Disasters,local organizations,and poverty in the USA, 1998 to 2015

Disaster research has drawn attention to how natural hazards transform local organizational dynamics and social inequalities. It has yet to examine how these processes unfold together over time. We begin to fill this gap with a county-level, longitudinal analysis that examines how property damages from natural hazards correlate not only with local shifts in poverty a year later but also counts of for-profit as well as bonding and bridging social capital organizations. Results show that poverty and all organizational types tend to increase with local hazard damages. They also show that poverty tends to increase most where the number of bonding social capital organizations is also increasing. This pattern suggests a Janus-faced dynamic in which bonding, or more inwardly focused, organizations that arise after disaster may end up inadvertently marginalizing those in more dire need.     

Frankly speaking - is it too late?

6 authorities in the field of population studies and family planning answer questions about the future of mankind with respect to population and the availability of resources. Malthusian-type disaster situations develop gradually, but human ingenuity will make an effort to combat them. People must be aware of the finiteness of natural resources and try to use natural resources more responsibly. "Triage" philosophy is not viable in today's society. We must plan for the future, but plans should be flexible enough to change as people change. Environmental pollution and overpopulation are closely related problems. Although we have gained a measure of control over our physical environment, this control must be increased in order to solve the problems of modern society.     

Women's Employment History and Their Post-Retirement Health and Resources

The purpose of this study is to assess the degree to which the advantages apparently accruing to employed women are maintained into the post-retirement years. That is, do women who were employed cany with them into the retirement years more social and fmancial resources and do they maintain better health than women who remained largely outside the work force? The importance of this issue increases as greater numbers of women enter and remain in the work force and as our population ages. The study uses a longitudinal cohort design and employs the data from the National Center for Health Statistics' Longitudinal Study on Aging. This analysis uses the core questions from the 1984 National Health Interview Survey, the Supplement on Aging questions from 1984 and the follow-up data on mortality from the National Death lndex from 1984-1990. The data include the 4667 female respondents who were 70 years or older in 1984. Overall, the results suggest that women who have more recent paid employment have better health in their later years than women with no employment or no recent employment. However, for social and fmancial resources the direction of the relationships vary. For example, women with more recent employment have less social resources in the form of spouse and living children; however, they have more social resources in the form of social contacts with both family and friends. Having no history of paid employment increases women's risk of living in poverty and lacking private health insurance, but increases the chances that they own their own home. Interpretations and implications are discussed.     

我国农村特困老人供养的研究述评

近年来,关于特困老人养老问题国内外都有一些探讨。总结国内外学者的研究成果,有利于为进一步研究提供指导。通过研究发现,国内学者特困老人养老的研究主要从特困养老制度变迁、特困养老模式、特困养老存在的问题等角度进行研究;而国外学者则更加关注孤寡老人和孤寡老年妇女养老的研究。这可以为日后理论与实践研究提供建议和研究方向。最后从加强基础理论研究、细化特困对象、强化特困老人需求研究和统筹协调相关制度等四个层面提出了未来研究的建议。     

Hazardous journey in intimacy: HIV transmission risk behaviors of young men who are victims of past sexual abuses and who have sexual relations with men

The aim of this research was to explore the behavioral patterns and dynamics that may increase vulnerability towards HIV transmission among young men who have been sexually molested as children and who have sexual relations with men. In recent years, researchers have found that a larger number of gay or bisexual men have been sexually abused as children than other men. In this study, we wanted to explore the possible links between sexual victimization of young men and risky sexual behaviors related to HIV transmission among these men.     

Longevity Among Hunter‐ Gatherers: A Cross‐Cultural Examination

Post‐reproductive longevity is a robust feature of human life and not only a recent phenomenon caused by improvements in sanitation, public health, and medical advances. We argue for an adaptive life span of 68‐78 years for modern Homo sapiens based on our analysis of mortality profiles obtained from small‐scale hunter‐gatherer and horticultural populations from around the world. We compare patterns of survivorship across the life span, rates of senescence, modal ages at adult death, and causes of death. We attempt to reconcile our results with those derived from paleodemographic studies that characterize prehistoric human lives as “nasty, brutish, and short,” and with observations of recent acculturation among contemporary subsistence populations. We integrate information on age‐specific dependency and resource production to help explain the adaptive utility of longevity in humans from an evolutionary perspective.     

Replacement Migration: A Questionable Tactic for Delaying the Inevitable Effects of Fertility Transition

This article critiques a recent U.N. Population Division report, Replacement Migration: Is it a Solution to Declining and Ageing Populations? The report explores the use of increased immigration to bolster future population size and change age distribution patterns in a group of developed countries. Fertility rate declines and lengthening life expectancies associated with demographic transition inevitably yield an aging population and a falling potential support ratio (PSR), a situation which some demographers and economists view with alarm. As the U.N. report itself suggests, replacement migration can only temporarily delay population aging and decline. These issues are ultimately better addressed through changes in retirement policy. Population projections should be used only with great caution in designing long-term demographic policy. In particular, some assumptions used to make the U.N. projections are questionable, and even minor changes in those assumptions would yield substantially different policy conclusions. Replacement migration also raises difficult environmental questions by moving large numbers of people from low to high per-capita consumption nations. Modest population decline, particularly in more developed countries, may have significant local and global environmental and climate policy benefits.

     

The need of population research in China

The author discusses the defective population data of China's past and the gradual, somewhat sporadic, improvements which have taken place in recent years. He draws attention to the types of population studies and data now most required, including sample censuses, adequate vital registration, studies of internal migration, of the relation of population density to developed resources, and of ethnic minorities in China. In addition to these contemporary questions, historical inquiries are also needed to produce, as far as possible, a reliable and coherent account of population trends in Chinese history.     

Estimates of induced abortion in urban North Carolina

In 1965, Warner developed an interviewing procedure designed to eliminate evasive answer bias when questions of a sensitive nature are asked. He called the procedure ‘randomized response.’ The authors have been studying the technique for several years and, in this paper, are reporting some of the estimates of induced abortion in urban North Carolina using randomized response. Estimates of the proportion of women having an abortion during the past year among women 18–44 years of age are reported. For the study population indices were developed relating induced abortion to total conceptions for whites and nonwhites. The illegal abortion rate per 100 conceptions was estimated to be 14.9 for whites and 32.9 for nonwhites. Estimates of the proportion of women having an abortion during their lifetime among women 18 years old or over are also shown. Among ever married women, the proportion having an abortion during their lifetime declined as education increased. Estimates were high for women with 5 or more pregnancies. Most of the respondents stated that they were satisfied that the randomized response approach would not reveal their personal situation. Furthermore, they did not think their friends would truthfully respond to adirect question regarding abortion.     

Neighborhood naming as an index of attachment to place

One aspect of attachment to place may relate to neighborhood naming. That is, recent investigations have found that in many communities large numbers of residents can supply locality labels. The most recent studies, however, have failed to confirm the importance of local social involvement as a predictor of naming. Following the earlier suggestion of Shumaker and Taylor (1983) that attachment dynamics can operate at the group level, we focus on small, local groups by analyzing street blocks. Results support our hypothesis that groups with more shared local ties are more able to supply a neighborhood name. This relationship was also obtained when we examined purely individual-level covariation. Results underscore the multilevel nature of attachment processes and how they are both social and psychological in nature. Links between cognitive and affective components of attachment and practical outcomes such as local problem solving are discussed.     

The Effect of Prenatal Natural Disaster Exposure on School Outcomes

This study looks at the impact of exposure to natural disasters during pregnancy on the educational outcomes of North Carolina children at the third grade level. A broad literature relates negative birth outcomes to poor educational performance, and a number of recent studies have examined the effect of prenatal exposure to natural disasters on birth outcomes. This study takes the next step by considering how prenatal exposure affects later outcomes. Combining North Carolina administrative data on births and school performance with disaster declarations from the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allows for the identification of children who were exposed to disasters during prenatal development. These children are compared with other children born in the same county who were not exposed to disasters while in utero. Regression results suggest that children exposed to hurricanes prenatally have lower scores on third grade standardized tests in math and reading. Those exposed to flooding or tornadoes also have somewhat lower math scores. Additionally, results suggest that these negative effects are more concentrated among children in disadvantaged subgroups, especially children born to black mothers. However, no evidence exists that these effects are mediated by common measures of birth outcomes, including birth weight and gestational age.     

Economic estimate and comparative study of the population of Wuxi in 1980]

In 1980, an economic survey was conducted in Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China, in which the members of the general population were asked various questions related to their past and current employment status. The purpose of this survey was to provide information in the following areas: average life expectancy of Wuxi residents (72.32 years); ratio of average number of years of employment; difference between the number of years of employment among Wuxi residents compared with Hong Kong residents (including relevant factors); expected number of years of employment for a life expectancy of 72.32 years; total goods and services consumed in an average lifetime vs. Expected income over an average lifetime; age at which Wuxi residents begin to produce more than they consume; and the age of highest economic productivity. Survey and statistical methods and interpretation of data are explained at length. The information provided by this economic survey should prove useful for economic planning, as well as providing baseline figures for future comparative studies.     

Sex differences in valuations of the environment?

Sexual selection theory affords a rationale for predicting that men, especially young men, may be more willing than women to risk harms and to discount the future in the pursuit of short-term gains. These propositions apply to many domains of risky behavior, and it is likely that they apply to decisions involving potential harms to the environment and health hazards as well. Two preliminary studies of university subjects' responses to hypothetical dilemmas that support the predicted sex difference are described. Important understudied questions are, to what extent reckless risk acceptance may be mitigated by material wellbeing, by marriage, and by parenthood.     

Long-term mortality patterns in Chinese history: evidence from a recorded clan population

Human populations have lived on the earth for millions of years, yet the study of population history only began to be established in the mid-twentieth century. In spite of the considerable progress in the study of historical demography which has since been made, there have been hardly any detailed studies of fertility and mortality before the sixteenth century. This study, by analysing a set of Chinese genealogies, examines long-term mortality patterns in a selected clan population over a period of more than 1000 years. The result shows that, in this selected population, mortality fluctuated around a relatively high level and showed no secular change over the very long period studied. The study also provides a comparison between the mortality patterns found in the selected population and those observed in a much larger Chinese lineage population, as well as those recorded among the British elites born between the sixteenth and the early nineteenth century. Based on the findings of this research, the paper presents some tentative suggestions about long-term mortality changes in Chinese history.     

A Re-Examination of the Suicide Rates in Taiwan

This paper examines the suicide rates of 23 cities and counties in Taiwan from 1983 to 2001. We found that a combination of economic and social variables can significantly account for the tremendous variations in suicide rates across Taiwan’s cities and counties over the last two decades. The level of income per capita in a region appears as the most important predictor of suicide rates. However, some sociological correlates (such as divorce rate) which were less powerful in explaining suicide rate variations in the earlier study appear to exert more significant influence over suicide rates when eight more recent years of information are added, as in the current study. This study also uncovered several gender differences in the determination of regional suicide rates, such as the proportion of elderly population in the region, and the impacts of earthquake and unemployment. Furthermore, this study confirmed the linkages between natural disaster (earthquake) and suicide, between economic and social miseries (unemployment and divorce, respectively) and suicide, as well as those between demographics (aboriginal and elderly sub-population groups) and suicide. This may help to identify high-risk groups or areas where suicide prevention and intervention efforts should be concentrated on or directed to. Lastly, the local suicide crisis-intervention agencies are found to be significantly effective in reducing suicide rates of the community they serve.      

Change and Continuity in the Formation of First Marital Unions in Australia

Marriage rates have now been falling in all Western countries for more than 20 years. Rising levels of women's education and employment, extra-marital cohabitation, and separation and divorce both preceded, and continue to accompany, this trend. We apply hazards models to a data-set rich in event-history information in order to study the links between these movements at the level of the individual in Australia. Contra the New Home Economists it transpires that longer education lowers women's propensity to marry, not by providing them with alternative careers to marriage, but by delaying their entry into the marriage market. Again, contra the New Home Economists, employment actually increases women's marriage probabilities. Cohabitation serves variously as an alternative and a prelude to formal marriage. Finally, in contrast with a study of marriage dissolution in Australia, the strengths of factors that variously inhibit or promote marriage, such as women's education and employment, have neither weakened nor strengthened during the recent past.     

Child care, women's employment, and child outcomes

This paper reviews the evidence on the impact of child care and maternal employment in the pre-school years on child outcomes. This topic has long been of interest to economists, developmental psychologists, and scholars from other disciplines, and has been the focus of increased attention in recent years, as research has provided additional evidence about the processes of development in the earliest days, weeks, and years of life.¹  In this paper, I review the evidence on two broad sets of questions: what we know about the potential benefits of early intervention child care programs, and what we know about the effects (whether positive or negative) of maternal employment and child care in the first years of life. The evidence reviewed in this paper suggests that we now know a good deal about both sets of questions. But, this review also suggests that there are important gaps in our knowledge that future work by economists could fruitfully address. Received: 9 December 1999/Accepted: 20 September 2000     

Gender Role Identity in a Sample of Italian Male Homosexuals

ABSTRACT

Researchers have often considered the impact that online dating has had on gay communities; with some arguing that changes in social behavior may impact the spread of HIV. However, these conclusions are based on the premise that the Internet has fundamentally changed the way gay and bisexual men connect with their communities. Addressing this issue, we searched the PubMed and Web of Science databases for studies examining Internet use and interpersonal connectedness among gay and bisexual men to determine whether those who used the Internet to find sexual partners exhibited different patterns of community connectedness. Though sporadic, findings suggest that Internet use may be associated with lower gay identity, community attachment, and social embeddedness. However, recent reports have suggested that online sex seeking might be associated with greater, not less, interpersonal connectedness. We conclude that additional longitudinal analyses and consistent measurement of gay men’s social behavior are needed to draw more definite conclusions.     

The uneven geography of research on “environmental migration”

Climate change and environmental hazards affect the entire world, but their interactions with—and consequences on—human migration are unevenly distributed geographically. Research on climate and migration have their own geographies which do not necessarily coincide. This paper critically confronts these two geographies by presenting the first detailed mapping of research in the field of environmentally induced migration. After a brief review of the geography of research on climate change, the paper presents an overview of nearly 50 years of case studies on the basis of CliMig, a bibliographic database of 1193 scientific papers and books on climate/environmental change and migration, among them 463 empirical case studies. We analyze the locations of these case studies, the academic affiliations of their researchers, and the origin of their funding. Mapping the locations of case studies worldwide points toward blind spots in the research and identifies “overstudied” areas. We describe the methodologies used in the studies and present a typology of environmental hazards. Our results show that research on environmental migration is mainly done in countries of the Global South, whereas climate science research in general is focused on countries of the Global North. We contend that the peculiar geography of environmental migration cannot be explained solely by the uneven vulnerability of southern populations to the environment. It must also be understood through the lens of post-colonial and securitization studies as the result of a framing of “environmental refugees” (and refugees in general) as an intrinsically “southern problem” and as a security risk for the North. This paper is an original contribution to the literature on the North-South divide in scientific research and will help to outline future directions of investigation.