Social and Territorial Cohesion in Spain: Relevance of the Socioeconomic Context

Social Indicators Research - Exclusion processes are shaped through the accumulation of social disadvantages in seven life dimensions: income, employment, education, health, housing, social and...     

Life Style Or Survival Strategy?

At the beginning of the 1990s, less than a half-percent of the Czech agricultural work force were private farmers having persisted through the period of forced collectivization. This tiny social group did not play an economically or socially significant role in Czech society. In the agricultural sector, privatization of the Czech economy after 1989 meant restitution of land to the original owners. State and co-operative farms were transformed either to joint enterprises, i.e. owner-run co-operatives, or to private farms. Initially, there was no great interest in private farming. However, employment opportunities in rural areas are limited. Today, private farmers comprise about 20% of the agricultural work force. Over half of them (54%) have less than one hectare arable land and private farming is not their main source of work income. The rest of the private farmers have different types of holdings ranging from 1 ha to well over 1000 ha. The average size of private holdings of this category is about 32 ha. Return to private farming means a large change of life style for both farmers and their families. Hard competition on the market is reflected in their attitudes and opinions. Of course, life cannot be reduced to solely the economic dimension. Freedom, personal independence, and decision-making responsibility appear as new major life values. Nevertheless, close interdependency of economic and social conditions is strongly felt. This contribution summarizes results of empirical research based on 385 Czech private farmers. Survey participants evaluated positive and negative effects of changes subsequent to 1989 on their economic and social life.     

Quality of life in South Africa – The First Ten Years of Democracy

South Africa celebrated ten years of democracy in 2004. This special issue of Social Indicators Research (SIR) reviews developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period. The issue updates an earlier volume of SIR (Volume 41) published in 1997 and as a stand-alone volume. The earlier volume was initiated following SIR editor Alex Michalos’ first visit to South Africa. This update on quality of life in South Africa follows on his return visit to the country in 2004 to see firsthand the changes that had occured in the meantime. This introductory article outlines major achievements of and setbacks for the new democracy and the challenges facing it in future. It provides the backround for the evaluations of a range of quality of life domains and issues including poverty and inequality, crime, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, migration and housing, religiosity, reconciliation, and optimism for the future which are covered in the eleven articles that follow. The introduction divides the articles under the headings of challenges, achievements, monitoring quality of life, and social capital for the future. The overview article concludes that improvements in quality of life have been uneven but goodwill and a positive outlook bode well for South African quality of life in future.     

Life Shocks and Crime: A Test of the “Turning Point” Hypothesis

Other researchers have posited that important events in men's lives-such as employment, marriage, and parenthood-strengthen their social ties and lead them to refrain from crime. A challenge in empirically testing this hypothesis has been the issue of self-selection into life transitions. This study contributes to this literature by estimating the effects of an exogenous life shock on crime. We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, augmented with information from hospital medical records, to estimate the effects of the birth of a child with a severe health problem on the likelihood that the infant's father engages in illegal activities. We conduct a number of auxiliary analyses to examine exogeneity assumptions. We find that having an infant born with a severe health condition increases the likelihood that the father is convicted of a crime in the three-year period following the birth of the child, and at least part of the effect appears to operate through work and changes in parental relationships. These results provide evidence that life events can cause crime and, as such, support the "turning point" hypothesis.     

Attitudinal Changes Toward Homosexuality During the Past Two Decades (1994–2014) in Korea

This study was conducted to examine recent Korean perspectives on homosexuality by comparing attitudes toward mental illness, crime, friendship, and civil rights related to homosexual people in 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009, and 2014. The respondents were 3,299 Korean men and women between 18 and 59 years of age, and the data were collected across 5 years. The major findings were that there has been greater acceptance of homosexuality and civil rights for homosexuals during the past two decades, but the changes have been slow; Korean homosexuals remain subjects of social stigma and discrimination primarily due to increased Christian activism.     

基于分层线性模型的流动人口社会融合影响因素研究

根据2012年全国流动人口动态监测结果和反映31个省市基本公共服务均等化的指标数据,建立分层线性模型从流动人口个体和省级层面考察影响流动人口社会融合的影响因素和作用程度的大小。研究发现,流动人口的社会融合不仅与个人因素有关,而且还受地区基本公共服务差异化的影响。个体层面从户口性质、就业状况、医疗保险、自我融入意愿、本地人接受程度、收入情况与住房条件解释流动人口社会融合差异的63?12％;省级层面从基础教育、医疗卫生、公共就业及基本社会保障解释流动人口社会融合的差异为36?83％。最后从政府、公民社会参与角度出发,提出促进流动人口社会融合的措施和建议。     

2000-2010年福建省人口死亡统计分析

人口死亡水平的变动与趋势包含了与社会发展互为因果的潜在信息,对其进行挖掘可以为人口数量与素质、城市化与劳动就业、人口分布与资源环境承载力以及人口老龄化等问题的解决提供重要参考。基于“五普”、“六普”的人口普查数据,文章利用模型生命表方法对福建省的人口死亡率进行了校正;宏观角度对比分析了2000年-2010年福建省人口死亡水平与模式变化,微观多角度剖析了设区市之间预期寿命、婴儿死亡的差异及其原因。研究结论为：一是福建省人口死亡率显著降低,人口健康水平大幅提升,婴儿死亡漏报、错报问题明显减少;二是九个设区市之间的死亡模式存在地区差异,城市化水平、生育水平及社会卫生条件是差异产生的显著性影响因素,但经济发展、教育水平和公共医疗卫生的作用不明显。     

Perceptions of Quality Life in Hamilton’s Neighbourhood Hubs: A Qualitative Analysis

This paper examines perceptions of quality of life in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from the perspective of residents and key community stakeholders. A series of eight focus groups were conducted. Six sessions were held with residents of neighbourhood ??hubs??, areas characterized by high levels of poverty. The following themes were highlighted as significant to neighbourhood quality of life: (1) housing quality and affordability (2) diversity and cultural integration; (3) crime and safety; (4) community engagement and recreation; (5) green space and the physical environment, and; (6) transportation. Two focus groups were then conducted with key informants who provided recommendations for improving quality of life and discussed relevant policy issues such as employment and income security. The findings of the focus groups resonate with local research and policy action in Hamilton, including a new Neighbourhood Development Strategy for the City. This research advocates for decision-makers to support and work alongside context-based, resident-led community development efforts. The hub model, as well as Hamilton??s broader neighbourhood-based research and community development approach may assist social researchers, civic leaders and various levels of government across Canada as they work to improve quality of life in their communities.     

The Relationship of Life Satisfaction to Patterns of Past Employment and Homemaking Responsibility for Older Women

This study examined the relationships among six different patterns of past employment and homemaking experiences and life satisfaction for a group of 172 older women who resided in subsidized housing in Brooklyn, New York. Data collected through the use of self-report questionnaires administered in small group settings provided demographic information, employment histories, self-assessed patterns of past employment and homemaking, as well as life satisfaction ratings. A series of regression analyses indicated that an older woman's pattern of past employment and homemaking was not significantly related to her level of life satisfaction. Perceived functional health and perceived financial adequacy were found to be related to life satisfaction, each explaining moderate amounts of life satisfaction variance.     

The Development of Official Social Statistics in Italy with a Life Quality Approach

The article covers the main steps of official statistics in the second half of the Nineties through the illustration of the transition from economic oriented official statistics to the quality of life approach. The system of the Multipurpose Surveys introduced in 1993 to give an answer to questions at social level and to provide indicators for social policies, has been developed with a quality of life approach that combines the objective dimension to the subjective one. All dimensions of the social sphere have been analyzed with this approach: health, crime, leisure, work, poverty and deprivation. Sometimes the subjective questions were proxy of the objective situation, such as health and sometimes subjective aspects complemented the objective as in the case of crime and poverty. The history of the Italian official statistics is an example of how it is possible to realize a qualitative leap in social statistics integrating the objective and the subjective dimension.     

Socioeconomic determinants of China's urban fertility

This paper examines socioeconomic forces other than population policies and family planning programs that have affected the fertility transition in urban China. The authors argue that before and since the intensification of population planning activities, the government influenced fertility directly and indirectly through socialization of the economy, the transformation of the Chinese family, and the provision of education, employment, health, medical, welfare, cultural, and related services in urban areas. The various social institutions and subsystems of society have greatly weakened the motivation for large families. The byproducts of the slow urbanization process in urban China including housing shortages, unemployment, rising living standards, changes in the cost of raising a child, and urban-rural downward mobility have affected the social and economic costs of childbearing, which in turn have affected the postponement of childbearing. Thus, our considerations of urban China's fertility transition must be broadened to include the issues of social development strategy in Chinese urban experience.     

Social Capital,Government and Democracy Satisfaction,and Happiness in Turkey: A Comparison of Surveys in 1999 and 2008

Based on data from a 1999 and a 2008 European Values Survey, the main objective of this study is to explore the relationship between a variety of social capital indicators, satisfaction with government and democracy, and subjective well-being. Happiness and life satisfaction were used as outcome measures of subjective well-being. The indicators of social capital used in this study are general trust, trust in institutions, political engagement, concern for others, societal norms, and membership in volunteer organizations. The analyses reveal a significant increase in happiness, life satisfaction, and many social capital variables between 1999 and 2008. Generalized trust, trust in institutions, government satisfaction, and democracy satisfaction are positive correlates of well-being, although some relationships are significant only in 2008. Several demographic variables are also linked with subjective well-being such as income, employment status, age, gender, and education. We discuss the findings in relation to the significant societal, economic, and political changes experienced in Turkey between 1999 and 2008. Policy implications are also emphasized such as improved trust among individuals, trustworthiness of government institutions, and functioning of democracy.     

Crime and perceptions after a decade of democracy

Crime has become central to any discussion about the consolidation of democracy in South Africa. Concerns about crime intensified in the years after 1994, as the country attempted to grapple with the apparent ‘crime wave’ that accompanied the transition. A decade later crime is still a priority for government and a concern among citizens, but the clamour that characterised both state and civil society responses in the early years of democracy has receded (See the article by the author in Social Indicators Research 41: 137–168, 1997). This may relate to the decrease in crime levels as reflected by various statistical sources. It is also possible that those whose voices were heard most loudly on the issue – the middle classes – have taken all available measures to protect their property and lives from crime. In all likelihood, South Africans have become accustomed to living in a violent society, and one in which other equally serious problems now require attention. Although the national obsession with crime has waned, the available data nevertheless indicate that the problem still affects many thousands of lives. The impact of crime – in terms of the costs of victimisation, negative perceptions and fear, and the cost of responding to crime – remains high for South African society. This paper considers how crime levels and perceptions about crime and safety have changed over the past decade, and what these trends tell us about the country 10 years into our democracy.     

Family policy and maternal employment in the Czech transition: a natural experiment

Czech family policies have gone through dramatic changes since the 1989 transition to a market economy, resulting into the highest employment gap between women with and without pre-school children in OECD. This paper focuses on the 1995 Czech Parental Benefit reform which extended the payment of universal parental benefits to 4 years instead of 3 without an equivalent extension of job-protected parental leave, leaving to mothers the choice of either guaranteed return to employment or an additional 12 months of benefits. The study relies on a difference-in-differences strategy to assess the net effect of this large-scale reform on mothers’ labour market participation. I find a strong negative impact on mothers’ probability of return to work at the end of parental leave, with a heterogeneous size with respect to their educational attainment. I also find evidence of the persistence of this detrimental effect on mothers’ employment beyond the short-term horizon targeted by the legislators.     

Beyond GDP: Using Equivalent Incomes to Measure Well-Being in Europe

It has become widely accepted that focusing exclusively on income growth may lead to a too narrow-sighted measure of changes in well-being. People care about other dimensions of life, such as their health, employment, social interactions and personal safety. Moreover, an exclusive focus on income growth remains blind to the distribution of income and well-being in the society. We propose therefore a set of five principles for a richer measure of well-being. In particular, we advocate the use of a measure based on “equivalent incomes”, which satisfies these principles. We discuss and illustrate how this equivalent income approach can be implemented in Europe, using the ESS data for 2008 and 2010. We find that introducing inequality aversion and including other dimensions in the analysis leads to a remarkably different perspective on the growth of well-being in Europe.     

宿舍劳动体制对农民工权益的影响分析——以江苏省为例

文章使用2010年收集的江苏省农民工调查数据,探讨了农民工的住宿方式对其权益保护的影响。结果表明,(1)农民工的住宿条件总体上仍然较差;(2)宿舍劳动体制下的农民工与非宿舍劳动体制下农民工相比,基础生活设施拥有率低,人均住房面积少,住宿条件差;(3)宿舍劳动体制下的农民工与非宿舍劳动体制下农民工相比,工作时间长,拥有养老保险、医疗保险和失业保险的比率低,表明其权益被侵犯现象更为严重。     

利还是弊:“啃老”对老年生活满意度的影响

本文利用中国健康与养老追踪调查数据(CHARLS)2011年数据,实证分析子女"啃老"对老年人生活满意度的影响。在考虑了数据聚类特征的情况下,发现老年人向子女提供经济支持有利于老年人生活满意度的提高,而照看孙子女则降低了老年人的生活满意度。而且,上述影响在不同老年人群体间缺乏一致性,也就是存在性别、城乡、年龄、不同经济状况间的差异。此外,老年人的健康状况、年龄、受教育程度、个人经济状况及所在社区情况都会对老年人生活满意度产生影响。     

The Quality of Life Among U.S. States

Categories of Schwartz and Mukherjee are used to select twelve measures with direct or indirect influence on QoL of the 50 States and the D.C. Included are such recognized indicators as health, housing, longevity, a toxic-free environment, crime, etc. From a factor analysis of these data, four factors emerge, identified as Security, Mastery, Harmony and Autonomy. Three partially-independent measures provide verification of the QoL measures: the KIDS COUNT Index, the Southern Regional Council QoL of workers Index and a state-by-state Stress Index. I then test hypotheses relating to QoL: the economic hypothesis that the production of wealth enhances welfare (QoL), a demographic hypotheses concerning migration and urbanization, an hypothesis that religious adherents influence QoL, and psychological hypothesis that a better QoL generates less stress, and others.     

Trajectories of Fertility and Household Composition in the Demographic Profile of the Czech Republic

The household composition matrix is a representation of the demographic structure of households, specific to age groups of household members and household heads. As such, the matrix reflects also the environmental conditions, housing in particular, that mould households' demographic structure. By specifically depicting the presence of children in households, household composition could be viewed as gauging fertility within the context of housing conditions. This stance is examined in an application to Czech census data for the year 1991, at the commencement of an intense process of socio-economic transformation that accompanied the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe. Within this process, housing had an inadvertent impact upon the structure of households in general, and upon fertility decline in particular. By using the standard matrix representation of household composition, correspondence between trajectories of age-specific fertility and household composition emerge throughout the Czech Republic. This correspondence illustrates the potential household composition analysis carries for fertility measurement and estimation in rapidly changing economic environments.