The Time Trend of Life Satisfaction in China

The overtime changes of life satisfaction have been recognized as an important topic in happiness studies. Unfortunately, most of prior research is confined to Western industrialized countries. A few studies focused on the case of China yet fail to reach a general agreement. This research aims to synthesize multiple national representative samples implemented in China by standardizing the happiness scores. The transformation of datasets yields more observation points and grounds the analysis in much larger samples, which helps to represent a country as vast as China. The analysis shows that in the past two decades, Chinese people has been experiencing a marked decline of life satisfaction, in spite of tremendous economic and societal progress.     

Socio-Economic Characteristics and Life Expectancies in Nineteenth-Century England: A District Analysis

This paper presents an analysis of levels of life expectancy and their patterns of change among six socio-economically differentiated sub-populations of England and Wales for the period 1851–1911. Differences in mortality levels among these sub-groups and their rates of change are analyzed with respect to three groups of explanatory variables, viz., environmental, stratification and demographic variables. Their relative importance for different periods is assessed and discussed. The findings show consistency with two previous studies, which have suggested that medical advances had little effect on the increase in life expectancy during the second half of the nineteenth century. The present paper supports the results of one study in that public health measures affected life expectancies earlier, while subsequently, the increase in standards of living was more important.     

Making Comparisons of Demographic Aggregates more Meaningful: A Case of Life Expectancies and Total Fertility Rates

With the recent emphasis on human development, development researchers are making frequent use of aggregate demographic measures in describing development experiences and more so while linking health and development. And it is often seen that comparison of these demographic aggregates across space and time is naïve given their complex construct on one hand and the implied meaning on the other. Are these comparisons across the board valid for the meanings ascribed to them? Or are the stated achievements as well as projected trends based on them reliable? This paper attempts to illustrate these concerns taking the twin aggregate measures frequently in use namely the life expectancy and Total fertility Rates. The primary focus here has been to link additional dimension of the same phenomenon (referring to survival or fertility here) which does not follow the principle of matched ordering while read along with these aggregates. Taking into account these additional dimensions, the magnitude of the differences in these aggregate measures gets moderated and their comparison across levels (between lower and higher) becomes more consistent.     

Health Profiles and Profile-Specific Health Expectancies of Older Women and Men: The Netherlands

SUMMARY

This study focuses on gender differences in health profiles, and examines which health profiles drive gender differences in remaining life expectancy in women and men aged 65 and over in The Netherlands. Data from the first two cycles of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (n = 2,141 and 1,659, respectively) were used to calculate health profiles for individuals of 65–85 years. For both women and men, six profiles were found: I. cancer; II. “other” chronic diseases; III. cognitive impairment; IV. frailty or multimorbidity; V. cardiovascular diseases; and VI. good health. The further characterization of these types showed some gender differences. Remaining life expectancy for women was greater than for men in each health profile. A decomposition into health expectancies showed that both women and men could expect to live about 5 years in good health from age 66. The greatest gender differences in years spent with health problems were found for profile IV and for profile III. Their greater number of years spent in these health states have direct consequences for the type and cost of care women need.     

山东省百年人口老龄化趋势前瞻

山东省是我国的人口大省,也是人口老龄化速度较快的省份。本文利用人口发展数学模型,得出五种预测方案,然后再根据山东省的实际形势确定了备选方案,分析了山东省百年人口老龄化总趋势,以及2005-2020年山东省人口老龄化发展特征,最后提出了相应的对策和建议。     

Queen Victoria's Irish Soldiers: Quality of Life and Social Origins of the Thin Green Line

This essay examines the social background of men enlisting in thearmy in mid-nineteenth century Ireland. A data set of 1,032 recruits is presented, and their county origins are explored through development of an index of quality of life (QUALEIRE).Height data are presented as well as the process of recruitment.Topics include home background, census information, literacy, officers, politics, and health with reference to tuberculosis.     

The Trend in International Health Inequality

Estimates of average life expectancy for 169 countries are used to compute the trend in between‐country health inequality from 1980 to 2000. Results show that inequality in the distribution of life expectancy across countries declined in the 1980s, but then increased through the 1990s. The recent turnaround in between‐country health inequality is significant because it reverses a long‐term trend of declining inequality across countries that began in the first half of the twentieth century. The primary cause of rising inequality across countries is declining life expectancy in sub‐Saharan Africa, largely owing to HIV/AIDS. Life expectancy in sub‐Saharan Africa holds the key to the future trend in between‐country inequality.     

The Rich and the Poor: The Construction of an Affluence Line from the Poverty Line

The paper proposes a simple methodology to estimate an affluence line that depends on the knowledge of the income distribution and the poverty line for a given population. The idea that poverty is morally unacceptable and can be eradicated through redistribution of wealth provides the grounds for the methodology. The line is defined as the value that delimitates the aggregated income required to eradicate poverty by the way of transfers from the rich to the poor. I estimate an affluence line using Brazilian 1999 National Household Survey data and briefly discuss the results.     

The Satisfaction with Sex Life Across the Adult Life Span

Three separate issues concerning the relation between age and satisfaction with sex life are addressed in this article. The first issue was concerned with the age generalizability of the factor structure produced by responses to the Satisfaction with Sex Life Scale (SWSLS). The second issue was to examine whether there were differences in the satisfaction with sex life according to certain background characteristics, namely age. Finally, the relationship between scores on the SWSLS with those on other relational constructs was explored. Data collection involved completion of a questionnaire. The sample consisted of 1,144 participants. The mean ages of the sample were 38.99 years in (SD = 16.91); ages ranged from 20 to 80. The data indicated that the factor structure of responses to the SWSLS were highly similar through adult life. Religious involvement, marital status, and love status influenced satisfaction with sex life. Expected correlations with measures of other relationship constructs were found. The strongest predictor of satisfaction with sex live across the adult life span was love satisfaction. Suggestions concerning the use of the SWSLS for research and clinical purposes are offered.     

The Quality of Life in China

The Asia Barometer Survey of 2,000 respondents reveals that substantial majorities of the Chinese people experience feelings of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment. In fact, the proportion experiencing these indicators of a high quality of life are larger in China than in some more prosperous countries. Favorable historical comparison, sustained high economic growth, satisfaction with interpersonal life, and a high percentage of married people are among the explanations for China’s prevalence of subjective well-being. The Chinese people’s high levels of satisfaction with their interpersonal, material, and nonmaterial life domains, their positive assessments of their relative living standards, and their high rate of marriage are three direct positive influences on subjective well-being. Value priorities and other demographic characteristics also have indirect bearings on subjective well-being in China.     

The Quality of Life in Taiwan

The AsiaBarometer survey of 1,006 respondents shows that in Taiwan, people have access to modern utilities and digital media, signs of materialistic achievement, and yet are more concerned with physical security and financial safety than with personal growth. Regardless of their demographic backgrounds and value priorities, the Taiwanese, like other Confucian publics, are most satisfied with the interpersonal life sphere and least satisfied with the public life sphere. Their satisfaction levels concerning various life domains affect their sense of well-being more than does their prioritization of values. Assessments of material and nonmaterial life domains contribute to their sense of well-being more than those of interpersonal and public domains do. Access to modern utilities and a high income, however, detract from their sense of well-being. As is the case elsewhere, a better set of objective life circumstance does not necessarily make for a greater quality of life in Taiwan. The government, therefore, should seek to provide more than economic goods and services.     

The Quality of Life in Singapore

The Asia Barometer Survey of 1,038 respondents shows that most Singaporeans are happy and enjoy life, although they do not feel a correspondingly high level of accomplishment. Good health, a comfortable home, a job, time with family and having enough to eat emerged as key priorities in life. While Singaporeans are most satisfied with their marriages, family life, friendship, housing, and public safety, their perceptions of their overall quality of life are mostly influenced by their relationships with significant others and their satisfaction with their homes. Detailed demographic analyses are provided and policy implications are discussed in light of these findings.     

The Quality of Life in Japan

This study is part of a collaborative project examining the quality of life in Confucian societies in Asia. Our major findings suggest that, when our sixteen specific life domains are grouped into three life spheres, namely, material, post-material, and public, the Japanese people tend to be most satisfied with the post-material sphere of life and least satisfied with the public sphere of life such as the condition of environment and welfare system. In searching the direct, independent effects of demographics, lifestyles, value priorities, and domain assessments on the quality of life, none of the public life domain assessments shows a significant impact on the quality of life, while friendships and spiritual life in the post-material sphere of life are an important determinant. Equally notable is the finding that neither educational attainment nor household income contributes significantly to the experience of subjective well-being. Leading a global lifestyle also affects positively the quality of life. Finally, being married and satisfaction with marital life appear to be powerful and prevalent influence on the quality of life in Japan.

农民工的就业与社会保险政策的关系研究——以劳动力市场分割理论为分析视角

随着我国经济发展进程的加快,农民工作为一支经济建设的重要力量,他们的就业和社会保险问题倍受瞩目,成为当前我国学界改革社会保险政策的一项重要研究课题。本文以此为背景,试图从农民工的就业——工资——社会保险这一新的视角切入,以劳动经济学的劳动力市场分割理论作为分析的理论基础,分析农民工就业的特殊性、流动性对其实施社会保险政策影响的内在机理,为我国农民工社会保险改革提出建设性的发展路径。     

东北地区离婚率全国居首的原因分析

婚姻相关问题一直是社会学、人类学等社会学科的研究对象,我国离婚率逐年上升的现象近年来尤其突出,在一定程度上已经成为一种社会问题。在全国离婚率逐年升高的背景下,东北三省的离婚率变化规律相似而又不同。若将东北三省看为一个整体进行分析,则这一大区域内人口的离婚率具有非常鲜明的特点。按照粗离婚率和离结比两种离婚率衡量指标对全国31个地区的离婚率进行降序排列,东北三省的粗离婚率长期居于排行榜的前列,而离结比则长期居于排行榜首位。总体上,东北地区的离婚率随着时间推移逐年升高,而且长期以来明显高于全国其他地区。分析东北地区人口离婚率高居全国首位的原因则发现既有与全国其他地区一致的共性原因,也有东北地区特有的区域原因。具体而言,导致这一现象的共性原因主要包括:经济发展和社会进步使婚姻功能发生改变;离婚的法律程序简化、社会成本降低;婚前感情基础不够、对婚姻质量要求提高、婚外诱惑增加等。导致这一现象的区域内独特原因主要包括:低生育率导致东北地区婚龄人口中独生子女比例更高;东北地区城市化程度较高,女性受教育程度较高;区域内的移民文化使离婚的外界阻力较小;少数民族人口比例高、人口流动性较大、经济发展落后等。     

The Quality of Life in Hong Kong

The AsiaBarometer of 1,000 respondents shows that Hong Kong people have a great desire for materialistic attainment, and such an emphasis on materialism bodes ill for their quality of life. Negative assessments of the public life sphere, which encompasses the natural environment, the social welfare system, and the democratic system, also detract from the experiences of happiness, enjoyment, and accomplishment in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, access to digital communication devices helps Hong Kong people to experience a greater quality of life.

The Paradox of Children and Life Satisfaction

Empirical analyses of the determinants of life satisfaction routinely include the number of children as one of the socio demographic controls, without explicitly considering that, for a given household income, more children imply a lower level of income per family member. The variable “number of children” then often attracts a negative or insignificant coefficient. Using data from the German Socio Economic Panel 1984–2007 we confirm that the sign of the coefficient for the variable “number of children in the household” is negative when introducing household income without correction for the number of members in a life satisfaction regression. On the contrary, when we equivalise income with the most commonly adopted equivalence scales, so eliminating the monetary cost of raising children, the impact of the variable is positive and significant when a high level of economies of scale is assumed. Our results however lead us to reject slope homogeneity as we find strong differences by gender and region. In particular, the positive effect of children on life satisfaction is stronger for males and East Germans. We interpret these subsample split results as driven by heterogeneous opportunity costs and cultural traits.     

The Quality of Life in South Korea

The AsiaBarometer survey of 1,023 respondents shows Life in Korea is highly modernized and digitalized without being much globalized. Despite the modernization and digitalization of their lifestyles, ordinary citizens still prioritize materialistic values more than post-materialistic values, and they remain least satisfied in the material life sphere. A multivariate analysis of the Korean survey reveals that their positive assessments of their standard of living and marriage are the most powerful influences on the quality of life they experience. Remarkable improvements in the objective conditions of life for the past three decades have failed to transform Korea into a nation of well-being.

中国女性初婚模式变动趋势研究

20世纪80年代以来我国女性的初婚模式发生了显著的变化。本文使用人口普查资料、全国1%人口抽样调查数据、人口变动情况抽样调查数据以及IPUMS数据,通过女性平均初婚年龄、曾婚比例、年龄别初婚概率、终身结婚期待率和预期单身寿命等指标探究我国女性自20世纪80年代以来的初婚模式变动情况。研究发现30多年来我国女性平均初婚年龄在波动中上升,到2017年女性平均初婚年龄已经达到25.60岁,而教育程度的提高会推迟女性进入婚姻的时间,接受过高等教育的女性平均初婚年龄明显高于未受过高等教育的女性;另外,通过对各教育程度平均初婚年龄标准化与分解看到随着时间的推移,教育对女性的平均初婚年龄影响作用增大;20-30岁年龄段女性婚姻推迟明显,曾婚比例不断降低,但女性终身未婚比例很低,其中受过高等教育的女性婚姻推迟现象最为明显,但其自身的结婚意愿并未降低,大部分女性只是推迟结婚时间,并不是不结婚。对净婚姻表各指标进行计算发现1982-2010年女性的年龄别初婚概率下降,尤其在20-30岁年龄段下降明显,初婚峰值年龄推迟,结婚年龄集中现象减弱。终身结婚期待率下降速度趋缓,随着女性初婚年龄的推迟,2010年27...