Gender equity and women's contraception use

Gender equity describes the distribution between men and women of social and material resources and decision‐making powers. Women's experiences of gender equity are likely to influence their contraceptive use. Multilevel analysis of two databases: the National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles from the United Kingdom and the United Nations' Fertility and Family Surveys, was undertaken to explore the association between gender equity measured at two spatial scales (small areas and countries) and women's contraception use. Results suggest that the spatial scale at which gender equity is considered is important. Gender equity was associated with contraception use at a local level, but not at the country level. Further, gender equity (at a local level) benefited women with less education in terms of increasing their likelihood of contraception use compared with more highly educated women. Results suggest gender equity is a potential pathway to reducing socio‐economic inequalities in health in developed settings.     

Latin America and the crisis (points for the balance of a decade)

The decade of the 1980s was catastrophic for the countries of Latin America because of profound transformations in the world economy, which started in the 1970s, the wilting of the state development programs that were imposed after World War II, and the collapse of socialism with the incipient transition to market economies. The crisis started because of the erosion of the world economic system as constituted under the Bretton Woods agreement; the drastic drop in the economic growth of market economies; the increased costs of living and the deterioration of the environment; the decrease in industrial capacity; and the emergence of transnationalization of production. In Latin America, the economic models that had been in place without solving underdevelopment became even more obsolete (import substitution, internal trade, and the role of the state). The crisis of socialism and the rapprochement of eastern European countries to western Europe also affected Latin America (e.g., Germany cancelled 30 mine exploration projects in Bolivia due to investments in East Germany). The structural readjustment policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank resulted in currency devaluations, redistribution of government funds, elimination of various subsidies, reduction of public debt and social expenditures, reduction of public employment, and payment of external debt. The result was more inflation (in Bolivia, Brazil, Peru, and Argentina, inflation rates were 683.7%, 157.1%, 100.1%, and 326.2%, respectively, between 1980 and 1986), unemployment, and poverty in the lost decade of the 1980s. After 1982, state expenditures on roads, education, hospitals, and nutrition declined by 40% in Mexico. Even though most countries returned to democracy in the region, this was at the cost of the increased role of the military and the transnationals. The grand parties collapsed and in Venezuela, Mexico, and Colombia authoritarian tendencies survived into the 1970s degrading democracy. The states' socioeconomic regulatory role has to be redefined.     

Identifying health inequalities between Māori and non‐Māori using mortality tables

Abstract

While there is a need for more detailed information on health inequality to guide public health policy, the most complete and easily available data remain those in mortality tables. We investigate, via a comparative analysis of data from New Zealand on Māori and non‐Māori mortality, whether more detailed information than raw life expectancy may be extracted from the mortality tables. Given a parametric distribution for the mortality capable of fitting irregularities in mortality table data, the curvature of the survival and hazard rates can identify changes in mortality rates, such as infant and late‐life adult mortality, which allows for straightforward comparisons between the two sub‐populations. Our results identify an exogenous effect in earlier mortality among Maori, which correlates well with many published observations of health and health‐care inequalities between Māori and non‐Māori. This “proof of concept” for our method of analysis indicates that examination of bulk data such as those in mortality tables has a potential role in the design of more detailed studies involving causes of mortality.     

网络空间性别不平等的再生产:互联网工资溢价效应的性别差异——以第三期妇女地位调查为例

本文通过倾向值匹配的方法发现：在控制了其他因素之后,互联网使用者的平均工资收入是非使用者的1.38倍;同时,互联网溢价效应存在着显著的性别差异,女性的互联网工资溢价为男性互联网工资溢价的90.6%。此外,本文发现,互联网工资溢价效应与人们的网络行为密切相关。男性相比女性,具有更强烈的使用互联网资源进行再学习和人力资本再积累的偏好;在女性互联网使用者之间,性别观念更平等的女性具有更强烈的使用互联网资源进行再学习和人力资本再积累的偏好。在传统的网络空间性别不平等的研究框架下,本文着重于探析性别文化观念如何影响人们对互联网的使用偏好和使用方式,从而成为导致网络空间性别不平等的再生产的重要原因和机制。     

地区间个人收入差距的状况及特点(英文)

在地区收入差距的文献中，一直缺乏从个人收入角度出发的研究；而关于个人收入分配的研究，也很少考察地区差异。文章使用2005年全国1％人口普查数据，从个人收入角度描述了全国及（几种不同定义下的）地区间的个人收入差距，并分析了影响个人收入差距的因素，得到了一些有意义的结果。     

Agency in parents' fertility behaviours—Gaps in the Polish family policy system

The aim of this article is to analyse the possibilities and decisions made about procreation by Polish parents in the context of the family policy system. Fertility is here understood as a result of individual decisions originating from an assessment of people's situations and potential barriers in parenting. This issue is important because Polish society is facing a severe demographic crisis due to low fertility rates. In recent years, the family policy system has been substantially reformed, yet interviews with parents indicate that these reforms do not fully address the problems, which parents have to deal with in everyday life. According to their experiences, the Polish welfare state should focus more closely on the issues of gender inequality in the household, lack of stability in the labour market, low salaries, the high cost of child rearing, and the lack of suitable housing for Polish families. The analysis is based on in‐depth interviews with Polish parents of children aged 1–7 and statistics collected by Statistics Poland, the Social Insurance Institution, and the International Social Survey Program.     

社会分层与健康不平等的性别差异:基于生命历程的纵向分析

本研究考察在社会分层与性别分层的交互作用下,生命历程中的两个竞争性理论--“累积优势/劣势理论”和“年龄中和效应理论”,哪一个更能解释中国男性和女性所经历的健康不平等。本研究利用“中国健康与营养调查”（CHNS）追踪数据和成长曲线模型发现,性别对社会分层导致的健康不平等及其发展有独特的影响。与男性相比,女性在各个年龄阶段都处于健康劣势,这一劣势是因为女性从教育和收入所获得的健康回报比男性低。此外,女性之间因为教育和收入导致的健康不平等程度随年龄的增长而缩小,男性之间的健康不平等程度并不随年龄的增长而改变,因此,本研究不支持健康不平等的“累积优势/劣势假说”,而是在女性群体中支持“年龄中和效应理论”。     

家长教养方式的阶层差异及其对子女非认知能力的影响

本研究通过“中国教育追踪调查”（CEPS）2014-2015学年追踪数据,考察了当前中国青少年家长教养方式的分布、阶层差异及其对青少年非认知能力的影响。研究发现：首先,当前中国家长的教养方式以专制型和忽视型为主,权威型和宽容型教养方式的比例较低;其次,社会经济地位较高的家庭倾向于选择权威型和宽容型教养方式,社会经济地位较低的家庭倾向于选择专制型或忽视型教养方式;最后,教养方式对非认知能力的发展有显著影响。总体而言,权威型教养方式最有利于培养子女的非认知能力,忽视型教养方式最不利于培养子女的非认知能力。在涉及人际交往的非认知能力指标中,权威型和宽容型教养方式相对于其他两种教养方式具有明显的优势。     

Poverty,income inequality and externalised problem behaviours of children: an empirical study in Korea

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effects of neighbourhood poverty and income inequality on children's externalised problem behaviours in Korea. For the analysis, we used the National Survey of Children and Youth data and employed a multilevel analysis method. The results show that income inequality level of a community is a significant factor in increasing children's externalised problem behaviours. When controlled for income inequality, poverty itself was not significantly related to the level of children's externalised problem behaviours. We provide social welfare practice and policy implications of the findings in the paper.     

Financial liberalization, exchange rates and stock prices: Exogenous shocks in four Latin America countries

This paper provides an analysis of the long-run relationships and short-run dynamics between stock prices and exchange rates as well as the channels through which exogenous shocks influence these markets. We use monthly data for the period January 1980 to February 2009 for four Latin America, namely, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. We conduct our analysis by means of cointegration analysis and multivariate Granger causality tests. The main finding of our analysis suggests that stock and foreign exchange markets in these economies are positively related and that the U.S. stock market acts as a channel for these links. Moreover, it is shown that these links are independent of foreign exchange restrictions. Finally, stability tests proposed by Hansen and Johansen (1993) are applied and it is shown that the dimension of the cointegration space is sample independent while the estimated coefficients exhibit instability in recursive estimations. Instability in these long-run relationships is evident during the Mexican currency crisis of 1994-1995, the Asian crisis of 1997 and the 2007-2009 credit and financial crisis.     

The impact of provider availability and legal restrictions on the demand for abortions by young women

The purpose of the present study is to determine the factors that affect the abortion decision at the individual level. Using individual-level data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) and state-level data on abortion providers and legal restrictions on abortions, results suggest that legal restrictions had no statistically significant effects on the abortion decision, but that the number of per capita abortion providers does affect the decision whether or not to abort a fetus. Socioeconomic characteristics, such as age and race, also have effects on the abortion decision.     

Demographic significance of sterilization in three Indian states

Female sterilization has become one of the most widely used contraceptive methods in India since the introduction of family planning program. In this paper, an attempt is made to study the demographic significance of sterilization in three Indian states namely, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, and Kerala, using the National Family Health Survey, 1992–1993 (NFHS-I). The timing of sterilization and the impact of sterilization on fertility are discussed in this paper. Results reveal that the proportion of couples who sterilize before age 30 is higher in Andhra Pradesh, while the proportion of couples who accept sterilization within 10 years of marriage is higher in Kerala. Also in Kerala, the number of births averted due to sterilization remained high as compared to the other two states. The study also shows that a further reduction in fertility can be achieved in the state of Andhra Pradesh by increasing the use of temporary contraceptives.     

收入不平等与个体健康——基于2005年中国综合社会调查的实证分析

文章利用2005年中国综合社会调查（CGSS2005）数据与县级社会统计资料,通过拟合多层Logistic回归模型,分析了地区收入不平等程度对个体健康状况的影响,系统检验了绝对收入理论和收入不平等理论。结果表明,即使在控制了个体收入对健康的凹陷效应之后,县级收入不平等程度仍对个体自评健康具有显著的负面影响。对收入不平等影响健康的作用机制的进一步分析表明,社会心理机制仅能部分解释不平等对健康的负面效应,而新唯物主义机制未能得到经验支持。     

The Role of Mastery and Social Support in the Association Between Life Stressors and Psychological Distress in Older Canadians

Gerontological social workers and other health professionals are often dealing with older adults in psychological distress. Greater clarity on the relationship between stress and psychological distress will enhance the efficacy of outreach and treatment initiatives for older adults. This study explored the underlying causal structure of the relationships of common life stressors and psychosocial resources for Canadians 65 years and older (542 men and 835 women). Using structural equation modeling of data collected in the National Population Health Survey in 2004–2005 and 2002–2003, the roles played by socioeconomic conditions, physical health, chronic stress, sense of mastery, and perceived social support in the stress–psychological distress relationship were estimated and compared. Findings revealed that chronic stress was the strongest determinant of the level of psychological distress for both genders; however its effect was higher for men compared to women. Poor physical health played a more important role in determining women's psychological distress compared to men. Higher levels of mastery and perceived social support were associated with lower levels of psychological distress for both men and women. These associations were somewhat stronger for men compared with women. Socio-economic conditions played a minor role in the stress–mental health relationship for both genders.     

北京市未来50年户籍人口变动趋势预测

本文以第五次人口普查资料为基础 ,结合“北京市个人生育意愿调查”的研究结果 ,对北京市未来 5 0年户籍人口的变动趋势进行了预测分析。研究表明 :北京市户籍人口在未来若干年会保持上升趋势 ,2 0 35年左右达到高峰 ;北京市户籍人口老龄化趋势明显 ;适当调整户籍人口总和生育率对于改善户籍人口年龄结构具有一定作用     

社会经济地位、生活方式与健康不平等

以往研究多认为社会经济地位是人们健康水平最重要的决定因素,但对其影响机制却缺乏理论解释和检验。而社会流行病学研究关注与健康相关的生活方式及行为因素对人们健康水平的影响,但忽视了社会结构因素对人们生活方式的型塑作用。本研究根据健康生活方式模型将生活方式作为社会经济地位影响健康水平的中间机制,通过“中国综合社会调查（2005）”数据,分析中国民众健康不平等的形成过程。研究发现,同欧美主要发达国家一样,中国民众也存在明显的健康不平等,社会经济地位越高的人,其健康水平越高。社会经济地位主要通过健康生活方式影响人们的健康水平,其影响机制可以描述为,社会经济地位越高的人越倾向于拥有和维护健康生活方式,而健康生活方式又直接影响了人们的健康水平。     

The Fiscal Crisis of National Health Insurance in the Republic of Korea: In Search of a New Paradigm

In 2001, National Health Insurance (NHI) in Korea, the social insurance system for health care with universal population coverage, experienced a serious fiscal crisis as its accumulated surplus was depleted. This fiscal crisis is attributed to its chronic imbalance: health care expenditure has increased more rapidly than have insurance contributions. The recent failure in implementing pharmaceutical reform was a further blow to the deteriorating fiscal status of the NHI. Although the NHI has since recovered from the immediate fiscal crisis, this has mainly been because of a temporary increase in government subsidy into the NHI. The strong influence of the medical profession in health policy‐making remains a major barrier to the introduction of policy changes, such as a reform of the payment system to strengthen the fiscal foundations of the NHI. Korea also has to restructure its national health insurance in an era of very rapid population ageing. A new paradigm is called for in the governance of the NHI: to empower groups of consumers and payers in the policy and major decision‐making process of the NHI. The fiscal crisis in Korean national health insurance sheds light on the vulnerability of the social health insurance system to financial instability, the crucial role of provider payment schemes in health cost containment, the importance of governance in health policy, and the unintended burdens of health care reform on health care financing systems.     

Family policy,economic development and infant mortality: a longitudinal comparative analysis

Ferrarini T, Norström T. Family policy, economic development and infant mortality: a longitudinal comparative analysis Int J Soc Welfare 2010: ??: ??–??© 2010 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and International Journal of Social Welfare. In the present study, the impact of family policy legislation and economic development on infant mortality was estimated. Time series analyses indicate that economic growth decreased infant mortality in the earlier part of the 20th century, while the postwar period showed a zero or even a reversed correlation between economic development and child health. The results from fixed effects modelling of data for 18 welfare democracies for the period 1970–2000 are in line with the hypothesis that the more generous the earnings‐related parental leave benefits, the lower the infant mortality.     

Mortality analysis of persons with disabilities in Argentina by age,sex and duration of benefit, 2015–16

This article describes the differential mortality of Argentina’s disability pension beneficiaries during the 2015–16 period, based on National Social Security Administration (Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social – ANSES) payment records. It compares data for those with an assessed disability with overall population data, as well as with available international data (from Canada, Chile, Mexico, and the United States of America). In addition to breaking down mortality rates for people with disabilities by age and sex, it also factors in duration of benefit, establishing an inverse correlation between benefit duration and mortality.