Energy use, population and growth, 1800�C1970

In this paper, the role of energy use is incorporated into unified growth theory. The paper presents some interesting evidence about the evolution of energy in the transition from stagnation to growth, and it subsequently develops a growth model where the observed increase in conversion efficiency in the coal energy sector is explicitly modelled and calibrated to existing data over the period 1800–1970. The quantitative analysis sheds light on the impact of energy use on the transition from stagnation to growth.     

Family planning program effects on contraceptive use in Morocco, 1992–1995

This study illustrates the use of panel data and a fixed-effects estimator to investigate the impact of family planning program inputs on contraceptive utilization in Morocco during the 1992–1995 period. By controlling the potential bias resulting from common unobserved determinants of program resource allocation decisions and program outcomes, the methodology helps overcome an important constraint to the use of non-experimental study designs in undertaking meaningful impact assessments. Data from a panel of women interviewed in both the 1992 and 1995 Morocco Demographic and Health Surveys were used in the study, along with program data from Service Availability Modules undertaken in conjunction with each survey round. The results indicate that changes in the family planning supply environment, in particular increased presence of nurses trained in family planning and the level of infrastructure at public clinics, played a significant role in the increased use of modern contraceptives during the study period.     

Men’s condom use in higher-risk sex: Trends in five sub-Saharan African countries

This paper analyses trends in men’s condom use at last higher-risk sex (i.e., with a non-marital, non-cohabiting partner) using the two most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in five sub-Saharan African countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Burkina Faso. Condom use is an important method of preventing HIV transmission. Encouragingly, higher-risk sex has declined in four of the five countries, while condom use rose substantially in Cameroon, Tanzania and Burkina Faso but only had a minor increase in Kenya and Zambia, where use at last higher-risk sex remains below 50 per cent. There are no clear patterns of change across countries in the predictive strength of the explanatory variables between the two most recent surveys, although evidence of a widening gap in use by education in Cameroon is identified. In each country, lack of education remains a strong barrier to condom use in higher-risk sex.     

Antenatal asthma management by midwives in Australia — Self-reported knowledge,confidence and guideline use

BackgroundAsthma affects approximately 12.7% of pregnant women in Australia. Increased maternal and infant morbidity is closely associated with poorly controlled asthma during pregnancy. Midwives are well placed to provide antenatal asthma management but data on current asthma management during pregnancy is not available, nor is the use of guidelines for clinical practice by this health professional group.AimTo explore self-reported antenatal asthma management provided by midwives across Australia and how this reflects guideline recommendations.MethodAn online survey was developed and distributed throughout Australia via the Australian College of Midwives, social media and healthcare facilities.ResultsResponses from 371 midwives were obtained. Ten percent of midwives rated their knowledge as ‘good’ and 1% as ‘very good’, with 39% ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Being ‘somewhat’ or ‘not at all’ confident to provide antenatal asthma management was noted by 87% of midwives. Clinical guidelines were referred to by 50% of midwives and 40% stated that their main role was to refer women to other healthcare professionals. Only 54% reported that a clear referral pathway existed. Most respondents (>90%) recognised key recommendations for asthma management such as smoking cessation, appropriate vaccinations, and the continuation of prescribed asthma medications.ConclusionAlthough midwives appear aware of key clinical recommendations for optimal antenatal asthma management, low referral to clinical practice guidelines and lack of knowledge and confidence was evident. Further research is required to determine what care pregnant women with asthma are actually receiving and identify strategies to improve antenatal asthma management by midwives.     

Does single parenthood increase the probability of teenage promiscuity,substance use,and crime?

There is longstanding evidence that youths raised by single parents are more likely to perform poorly in school and partake in “deviant” behaviors such as smoking, sex, substance use, and crime. However, there is not widespread agreement as to whether the timing of the marital disruption differentially impacts youth outcomes. Using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and its Young Adult Supplement, we find that an additional 5 years with the biological father decreases the probability of smoking, drinking, engaging in sexual activity, marijuana use, and conviction by approximately 5.3, 1.2, 3.4, 2.2 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively.

Ability and rates of return to schooling—making use of the Swedish enlistment battery test

Using the Swedish military enlistment test, this paper estimates the return to schooling for individuals belonging to different parts of the ability distribution. It also attempts to predict whether an endogenous test score causes bias in the “ability-specific” returns to schooling that varies with the test score. A significant finding is that a higher score in the test is associated with a higher return to schooling, but that the positive association is diminishing in the test score. In general, the bias in the ability-specific returns to schooling does not seem to vary with the test score level.

Women millennials’ perceptions of pension savings through the use of autoenrollment in the UK pension system

There has been concern about younger people, and women in particular, not saving enough for retirement and how to encourage further saving. Therefore, this study—partly funded by the Fawcett Society in association with Scottish Widows—explores female millennials’ attitudes and motivations toward pension saving and automatic enrollment through the use of 40 semistructured interviews and a focus group. The findings show that although the introduction of autoenrollment pensions is generally positively received, pensions knowledge is still limited, and this intensifies the risk of undersaving for retirement among millennial women, particularly given women’s diverse work histories.     

Contraceptive use patterns across teens’ sexual relationships: The role of relationships,partners, and sexual histories

By using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, we examine how adolescent relationship characteristics, partner attributes, and sexual relationship histories are associated with contraceptive use and consistency, incorporating random effects to control for respondent-level unobserved heterogeneity. Analyses show that teens' contraceptive use patterns vary across relationships. Teens with more-homogamous partners, with more-intimate relationships, and who communicate about contraception before sex have greater odds of contraceptive use and/or consistency. Teens in romantic relationships, and who are older when engaging in sex for the first time, have greater odds of ever using contraceptives but reduced odds of always using contraceptives. Teens continue habits from previous relationships: teens with experience practicing contraceptive consistency and females who previously have used hormonal contraceptive methods are better able to maintain consistency in subsequent relationships. Also, relationship and partner characteristics are less important for females who previously used hormonal methods.     

Household air pollution as a silent killer: women’s status and solid fuel use in developing nations

Household air pollution is a leading cause of death globally, as 4.3 million people die prematurely each year from illness attributable to use of solid fuels (WHO 2016a). Many studies contend that gender inequalities are likely to greatly shape the global distribution of solid fuel use and its negative health consequences. We conduct an analysis of 91 developing nations using structural equation models on the prevalence of female indoor air pollution deaths among women and the ratio of female to male indoor air pollution deaths. The results illustrate that women’s status is a robust predictor of solid fuel use, and that improved women’s status also correlates directly with lower female to male indoor air pollution deaths ratios and indirectly with reduced female death prevalence through lower solid fuel dependence. Women’s status additionally mediates the effects of some other notable predictors, such as economic development. Overall, the results bring attention to a “silent killer” in less-developed nations and illustrate that greater female empowerment is an important avenue in addressing this global pandemic.     

The use of survey data to study migration–environment relationships in developing countries: alternative approaches to data collection

Growing interest in the environmental aspects of migration is not matched by research on their interrelationships, due partly to the lack of adequate data sets on the two together. Focusing on the microlevel, we describe the data required to effectively investigate these interrelationships. Data sources are discussed, including information that should be collected, focusing on household surveys and remote sensing. The main section of the paper describes three alternative approaches to data collection: (a) using existing population and environmental data from different sources, illustrated by Burkina Faso; (b) adding questions to a survey developed for another purpose, illustrated for Guatemala using a DHS survey; and (c) designing a new survey specifically to collect both migration and environmental data to investigate interrelationships, illustrated by Ecuador. Methods used and summary findings are described, followed by a discussion of their advantages and limitations. We conclude with recommendations as to effective use of each approach as research on migration?Cenvironment linkages moves forward.     

What do highly qualified professionally achieving women do after retirement in India? Exploring time use,leisure, and volunteering

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the time use of highly qualified professionally achieving (HQPA) women after retirement. Data were collected from a random sample of 1,023 HQPA women in the city of Mumbai, India. HQPA women spent their postretirement time in caregiving and family responsibilities, leisure activities, and volunteer work. Several HQPA women volunteered at social service organizations as the main postretirement activity. In a developing country like India, which is still growing in terms of skilled human resources, this voluntary engagement of experienced and skilled older women is crucial. Policy makers in India and developing nations can promote this.     

Midwives’ personal use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) influences their recommendations to women experiencing a post-date pregnancy

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) have increasingly been used by pregnant women with a steady rise in interest by midwives. Literature describing CAM and self-help options midwives recommend to women experiencing a post-date pregnancy is sparse. This study aimed to investigate if Australian midwives’ personal CAM use impacts on discussions and recommendations of CAM/Self-help strategies.

Husbands’ versus wives’ fertility goals and use of contraception: The influence of gender context in five Asian countries

Using data from Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines, we explore how gender context influences (1) husband-wife concordance in the demand for children and (2) the impact of each spouse's fertility preferences on contraceptive use. We also explore whether the husband's pronatalism can explain the wife's unmet need for contraception. The results suggest that gender context has little net effect on couples' concordance, but influences the relative weight of husbands' and wives' preferences in determining contraceptive use. Analysis of women's unmet need for contraception suggests that the husbands' pronatalism contributes to wives' unmet need, but only to a relatively small degree, especially in settings where unmet need is high. This is the case because the proportion of couples with differing fertility goals is small in most communities.     

Energy, population and the environment: exploring Canada’s record on CO2 emissions and energy use relative to other OECD countries

Across the OECD, Canada??s record on CO₂ emissions is particularly poor, with overall emissions up 32% over the 1990?C2007 period. The current paper seeks to better understand this situation by making systematic comparisons of Canada with other OECD countries. For Canada overall, the rapid increase in emissions over the 1990?C2007 period can be explained by several factors, including major population growth, increased affluence (although to a lesser extent than elsewhere in the OECD), a continued dependence on fossil fuels, while continuing to increase its overall demand for energy. While the energy intensity of Canada??s economy has declined somewhat over recent years, it actually lagged behind most OECD countries on this front and remains one of the most energy intense economies in the world (2nd highest in the OECD on our indicator of energy intensity). While there are many factors responsible for this, Canada??s particularly energy-intensive industrial structure is certainly relevant, as is the importance of its primary sector relative to most developed nations.     

‘Incorrect,loose and coarse terms’: classifying nineteenth-century English-language causes of death for modern use. An example using Tasmanian data

This paper outlines a cause-of-death classification system applicable to nineteenth-century English-language death data. Consisting of 32 categories, this system combines aspects of William Farr’s nosology, developed in nineteenth-century Britain, and the modern International Classification of Diseases. It is sufficiently broad for meaningful categories to be created for analytical purposes, but specific enough for particular cause-of-death trends and patterns to be traced. Individual-level death registration data from the British colony of Tasmania, 1838–1899, are used to demonstrate the application of this classification system. The paper describes the history of recording causes of death in nineteenth-century Tasmania and discusses several problems particular to nineteenth-century cause-of-death data. The benefits and disadvantages of three existing nosologies, Farr’s, Preston’s and the International Classification of Diseases, are considered with reference to nineteenth-century data. The final sections outline the data and method, and discuss an application of the classification system developed for cause-specific child mortality in nineteenth-century Tasmania.     

“Who's afraid?”: Attitudes of midwives to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for delivery of pregnancy-related health information

BackgroundUsage rates for information and communication technologies (ICTs) in healthcare have been increasing in recent years, but often lag behind general usage rates for populations as a whole. Research into such differential rates of ICT use across different segments of the population has identified a number of possible causal factors that limit usage.AimThe research investigated midwives’ attitudes and experiences of ICT use to identify potential causal factors that encourage or inhibit their usage in antenatal care.MethodsSemi-structured interviews, focus groups and short surveys were conducted with midwives who provide antenatal education at an Australian metropolitan hospital. Thematic and statistical analyses were used to interpret the data.FindingsAlthough midwives recognised the potential benefits of using ICTs to deliver pregnancy-related health information many had reservations about their use in everyday work. These reservations centred on lack of training in use of ICTs, the perceived legal risks associated with social media, potential violations of patient privacy, misdiagnosis and misunderstandings between midwife and client.ConclusionMidwives face a number of barriers to effective use of ICTs in healthcare including material access, skills access, usage access and motivational access. Motivational access appears to be a key concern due to the high perception of risk associated with social media in particular. Reducing the motivational barriers through a range of interventions with midwifery staff may assist in overcoming other barriers to ICT use in antenatal care. Further research is required to determine whether these findings are generalisable to other healthcare contexts.