Impediments to Mothers Leaving Welfare: The Role of Maternal and Child Disability

This research examines the relationship between disabilities in families and exits from welfare. Controlling for variations in characteristics known to be associated with welfare exits, this study investigates and documents that specific configurations of disabilities in families are also strongly associated with reduced rates of welfare exits. The impact of a child with a disability on welfare exits is similar to the mother's own disability, with an impact equivalent in magnitude to minority status. The presence of a child with a disability limits the chances that a mother with disability will leave welfare. Our findings add to the literature on welfare dependency and have implications for welfare reforms that emphasize work, self-sufficiency, and reducing poverty.     

A Near Electoral Majority of Pensioners: Prospects and Policies

In the first half of this century in many of today's developed countries, the proportion of voting age populations 65 years old or older will roughly double. As voting age populations age, the proportion of net contributors to national budgets (mainly through taxes) will fall and the proportion of net beneficiaries (mainly through public pension and health care benefits) will rise. By mid‐century in many wealthy countries, a near majority of electorates will become net beneficiaries of government expenditures, producing unprecedented changes in their political landscapes. We analyze three aspects of this phenomenon in Germany, Japan, and the United States.     

老年人的福利需要及其影响因素研究——基于适度普惠老年人福利数据库的分析

本文利用2012年适度普惠老年人福利数据库对我国老年人的福利需要及影响因素进行探讨.研究发现,老年人在娱乐、交通、医疗福利层面的福利需要程度较高,而对法律福利层面的福利项目需要水平较低.受教育程度、健康状况、婚姻状况、家庭经济水平及户籍均对老年人的福利需要有显著影响,且老年人的福利需要水平存在地区差异.     

新生代农民工择偶标准及影响因素分析

新生代农民工择偶标准正处于传统到现代的转变过程,表现出高标准和多元化趋势。从影响因素来看,男性择偶标准高于女性;家庭背景对择偶标准的影响在减弱;流动经历、城市融人促进了新生代农民工择偶标准从传统到现代的转变;但大众传媒却对新生代农民工择偶标准造成了一定的负面影响。     

从瑞典福利制度看北欧福利国家模式

北欧国家形成的“斯堪的纳维亚福利模式”一直受到世界的瞩目,该模式以社会再分配作为基石,通过大面积的普遍性公共资助计划给予国民基本的社会福利,同时辅之以社会保险和社会救助。在分析北欧国家的福利制度时,最重要的一点是区分普遍性的公共资助计划、真正意义上的社会保险和社会救助三者之间的界限以及模糊地带。本文旨在通过对瑞典福利制度的介绍,透视整个北欧国家的福利模式。     

Towards the Development of Objective,Universal Criteria of Cultural Evaluation: The Challenges Posed by Anti-Foundationalism,Culturalism and Romanticism

Over the course of the last century, it has become increasingly unfashionable in the social sciences to make cross-cultural evaluations. The advance of cultural relativism has ensured that criticisms of other cultures are regarded as subjective and ethnocentric. There remain, however, cultural beliefs, practices and traditions which appear, prima facie, to contradict people’s interests. Are there any means of evaluating such practices or cultures according to objective, universal criteria? If there are, these need to withstand a series of challenges posed by ‘relativist’ critics of objectivity and universality. This article categorises these challenges, detailing anti-foundationalist belief in a conflation of perception and truth, culturalist belief in the overwhelming importance to wellbeing of living according to one’s group’s traditions, and a romantic challenge, which invokes anti-universalism only instrumentally, to particular aspects of Western culture. In order to overcome these challenges, a theory of cultural evaluation must demonstrate the existence of certain goods which are intrinsic to human beings, can be affected by cultural activity and are of greater importance than the culturalist good of living according to one’s group’s traditions. I put forward three plausible conceptual candidates—needs, capabilities and flourishing—discussing briefly the possible merits of each. Finally, I argue that, if we are to measure culture, rather than quality of life, we must consider the influence of circumstance on the nature of cultures and the level of wellbeing. This article is an attempt to identify the parameters for more detailed research into this contentious, but potentially valuable, field of study.     

Cumulative Structural Disadvantage and Racial Health Disparities: The Pathways of Childhood Socioeconomic Influence

Cumulative structural disadvantage theory posits two major sources of endogenous selection in shaping racial health disparities: a race-based version of the theory anticipates a racially distinct selection process, whereas a social class-based version anticipates a racially similar process. To operationalize cumulative structural disadvantage, this study uses data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in a Latent Class Analysis that demographically profiles health impairment trajectories. This analysis is used to examine the nature of selection as it relates to racial differences in the development of health impairments that are significant enough to hinder one’s ability to work. The results provide no direct support for the race-based version of cumulative structural disadvantage theory. Instead, two key findings support the social class–based version of cumulative disadvantage theory. First, the functional form of the different health trajectories are invariant for whites and blacks, suggesting more racial similarly in the developmental process than anticipated by the race-based version of the theory. The extent of the racial disparity in the prevalences across the health impairment trajectories is, however, significant and noteworthy: nearly one-third of blacks (28 %) in the United States experience some form of impairment during their prime working years compared with 18.8 % of whites. Second, racial differences in childhood background mediate this racial health disparity through the indirect pathway of occupational attainment and through the direct pathway of early-life exposure to health-adverse environments. Thus, the selection of individuals into different health trajectories, based largely on childhood socioeconomic background, helps explain racial disparities in the development of health impairments.     

The Relationship between Economic Development and Social Welfare: A New Adjusted GDP Measure of Welfare

Existing literature focuses on the issue ofpreparation of social welfare measurements onthe basis of an unadjusted Gross DomesticProduct (GDP). This paper extends this methodto incorporate cost-benefit analysis ofeconomic growth in a growing economy incalculating the adjusted GDP, termed as thecost-benefit (CB)-adjusted GDP. This approachis empirically applied to Thailand. There arestark differences between GDP per capita and CBadjusted GDP per capita rates for this period.This paper concludes that GDP can be used as anindicator of social welfare if the GDPestimates are undertaken within a cost-benefitanalysis framework.     

Crossnational Differences in Happiness: Economic and Cultural Factors Explored

In forty countries, happiness was correlated with national economic and cultural living conditions. Both characteristics correlated strongly and positively with happiness. Need theory predicts this observed pattern quite well. However, when exploring the independent influence on happiness of either predictors, only economic prosperity persistently correlated with happiness. The relation between culture and happiness proved to be spurious. When subgroups of countries were studied, within the group of rich countries a positive first order correlation was found between happiness and culture, whereas in the group of free countries a positive correlation between happiness and economic prosperity was found, when controlling for culture. Especially the study of countries in transition is helpful in discovering causal relations between economic prosperity, culture and happiness.     

人口文化素质对人口数量安全和结构安全的影响

人口安全是非传统安全中的重要组成部分,人口数量、人口结构、人口素质、人口迁移等均是影响人口安全的重要因素,而在这些因素内部也存在着相互影响、相互制约的关系,采用定量和定性相结合的研究方法,就影响人口安全的人口文化素质因素对人口数量和人口结构因素的作用分别进行纵向和横向的研究,并且在横向的实证研究中利用SPSS软件包将全国各省份的人口安全程度作聚类分析,以期更好地确定人口文化素质对人口数量和结构的影响程度。     

妇女文化精神生活满意感影响因素分析

本文利用全国妇联、国家统计局2000年12月第二期妇女地位调查的数据资料,对我国妇女的文化精神生活状况做了大体描述,并利用Logistic回归对妇女文化精神满意感的影响因素进行了分析。研究发现,妇女年龄、民族、受教育年限、物质生活满意感、工作能力发挥满意感、文体活动的参与、家庭婚姻生活满意感等因素对妇女文化精神生活的满意感起着重要的影响作用,最后对提高妇女文化精神生活提出了相关建议。     

中国女性的社会地位及其影响因素

女性对自身社会地位的主观评估主要取决于对自我能力的认可程度、母亲和自己的受教育水平、以及所居住区域的性别文化性质。对自己的能力树立信心是女性社会地位提高的一个与心理或性格相关联的先决条件,而教育投入则是提升女性社会地位一块不可或缺的重要基石。大男子区域文化不仅不合理地降低女性的社会地位,而且还让处于不平等社会地位中的女性感到自我满足。要进一步改善我国妇女的社会地位,就必须在注意提高妇女自信的心理素质和自强的教育素质的同时,从社区和社会层面消除以男权为核心的传统性别文化。     

京津冀地区人口迁移特征及其影响因素分析

本文描述了1990年以来京津冀地区在人口迁移的活跃程度和空间分布的新特征。通过建立计量模型,对1990年和2000年影响京津冀地区人口迁移的综合因素进行了比较分析。结论显示:人均GDP差距已经成为影响人口迁移的首要因素,市场化水平、产业结构对人口迁移的影响力在逐渐上升。针对京津冀地区人口迁移可能存在的问题和影响,本文对京津冀地区未来的人口发展战略提出了相关政策建议。     

Welfare Regimes and Welfare Opinions: a Comparison of Eight Western Countries

Social Indicators Research -     

人力资本差异性作用的影响因素——基于教育程度与网络场域关系的分析

在当前中国建设人力资源强国的背景下,探讨人力资本作用效果的差异性具有特殊的现实意义,有利于深入理解教育程度与外在社会因素的作用机制。人力资本差异性作用及其结果的产生,不仅由人力资本自身内涵特征的不同而导致,而且由于拥有人力资本的个体处于一种实际的社会生活环境中,与社会宏观体制、中观组织环境等外在条件不断发生互动,因此人力资本作用效果的差异性亦受到外在社会环境的影响,即个体人力资本作用发挥及结果体现要受到其所处的社会宏观体制环境与组织制度背景的影响。实证分析结果证明,基于体制差异而形成的社会网络场域是影响教育程度作用发挥的重要外在社会体制环境与组织制度背景,导致人力资本作用结果在收入方面的差异性表现。     

Disability among older women and men in Fiji: concerns for the future

This study examines the composition of elderly population at risk of disability and speculates the impact of disability on the quality of their lives and their longevity. Using census and survey data collected in Fiji, life table estimates of unimpaired life expectancy across time are presented for older people and the potential costs of disability, in terms of productive years of life lost. From a planning perspective, the study discusses medical and support services that may be needed to support older individuals in Fiji. The study also describes policy implications of the findings, focusing on the older women, and considers the implications for older women of other developing countries.     

Disability Among Older Women and Men in Fiji: Concerns for the Future

SUMMARY

This study examines the composition of elderly population at risk of disability and speculates the impact of disability on the quality of their lives and their longevity. Using census and survey data collected in Fiji, life table estimates of unimpaired life expectancy across time are presented for older people and the potential costs of disability, in terms of productive years of life lost. From a planning perspective, the study discusses medical and support services that may be needed to support older individuals in Fiji. The study also describes policy implications of the findings, focusing on the older women, and considers the implications for older women of other developing countries.     

族际通婚对生育水平的影响:来自内蒙古的验证

新型生育文化及观念在蒙古族居民中已经形成,即使在少数民族地区优惠的生育政策下,蒙古族总和生育率也已经低于汉族和全国平均水平。为了更好地找出这一事实的原因,本文着眼于民族特征和跨族通婚,利用有序Logit Model对蒙古族居民的生育数量、存活数量、男孩数量、女孩数量的影响因素进行估计,发现蒙语表达能力的影响非常不明显,但是蒙语书写能力的作用比较明显。此外,民族特征和通婚特征对生育数量和存活数量的影响明显高于对生育性别的影响程度,对生育男孩的影响高于对生育女孩的影响。蒙古族生育出现持续递减的趋势,对稳定蒙古族生育水平提出了新的要求。