Incidence, Depth and Severity of Children in Poverty

Recently, the first ever estimate of the number of children living poverty in developing countries was undertaken. The incidence of child poverty was estimated by establishing how many children suffer severe deprivation in at least one out of seven indicators which are internationally recognized as their rights as well as constitutive of poverty. This is a major step forward in the analysis of poverty. In this paper, we generalize these findings on the incidence of children living in poverty by exploring how to estimate the depth and severity of child poverty. Two countries can have the same proportion of children living in poverty, however, the actual plight of children could be very different depending on how many deprivations, on average, children suffer. In addition, even if they suffer from the same average number of deprivations, these deprivation could be the same for all children or be very unevenly distributed. We show how these considerations can be used to estimate the depth and severity of poverty. We use regional data to provide applied examples of this methodology. The method proposed in this paper is similar to the one used to estimate the incidence, depth and severity of income poverty. The paper also offers some possible generalizations and ways forward for future research.     

农民工城市融合的现状与困境：一项对建筑工群体的考察

农民工的城市融合问题是中国城市化和工业化进程中必须面对的社会问题,亦是构建和谐社会的关键。已有对农民工城市融合的研究大多从个体层次出发,探讨社会资本因素和人力资本因素对农民工融合的影响。但却忽略了这个群体的制度身份对他们融人城市的限制,且未能从群体的层次将他们的现实处境与融合之间的关系做进一步的探讨。本文以建筑业农民工群体为例,从融合的社会经济维度探讨该群体城市融合的现状与困境,并提出以制度身份为基础的该群体社会地位的边缘化,才是阻碍农民工城市融合的症结所在。     

Older Women in Bulgaria Adapting in a Changing Society

ABSTRACT

The attitudes of older Bulgarian women toward the political and economic changes in their country after the overthrow of the Communist government in 1989 are explored based largely on interviews by two well-known Bulgarian gerontologists. The thinking and voting of these aged in the December 1994 elections that returned the Communists to power as the Socialist Party is analyzed based upon the social change theory of Matilda W. Riley and the adaptation theory of Robert White. Despite their verbalized acceptance of the democratic and economic changes, elderly Bulgarian women in large numbers were influenced nevertheless by their personal economic plight to vote for the Socialist Party.     

乡城流动背景下低收入地区农村男子的择偶困境——对甘肃省东部蔡村的调查

论文采用访谈和观察的方法,对甘肃省东部蔡村青年男子的择偶困境进行了研究。论文指出,青年农民工的流动使得流出地农村青年男子的择偶难度加大：彩礼飞涨,家庭负担加重;凑合婚增多,婚姻的不稳定性提高等等。贫困地区青年男子的择偶难问题成为中国在发展过程中尤其是城市发展过程中,从婚恋方面对于农村的又一次剥夺。应该把解决农民工的婚姻问题纳入关乎社会和谐与整个社会发展的意识形态中来。论文是对有关农民工婚姻问题研究的重要补充。     

中国农民工最新生存状况研究——基于765名农民工调查数据的分析

调查表明,当前农民工的状况得到有效的改善,特别是工资收入有了明显的提高,拖欠问题有所缓解,政府给农民工提供的服务有所加强,但是农民工收入低、处境困难等基本问题还没有得到根本改变,尤其是农民工比较强烈的市民化愿望也远远没有实现,所以必须在进一步落实各项解决农民工问题的政策的同时,还需要进行制度创新,加大相关投入,逐步消除农民工市民化的制度障碍和资金困难,从根本上解决农民工问题。     

Rural China at a Crossroad

The plight of 900 million Chinese farmers has received renewed attention from the government and the public alike recently. Atthe 16~(th) Congress of the Chinese Communist Partylast November, improving the lot of Chinese farmersbecame the consensus of the new Central Committee,     

Midwifery: "at the edge of history"

The paper focuses on possible future pathways in maternity care for midwives and nations to consider. The paper blends personal and professional experiences to outline priority areas facing midwives in the future. It begins by examining maternal mortality and morbidity in the developing world and considering the potential of the ten high priority action messages (1997) in helping to improve the plight of women and children in the future. The paper then examines major issues facing midwives in the developed world including: the way birth is viewed; the medical-midwifery divide; marketing midwifery; and finally the challenge of dealing with fear around birth. The third part of the paper examines a part of society where the two worlds meet and there are issues from both the developed and developing world to consider. The paper focuses on women from culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women birthing in remote and rural areas. By looking at these three worlds separately the paper examines different concerns facing midwives in the future but also draws on common issues that face us all as citizens of this planet and particularly as predominantly women. The paper challenges midwives to be politically active and dare to change the world.     

家庭结构、代际关系与老年人赡养——以安徽薛村为个案的考察

本文以薛村为个案。认为当代中国农村家庭结构的核心化、小型化特别是老年空巢家庭或者单身老人家庭的核心化带来了家庭养老的困境,家庭结构核心化趋势是代际关系变迁的某种外在表现形式。原有家庭内部的代际关系变迁成为家庭结构与老年赡养变化的主要原因。短时间的理性的代际平衡并不是建立在代际双方共有认同基础之上的．老年人仍然以长时间的道德与感情的互惠模式考虑与子辈之间的关系。但是子辈却愈发用现代的理性方式考量代际关系。赡莽老人的动力不是来自于生我养我的父子之恩情。而是一种与市场交换形式相类似的有来有往的给予方式。家庭养老模式的内涵和原则产生的变化使得农村老年人生存状况下降．在此之中国家成为老年人所期盼的救济对象,但国家的有限资源无法对老年人实施全面的救济。改善老年人生活仍然应以原来的家庭养老模式为基础。并且对之加以外部制度建设和内部社会化机制的完善。     

Family influences on family size preferences

Several studies have demonstrated important effects of parents’ childbearing behavior on their children’s childbearing preferences and behavior. The study described here advances our understanding of these family influences by expanding the theoretical model to include parental preferences, siblings’ behavior, and changes in children’s preferences through early adulthood. Using intergenerational panel data from mothers and their children, we test the effects of both mothers’ preferences for their own fertility and mothers’ preferences for their children’s fertility. Although both types of maternal preferences influence children’s childbearing preferences, mothers’ preferences for their children’s behavior have the stronger and more proximate effects. Mothers’ preferences continue to influence their children’s preferences through early adulthood; siblings’ fertility is an additional determinant of children’s family size preferences.     

Purchasing Piety? Coresidence of Married Children With Their Older Parents in Japan

We investigated the conditions under which married children live with their older parents in Japan. We focused on how needs and resources in each generation are associated with whether married couples live with their parents in parent-headed and child-headed households, and we also investigated difference in power relations between older and younger generations and between children and their spouses. We analyzed a nationally representative sample of older parents (n = 3,853) and their married children (n = 8,601) from the 1999 Nihon University Japanese Longitudinal Study of Aging (NUJLSOA). Mutinomial regression revealed that married children with relatively affluent parents tended to live with them in parent-headed households and that married children with parents who are in relatively poor health or who are widowed tended to live with them in child-headed households. We also found that less-educated married children tended to live in the households of their higher-income parents, suggesting that parents may be "purchasing" traditional arrangements with less-affluent children. In addition, children with an educational advantage over their spouses were more likely to have parents living with them in child-headed coresident households. We conclude that traditional multigenerational coresidence has become a commodity negotiated within families based on relative resources and needs within and across generations.     

Clinical implications of lesbian mother studies

Recent surveys of lesbians have revealed that one-third have been heterosexually married, and one-half of these have had children. Studies comparing lesbian mothers and their children with divorced heterosexual mothers and their children provide data of value to clinicians preparing to evaluate or treat members of this population. Studies show similarities between the two groups in marital history, pregnancy history, child-rearing attitudes, and lifestyle. Motherhood, not sexual orientation, is the most salient factor in both group's identity. Lesbian mothers had more congenial relations with ex-spouses and included men more regularly in their children's lives. Coupled lesbians had greater economic and emotional resources and provided children with a richer family life than did mothers of either group living alone with children. No difference in frequency not type of psychological problem was found in the children. Children benefited from group discussions to relieve anxiety about changes in their lives and in their mothers' sexual orientation.     

留守会导致亲子关系疏离吗?——来自CEPS的经验证据

基于中国教育追踪调查(CEPS)基线调查数据,本文采用IV-ordered Probit模型探讨了留守对农村儿童与父母之间亲子关系的影响及其异质性。研究发现:第一,相对于非留守儿童而言,留守儿童认为与父亲、母亲关系"很亲近"的概率分别低11.7%、16.0%;第二,母外留守导致儿童与父亲、母亲关系"很亲近"的概率低26.7%、40.6%;第三,双外留守对儿童与父母双方的关系均具有显著的负效应,留守儿童与父亲、母亲关系"很亲近"的概率分别降低了14.7%、15.8%。笔者认为应进一步强化家庭监护主体责任,充分发挥学校教育的重要作用,同时也要调动社会各方面的力量,为留守儿童的健康发展创造良好的外部环境。本文对揭示家庭内部的人际关系、完善青少年人格个性的培养具有直接意义,也对进一步促进新型城镇化背景下的"城乡一体化"发展策略以及公共服务均等化具有间接意义。     

出生率变化对高等教育的影响研究

建国以来,我国出生率发生了重大转变,随着90年代以来人口出生率的逐年下降,我国高等教育将面临学生数量下滑趋势,未来高等院校将会出现生源不足的困境。但是,由于目前我国高等教育入学率还比较低,加之政府财政时高等教育支持的力度也还有很大提升空阅,因此,尽管出生率会不断下降,但对高等院校整体上生存不会受太大的影响。     

Gay and lesbian parents

An anonymous survey of 23 gay and lesbian parents and 16 heterosexual single parents was conducted in order to see whether the parents' homosexuality created special problems or benefits or both, for their children. Both sets of parents reported relatively few serious problems and generally positive relationships with their children, with only a minority encouraging sex-typed toys, activities, and playmates. Heterosexual parents made a greater effort to provide an opposite-sex role model for their children, but no other differences in their parenting behaviors were found. Gay and lesbian parents saw a number of benefits and relatively few problems for their children as a result of their homosexuality, with lesbians perceiving greater benefits than gay men. Conversely, the gay males reported greater satisfaction with their first child, fewer disagreements with their partners over discipline, and a greater tendency to encourage play with sex-typed toys than did the lesbians. The findings suggest that being homosexual is clearly compatible with effective parenting and is not a major issue in parents' relationships with their children.     

流动儿童城市社会交往的逻辑——指向一种质量互释的混合研究

与其父辈不同,流动儿童的城市社会交往遵循独特的运作逻辑。从其城市生活的社会情境出发,学校类型、家庭教育与社区结构,都会影响到流动儿童与城市社会的接触机会、交往过程．从而产生不同的交往后果。学校在流动儿童城市社会交往中扮演着格外重要的角色,流动儿童的学校类型不同,其城市社会交往的逻辑迥异。在不同的学校空间,流动儿童建构出了不同的交往文化。公办学校的流动儿童获得了更多与城市儿童及其家长接触的机会,他们与城里人的交往频率也更高,因而更有可能冲破身份制度的藩篱,从结构上实现与城市的社会融合。民工学校流动儿童则正在经历从“文化再生产”到“社会再生产”的过程。     

Children and the Mental Health of Older Adults in China: What Matters?

China is witnessing several major demographic, socioeconomic, and cultural trends that likely intersect in unique and significant ways to influence the health and well-being of its older adult population. Concerns that such trends may be eroding traditional family structures and values raise questions about the continued importance and impact of children on the lives of their older parents. Do children matter and, if so, what is it about having children that makes a difference to the mental health of their parents? This study addressed these issues using baseline data drawn from the Chinese Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, conducted in 2014. Multivariate OLS regression analyses revealed the importance of having children for parental mental health. This relationship was found to be mediated by economic/utilitarian factors (co-residence, the receipt of financial, and instrumental support) as well as psychological/emotional factors (companionship, emotional support), and social/traditional factors (children’s socioeconomic status achievements). These findings support the view that children continue to be important to the mental health of their older parents in contemporary China. Further, what matters most when it comes to understanding the influence that children have on parents’ mental health are their perceived accomplishments in life and their meaningful presence in the day-to-day lives of their parents.

     

Compensation or Reinforcement? The Stratification of Parental Responses to Children’s Early Ability

Theory and empirical evidence suggest that parents allocate their investments unequally among their children, thus inducing within-family inequality. We investigate whether parents reinforce or compensate for initial ability differences between their children as well as whether these parental responses vary by family socioeconomic status (SES). Using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) and a twin fixed-effects approach to address unobserved heterogeneity, we find that parental responses to early ability differences between their children do vary by family SES. Contrary to prior findings, we find that advantaged parents provide more cognitive stimulation to higher-ability children, and lower-class parents do not respond to ability differences. No analogous stratification in parental responses to birth weight is found, suggesting that parents’ responses vary across domains of child endowments. The reinforcing responses to early ability by high-SES parents do not, however, led to increases in ability differences among children because parental responses have little effect on children’s later cognitive performance in this twin sample.     

Parenting a child with a disability: An examination of resident and non-resident fathers

Children with disabilities often require, more extensive family involvement and greater paternal support than other children. Yet these children are the children least likely to live with their fathers. This paper uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 from the United States to examine the association between child disability and resident and non-resident biological fathers’ supportiveness, relationship, and monitoring of their children. Regression analyses indicate significant challenges for all fathers of children with disabilities. Children of resident fathers report more positive interactions than children of non-resident fathers. However, earlier co-residence and more frequent contact significantly improve the quality, of father-youth relationships among men who do not live with their children.     

The influence of parents’ marital dissolutions on children’s attitudes toward family formation

We investigate the influence of parents’ marital dissolutions on their children’s attitudes toward several dimensions of family formation. Hypotheses focus on the role of parents’ attitudes as a mechanism linking parents’ behavior to their children’s attitudes. We test these hypotheses using intergenerational panel data that include measures of parents’ attitudes taken directly from parents and measures of children’s attitudes taken directly from children. Results demonstrate strong effects of parental divorce, remarriage, and widowhood on children’s attitudes toward premarital sex, cohabitation, marriage. childbearing, and divorce. The results also show that parents’ own attitudes link their behavior to their children’s attitudes, although substantial effects of parental behavior remain after controlling for parents’ attitudes.