size of brain drain, as well as its impact on the economies of Albania and Bulgaria. As it appears, the evidence for these two countries and its evaluation as to whether brain drain has been or can be a threat to their development is contradictory and confusing, as it comes out from different casual observations without a convincing analysis. The relevant discussion has not escaped the stereotype way of thinking that the economy and society of these two countries would have been better had emigration of educated persons not taken place, or had those who migrated just returned. The conclusion on policy for brain drain and brain return is that merely hindering the emigration of educated people or trying to motivate their return cannot by itself elevate education and research to higher quality levels and promote development and growth. Without simultaneously developing a friendly and comprehensive institutional and pragmatic framework, such measures are often ineffective or even counterproductive.     

‘Does your granny eat grass?’ On mass migration,care drain and the fate of older people in rural Albania

Older people have been the main social casualties of the collapse of the Albanian communist system and the ensuing mass emigration of younger generations since 1990. Some have had to forage for survival on a near‐starvation diet, making broth from grass and weeds. For others, remittances from emigrant children ensure adequate material well‐being, but a loss of locally‐based trans‐generational care and of intimate family relations occurs. Rates of emigration have been highest in the southern uplands, where our fieldwork took place. Migration has been mainly to Greece, but also to Italy and elsewhere. Interviews with elderly ‘residual households’ ‐ single people and couples ‐ reveal stories of loneliness and abandonment; cross‐generational rupture of hitherto tight family structures is seen as emotionally painful because of the impossibility of enjoying mutual benefits of care sustained by geographical proximity. Profoundly upsetting is the denial of the practice of grand‐parenting, which the older generation see as their raison d'être. Cost of travel, visa regimes and emigrants’ irregular status conspire to prevent international visits. Finally, we examine various strategies of overcoming the ‘care drain’ produced by this situation, one of which is for older people to try to join their migrant children and grandchildren abroad.     

Toward a social psychology of survey methodology: An application of the approach and directions for the future

Survey methodology is a relatively new academic discipline focused on understanding sources of survey errors. As an interdisciplinary field, survey methodology borrows theoretical approaches from other disciplines and applies them to understand how survey respondents answer questions. One field in particular, cognitive psychology, has played a central role in the development of survey methodology. The cognitive approach has focused researchers' attentions on the sources of error at each stage of the cognitive process respondents use to answer a survey question: comprehension of the question, recollection of relevant information, estimation and judgment, and reporting an answer. Although this focus on the cognitive response process has been positive and fruitful, potentially strong social and interactional influences on the response process have been underinvestigated and undertheorized. Thus, this essay argues for a revitalized research program in the sociological social psychology of survey methodology, given its rich body of theory and research. The current strengths of social psychological and interactional approaches are highlighted, focusing primarily on recent work using identity theory to understand social desirability biases. Finally, potentially fruitful future directions for research are proposed, matching sociological social psychological theories to the survey errors upon which they may shed light.     

Children Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence Describe Their Experiences: A Typology-Based Qualitative Analysis

Although much is known about the impact of intimate partner violence on children, few empirical studies have linked children’s experiences to typologies. This qualitative study, based on interviews with children 8–12 years of age living at women’s shelters in Sweden, explores how children describe the nature of the violence they have been exposed to with the aim of identifying patterns in the children’s experiences. The typologies developed by Johnson and colleagues and by Holtzworth-Munroe and colleagues are used as an analytical framework for analysis. Three main types of children’s experiences of intimate partner violence were identified: “Obedience-Demanding Violence,” “Chronic and Mean Violence,” and “Parenthood-Embedded Violence.” These the types can improve our understanding of the complex variety of children’s experiences of parental IPV by acknowledging how from children’s perspectives, experiences of IPV are closely connected to the perpetrator being their parent. The study provides examples of three different strategies that have implications for the factors that social workers may want to address when making judgments about custody, place of residence, and contact.     

Trajectories of English Acquisition among Foreign‐born Spanish‐Language Children in the United States

The rapidity with which immigrant children learn the dominant language of their country of residence has important short‐term and long‐term consequences for their educational achievements and for their future. In this paper I use US Census data to model trajectories of English acquisition among foreign‐born children living in Spanish‐language households. The results show, as expected, that children's English proficiency increases with length of residence in the United States. However, the results also show a clear trend by age at arrival. The older children are when they arrive in the United States, the less rapid their progress in acquiring proficiency in English.     

Factors Relating to the Use of Family Therapy with Adolescent Marijuana Abusers

This study reported on the results of the use of family therapy by marijuana-abusing adolescents. The investigators used a statewide each admission for state supported services. Data on 38,281 adolescent admissions were reported on their age at first use, age of admission, severity of use, ethnic and racial attributes, gender, place of residence, employment status, insurance coverage, and presence of comorbid conditions. The results showed that adolescents most likely to use family therapy were unemployed, white, less than 13 years of age, living in urban areas, experienced in marijuana use and have been judged to have a comorbid condition. Insurance coverage or gender did not influence the likelihood for adolescents to receive family therapy. The authors make recommendations on reducing the barriers to access to family therapy that were found by this study.     

Spousal Communication,Power, and Contraceptive Use in Burkina Faso,West Africa

Abstract

In most developing countries, despite increased knowledge and approval of family planning, contraceptive use is still low. Lack of spousal communication was identified as an important explanatory factor in the low level contraceptive use by spouses. This study describes the pathways of influence between spousal communication, power, and contraceptive use in Burkina Faso, West Africaa high fertility country with low prevalence of contraceptive use. The Burkina Faso society is patriarchal in which husbands have control over sexual and fertility matters and they extend authority over their wives on these issues and, therefore, the power dimension of the spousal communication model needs clarification. The data source for this paper was the 2003 Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey. From the individual recode file, married respondents were selected for inclusion in the sample (n = 9,537) and for analysis. The independent variables were spousal communication and relative power. The dependent variables were contraceptive use and the effects of age, education, number of living children, wealth, and marriage types were adjusted for. Results show that education, wealth, place of residence, and religion are some of the correlates of inter-spousal communication about contraceptive use. Additionally, the data have revealed that spousal communication and marital power were important and significant predictors of contraceptive use, with relative marital power being the Stronger predictor of the two.     

WeChat use of mainland Chinese dual migrants in daily border crossing

Drawing on data derived from WeChat and the life experiences of its users, this study explores the daily affordances of WeChat in the cross-border lives of dual migrants from the Chinese mainland. In this study, 24 low-skilled Chinese dual migrants from the mainland who were working as security guards and cleaners were recruited to participate in in-depth interviews and group discussions. The lives of these dual migrants are marked politically, socially, and economically by their vulnerable status and by the stresses and vicissitudes that characterize their daily commute between Zhuhai (their place of residence) and Macao (their place of work). Dual migrants from the Chinese mainland use electronic media for support, pleasure, and access to information. One of the main online platforms they utilize is WeChat, a social networking site that is available on mobile phones. By framing these dual migrants’ usage of WeChat within the affordances of social media, this social networking site functions as a digital mediated space that provides migrants with communal solidarity, social interaction, access to information, and, in some cases, economic benefits.