Work rehabilitation for migrant workers with work injury--the magic of Chinese paper cutting

As China has gradually transformed from agricultural economy into industrial economy since 1978, occupational injuries and diseases become a serious social problem in China. For occupational rehabilitation professionals, helping workers with occupational injuries and diseases, return to work and re-integrate to community are the ultimate goals of occupational rehabilitation. This article reports a new indigenous initiative with cultural notions in occupational rehabilitation piloted by Guangdong Provincial Rehabilitation Center. Case studies reflected that by learning and practicing traditional Chinese paper cutting, workers with occupational injury and disease could regain their self confidence, identity their strengths, learn more vocational skills as well as to re-integrate into community.     

English Language Proficiency of Immigrants and Refugees in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area

Studies of the determinants of English language ability have generally focused on the largest immigrant groups in the United States. Much less is known about smaller, but significant regional concentrations of immigrants and refugees. This article presents data on four very distinct and understudied groups: Russians, Somalis, Hmong, and Mexicans in the Midwest. We found large differences in English language proficiency across the different national origin groups, even after controlling for background variables. These differences were not attributable to refugee status or to linguistic distance from English. Being Somali, migrating to the United States at a young age and having a college diploma were the best predictors of both spoken and written proficiency. The returns to higher education were particularly noteworthy — respondents with college diplomas were more than 29 times more likely than non‐high school graduates to speak English well, and more than 20 times as likely to read well. Women appear to have benefited more than men from completing college in terms of spoken English proficiency since the male‐female gap narrows among the highly educated. Length of time in the United States was a good predictor of whether an individual speaks English at home, regardless of age of entry to the country.     

Death and Work in Britain

Official figures indicate that there were 302 fatal occupational injuries in Britain 1996/97. This paper is a sustained critique of the means by which this 'headline figure' is reached. Drawing upon other, more or less recoverable, officially collected data on fatal injuries it demonstrates that there are at least five times more fatal occupational injuries during this time period. It then considers various anomalies and inconsistencies within the legally constituted (and recently revised) categories of data collection, the effect of which is to exclude indeterminate numbers of occupational fatalities, not least to members of the public, to the self-employed, and to other groups of workers. Finally, the paper considers some social processes of under-reporting, whereby occupational fatalities are not recorded in official data. The paper concludes that: fatal injury data is grossly incomplete, and requires work of reconstruction; the actual number of fatalities incurred through work in Britain at the end of the 1990s represents a largely obscured social problem; while there remain questions about both the reliability and validity of official fatality data, it is important that this data is incorporated within sociological analysis, albeit sceptically.     

GENDER, EARNINGS, AND THE ENGLISH SKILL ACQUISITION OF HISPANIC WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES

Using the 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples, we find that labor market outcomes associated with English proficiency vary with respect to gender. For example, a synthetic cohort analysis provides evidence of gender-related differences in Hispanic workers' English skill acquisition. Moreover, we observe that Hispanic women face a lower English deficiency earnings penalty that rises more sharply with education than the penalty obtained by their otherwise similar male peers. Finally, English fluency appears to serve as a stronger occupational sorting mechanism for women than men. ( JEL J3, J1)     

Work injury rehabilitation and the tendency to return to work of workers with injuries in Mainland China

This paper aims to describe the current situation of the work injury rehabilitation system in China with its drawbacks, especially relating to the employment services for workers with injuries and bringing up the topic of the need for more work to attempt to construct a modern work injury occupational rehabilitation system: perfecting the administration mechanism of policy, establishing an occupational rehabilitation pattern with Chinese characteristics, establishing the socialization service network as the core of occupational rehabilitation and establishing a practical professional team and academic communication platform. These creative thoughts may shed light on the development of the work injury rehabilitation system as well as the return to work for workers with injuries in China.     

Pathway to Health Literacy in Korean American Immigrants: The Mediating Role of English Proficiency

This study investigated predictors of and pathways to health literacy among Korean American immigrants residing in New York City (n = 407). Social Cognitive Theory guided the study and the Chew et al. 16-item health literacy screening scale was employed. Structural equation modeling using Mplus 4.21 tested the proposed conceptual model. Findings revealed that education and English proficiency were the most influential predictors of health literacy; education was directly associated with health literacy and indirectly through language proficiency. Predictors of greater English proficiency included higher levels of education, younger age, and unmarried status. The findings suggest that immigrants with minimal English abilities, little education, and no health insurance have particular intervention needs, perhaps best met by a patient-centered approach focusing on individual language needs and cultural health beliefs.     

Summary report of action research on occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration of migrant workers with work injuries in Mainland China

This article is a summary of an action research exploring the strategies to initiate the occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration of migrant workers with work injuries in Guangdong Province, China. Using two cases of rehabilitation intervention for workers with work injury, a case management model of occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration was illustrated, in the different phases of rehabilitation. Finally, some key elements in supporting occupational rehabilitation and community re-integration for migrant workers with work injury in China were highlighted.     

A five year retrospective analysis of occupational injuries and incidence reported at a research intensive Canadian university

Limited information of occupational injury statistics within academic settings exists. Universities and colleges are an important and insightful work environment due to the varied nature of the work performed by employee groups. The objective of this study was to describe occupational injuries for all work groups in a large research intensive university. A retrospective database analysis was conducted on 2029 employee incident reports over a five year period (2000-2004) to determine general and departmental prevalence of injury types, locations, and mechanisms. Demographic analysis revealed an average age of 42 years and 9 years of work experience. Overall, the most frequent injuries were to the hand (40%), were musculoskeletal in nature (42%), and resulted from being "struck or contacted by" (33%). The greatest number of incidents occurred in food services, followed by physical plant and staff services. Closer examination of incidents reported by food services indicated 53% of injuries occurred to the hand and 72% required first aid. Notable too was that 19% of physical plant injuries occurred to the back, but these reports accounted for 40% of total back injuries and 50% of all lost time claims in the total database. Further epidemiological research in academic institutions is needed to better understand the inherent injury risk in this work sector.     

English Language Proficiency Among the Foreign Born in the United States, 1980–2007: Duration,Age, Cohort Effects

This study employs pooled data from the 1980 through 2000 censuses and 2001 through 2007 American Community Survey data to study English language proficiency among foreign‐born in a dynamic framework. Our findings show continuing significance of duration of stay and age at migration and declining English language proficiency across successive cohorts. Additionally, analysis enabled by availability of single‐year data from 2000 to 2007 indicates acquisition of language proficiency as steepest during first 9 years upon arrival and for migrating age group 6–17. Further, we find significant differences by education, regions of origin, racial groups, and by regions of residence.     

Language skill definition: a study of legalized aliens

"The robustness of the model for the acquisition of destination language skills is studied using the Legalized Population Survey (LPS) of aliens who received amnesty under the 1986 [U.S.] Immigration Reform and Control Act. The English language proficiency variables include self-assessed overall speaking skills (the census question), speaking and reading skills in specific situations, perceptions as to whether language skills limit job opportunities, and measures of speaking and reading proficiency at work. The model is found to be robust across definitions of proficiency. Proficiency increases with exposure, efficiency and economic incentives for English language acquisition. The panel feature of the data is used to analyze changes in proficiency over time."     

Aspects of occupational mobility and attainment among immigrants in Australia

The occupational distributions of the native-born and foreign-born in the Australian labor market differ greatly. The disparity between the occupational distributions is greatest among the middle age-bracket, and among immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region. Analysis of occupational attainment using unit record data from the 1981 Census shows that as duration of residence in Australia lengthens, the occupational distribution of the overseas-born converges toward that of the Australian-born. Moreover, birthplace groups differ in the degree of upward mobility associated with length of residence in Australia: immigrants from non-English-speaking countries tend to make greater occupational advances than their counterpart from English-speaking countries. This suggests a higher degree of international transferability of human capital skills among immigrants from English-speaking countries. The analysis also highlights the concentration of immigrants from non-English speaking countries in low-ranked occupations, and the relatively minor influence of education on the occupational attainment of immigrants from these birth place regions.     

Evaluation of an inter-organizational program for prevention of work-related injuries in a WHO Safe Community

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of a community-based injury prevention program on work-related injuries. STUDY DESIGN: A population-based quasi-experimental design was used with pre- and post-implementation measurements in an intervention and a control area. The program was based on cross-sectoral participation in detecting and taking action against work-related injuries. Change in the relative risk of injury was estimated by the odds ratio. RESULTS: The relative risk of work-related injury decreased following program exposure, whereas a tendence toward increase was observed in the control area. Middle-aged men accounted for the largest decrease in injury risk. Among the women, a decrease was observed only in the upper middle-aged group. No female-dominated occupational area showed a decrease in injury risk following exposure to the program. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the community-based approach had a general effect on the incidence of work-related injuries.     

Culture and Household Decision Making. Balance of Power and Labor Supply Choices of US-Born and Foreign-Born Couples

This study investigates how spouses’ cultural backgrounds mediate the role of intra-household bargaining in the labor supply decisions of foreign-born and US-born couples, in a collective-household framework. Using data from the 2000 US Census, I show that the hours worked by US-born couples, and by those foreign-born coming from countries with gender roles similar to the US, are significantly related to common bargaining power forces such as differences between spouses in age and non-labor income, controlling for both spouses’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Households whose culture of origin supports strict and unequal gender roles do not exhibit any association of these power factors with their labor supply decisions. This cultural asymmetry suggests that spousal attributes are assessed differently across couples within the US, and that how spouses make use of their outside opportunities and economic and institutional environment may depend on their ethnicities.     

Family class immigrants to Canada 1981-1984: part 2: some aspects of social adaptation

This paper examines the adaptation of Family Class immigrants in Canada in the acquisition of language proficiency, geographic mobility, education and training, government services used, and sponsorship of other Family Class immigrants. The data were acquired in a 1983 telephone survey of 1400 immigrants in 5 metropolitan areas (Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Vancouver). In the sample, 1) 2/5 were male; 2) 40% were age 35 or over; 3) 69% of the men and 64% of the women reported good or excellent spoken English; and 4) the average family size varied by origin, from 2.5 to 4.7, with the average being 3.9. Close to 75% from South Asia, Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Western Europe and 50% from other parts of Europe had excellent or good fluency in spoken English. No ability to speak English was 3 times greater for immigrants aged 55-64 compared to those aged 18-24. More than 46% of the sample reported having taken classes in Canada that lasted more than 2 weeks. English courses predominated with occupational courses close behind, followed by general education courses. In 68% of cases, occupational courses helped immigrants improve their occupational ability. Immigrants perceived English courses to be slightly more helpful in finding employment (36%) than occupational courses (33%). 3/4 of the sample lived in the same dwelling as 12 months before; 23% had moved to a different dwelling in the same municipality. 2/3 moved to live in a better dwelling or neighborhood or because they bought a house. 4/5 of Family Class immigrants did not receive any services from Canada Employment Centres. Over 95% reported that a nuclear family member acted as their sponsor. The propensity to sponsor a relative varies by age, sex, marital status, occupation, income, length of time in Canada, number and type of relatives, and country of origin. Their sponsorship rate is not higher than rates reported in other studies. The author concludes that contrary to popular beliefs, Family Class immigrants are socially adapting to life in Canada rather rapidly.     

Occupational safety and profit maximization: Friends or foes?

The rise of the Industrial Revolution is often depicted as a cause of hazardous working conditions and is skillfully epitomized in William Blake's tale of a child chimney sweeper. Conventional wisdom puts firm profit in conflict with occupational safety. We reexamine this argument noting that injuries are very costly to firms because they lead to higher wage premiums, worker compensation, and costly work stoppages. We hypothesize that it is precisely for these reasons that firms in the industries with dangerous working conditions have the strongest incentives to innovate and substitute more capital for labor. Using a longitudinal panel of U.S. industries, we test and confirm our hypothesis that higher injury rates lead to higher capital stock per worker, over time. Moreover, our estimates suggest that firms provide more capital and equipment per worker than what would have been there based solely on the compensating wage differential.     

Immigrants' Language Skills: The Australian Experience in a Longitudinal Survey

This article is concerned with the determinants of English language proficiency (speaking, reading and writing) among immigrants. It presents a model of immigrant destination language proficiency based on economic incentives, exposure to the destination language, and efficiency in second language acquisition. A unique data set, the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia, is used to test the model. This survey had three waves, at about six months, eighteen months and three‐and‐a‐half years after immigration. The analyses are performed by wave, type of language skill and gender using probit analysis. Bivariate probit analysis is used across waves. The hypotheses are supported by the data. The bivariate probit analysis indicates a positive correlation in the unexplained component that declines with time between waves, suggesting a “regression to the mean” in the unobserved components of English language proficiency.     

Ethnic Peer Preferences Among Asian American Adolescents in Emerging Immigrant Communities

Growing diversity and evidence that diverse friendships enhance psychosocial success highlight the importance of understanding adolescents’ ethnic peer preferences. Using social identity and social contact frameworks, the ethnic preferences of 169 Asian American adolescents (60% female) were examined in relation to ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, and language proficiency. Adolescents with same‐ and mixed‐ethnic friends reported significantly greater ethnic centrality than those with mostly different‐ethnic friends. Adolescents with same‐ethnic friends reported significantly higher perceived discrimination and lower English proficiency than those with mixed‐ and different‐ethnic friends. Open‐ended responses were linked to quantitative data and provided further insight into specific influences on peer preferences (e.g., shared traditions, homophily). Results speak to the importance of cultural experiences in structuring the friendships and everyday lives of adolescents.     

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.     

Negotiating Languages in Immigrant Families

This study is about the multifaceted nature of language use in immigrant families. Following earlier explorations of language in the segmented assimilation framework and using adolescent and parental data from the 1995 wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study, this article examines how adolescents’ use of English with their parents relates to their proficiency in English and ethnic languages, and their personal language preferences, as well as their parents’ language proficiency and use. The findings suggested that adolescent language choice in child–parent interactions reflected the family’s ways to negotiate the distinct linguistic repertoires of immigrant parents and their children. The adolescent use of English was not necessarily associated with social and emotional estrangement between generations. Even when adolescents generally preferred English, they were less likely to use English in child–parent interactions if their parents, particularly their mothers, were less proficient in English. On the other hand, adolescents were more likely to speak English to their parents if their mothers were proficient in English, regardless of what language parents used with the children. Parents who spoke to their children in English likely responded to their children’s doubts about their ethnic language proficiency and were linguistically and emotionally ready to make that transition.     

Education,immigration and occupational mobility: a short-term analysis

The author examines the relationship between education and occupational status for immigrants and natives in the United States by analyzing the short-term occupational mobility of selected members of the 1965-1970 immigrant cohort. The effects of race, ethnicity, age, and family and marital status on this relationship are considered. The relationship between short-term mobility and the emigration of the foreign-born from the United States is also studied (SUMMARY IN FRE, SPA)