Summary of the social sciences and population policy: A survey

This survey makes quite explicit the willingness of the social sciences and demography to initiate or expand teaching, research, and training on population policy. The disciplines now differ greatly in these activities. Of the 117 suggestions for research on policy, 41 are related to policy content; 16 to policy initiative and implementation; 47 to policy evaluation; and 13 to policy philosophy. The social scientists identified thirteen barriers which obstruct them from undertaking the needed research. Nine of the same barriers were named by the demographers. Barriers associated with the academic profession itself include expertise or technical competence, data limitations, ideology, professional identification, intellectual priorities, and role strains. The remaining barriers are associated with the organization of the university or the larger society rather than the academic profession.     

The simultaneous examination of economic and social factors in destination selection: Employing objective and subjective measures

This research examines the role of social and economic factors in the past selection of destinations made by migrants living in Rhode Island. Results indicate that social ties play a more important role in the selection of destinations with low levels of opportunity than they do in the movement to high opportunity areas. An important aspect of the study was the simultaneous investigation of both objective and subjective measures of social and economic factors in the selection of low and high growth destinations. The analysis suggests that the simultaneous consideration of objective and subjective factors provides a more refined accounting of the potential influence of social and economic factors in the selection of destinations. The findings hold when age is introduced as a control.     

The delicate mosaic: A national examination of inter-group relations in Canada

The ethnic diversity which has long characterized Canada calls for a clear reading of Canadian intergroup attitudes. Yet surprisingly, such data has historically been conspicuous by its absence. The author attempts to contribute to the overcoming of this void by presenting extensive data on intergroup attitudes, obtained through a late 1975 national survey. With respect to French-English relations, only about one-half of the country endorses bilingualism, while Francophones and Anglophones differ dramatically in their perception of French power in Canadian affairs. Canadians are found to exhibit considerable anti-Indian and anti-Semitic sentiments, and further to be wary of other groupings such as Blacks, Orientals, and East Indians, especially where the possibility of intermarriage exists. The author concludes with a brief discussion of the meaning of these findings in the light of the two major government intergroup policies of bilingualism and multiculturalism.     

On the structure of urban population size and social and economic development]

The relationships among urban population size and structure and level of socioeconomic development are examined using a variety of published international sources. The need to control urban population dynamics in order to promote development is stressed.     

A critical examination of stage theories of lesbian identity development

A general stage theory of lesbian identity development was compiled on the basis of six theories of lesbian or gay identity development. The general theory and the six specific theories were then examined empirically, using repeated interviews with 14 women who were currently experiencing changes with respect to their sexual orientation. The data conformed to the general stage theory to a large degree, especially at early stages of development, but marked discrepancies were also found. Order and timing of events varied among these women, and for some lesbian identity did not represent a final stage of development. It was found that the process of lesbian identity development, or sexual orientation change in general, was very sensitive to the social/historical context.     

Labor market structure and fertility differences among Puerto Rican women: The effects of economic and social policies on opportunity costs

The oft-observed inverse relationship between economic activity in the formal or informal sector and levels of fertility is attributed to the opportunity costs of reproduction. The economic and social policies that initiate and maintain the substantial flow of federal transfer payments to the Puerto Rican population is likely to reduce the opportunity costs among women participating in the informal economy; therefore, informal labor market participants will have fertility levels more like women who have never worked than like women active in the formal labor market. Using data from the 1982 Puerto Rican Fertility and Family Planning Assessment, this paper compares fertility differentials among ever-married women who have never worked, who have ever worked in the informal economy, and who have only worked in the formal economy. Contrary to expectations, the fertility levels of informal labor market participants are more like those of formal labor market participants; economic activity in either sector is associated with bearing fewer children. Federal transfer payments do not appear to reduce the opportunity costs of reproduction among women employed in the informal economy. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1989 meeting of the Population Association of America.     

Analysis of social pathologies in a policy context: A paradigm for action

Prevention continues to gain importance among the strategies open for governmental development of social policy. This paper offers two exploratory conceptual discussions related to prevention in social policy. The first is a representation of the policy making environment with special reference to the informational requirements for the development of policy. The second is a discussion of social pathologies, broadly defined as patterns of behavior with important negative repercussions on individuals whom we refer to as victims, and of possible strategies toward the development of (at least partial) preventive measures. The two discussions are interrelated as the shape of the second is dictated by the desiderata outlined in the first. The paper is divided into five parts:

1. Introduction: the conundrum of prevention.
2. The Development of a paradigm of the policy context.
3. Dependent variables: social pathologies.
4. Independent variables: a focus on structural determinants.
5. Conclusion: information requirements for preventive action.

     

Fertility and economic and social development in Turkey: a cross-sectional and time series study

Abstract The paper explores the impact of modernization on the fertility levels in Turkey, which started deliberate efforts at economic, social, and political transformation in the early 1920s. It is a disaggregative study using 'province' as the unit of observation. A relatively consistent series of data on population and various economic and social variables was available with quinquennial censuses starting with the 1940 Census. The technique of reverse projection is used to estimate provincial crude birth rates. Since 1955 there has been a consistent decline in the fertility level. A chain-relationship model is estimated using both cross-sectional and panel data. A major finding of the study is that in Turkey, continuing modernization and the concomitant spread of female education will result in a continuing decline in the fertility rate. This negative influence, stable and substantial over time, is largely due to factors other than the usual association between education and opportunity cost of female employment, such as changing attitudes and tastes. Also with the spread of economic and social development influencing the society's norm for average age at marriage and the proportion of women married, the marital rate, though not so significant as education, imparts a direct depressing effect on the aggregate period fertility rate at any given time.     

The private and societal economic costs of teenage childbearing: The state of the research

The most significant individual costs of teenage childbearing are associated with truncated educations and lost human capital investment. Among the most significant direct public costs are the expenditures of just three government programs: AFDC, Food Stamps, and Medicaid. An important public cost of teenage childbearing overlooked by many researchers is the cost to U.S. productivity of large numbers of undereducated and impoverished mothers in the work force, and the intergenerational transfer of this impoverishment to their children. Any restrictions on abortion will likely increase unwanted teenage fertility, and its associated costs, particularly among the disadvantaged.     

The potential of social indicators: Minimum conditions for impact at the national level as suggested by a study of the use of ‘social indicators’ 73

Empirical evidence is presented which suggests that the use of social indicators among upper level government officials in the United States is minimal at present. Further, the level of use is not likely to be increased by improved measurement procedures, aesthetically improved packaging, or more widespread dissemination of such information among persons who influence policy decisions. The power of such information can be expected to be no greater than that of ‘mere’ statistics unless deliberate effort is made to institutionalize the importance of social indicators into government operations in conjunction with policy planning, goal setting, and commitment to the use of indicators as a system of national evaluation of progress toward the achievement of societal objectives. Several recommendations are made to develop the potential of social indicators and to increase their creative and useful application in matters of public policy at the national level.     

Natural resources and the environment: The challenge of economic and social development

In a global society committed to ever-expanding economic and social development, natural resource professionals must adopt an enlarged perspective of their professions—a truly global perspective. The objective, professional-as-scientist concerned only with a single discipline in a limited region, is no longer adequate to the task. It is no longer enough to limit the focus of our "professional" concern to traditional natural resource management issues. World population pressures, the growing dangers of global air pollution and nuclear war threaten the entire global environment we have sought to conserve. It is time to bring some passion to the service of reason. It is time to understand worldwide air pollution and issues of war and peace as environmental problems. It is time to recognize that population policy is natural resource policy writ large.This paper is adapted from an address of the same title to the Opening General Session of the 1987 National Convention of the Society of American Foresters, Minneapolis on October 19, 1987. Carl Reidel is the Daniel Clarke Sanders Professor of Environmental Studies; and Director of the Environmental Program, The University of Vermont. He is Director and past President of the American Forestry Association; Director of the National Wildlife Federation; former Director of the National Parks and Conservation Association, and has served on the faculties of Williams College, Yale and Harvard Universities, and the University of Minnesota. Send reprint requests to Dr. Reidel, 153 South Prospect Street, Burlington VT 05401 -13595.     

A policy analysis framework of cost and feasibility of social problem intervention

Social problems are seen as a permanent social force in society. The major factors relevant to planned intervention of social problem identification are analyzed. The process of goal identification within an integrated elimination-prevention-reduction framework is presented with the relevant factors determining priorities of interventions of the different goal alternatives. An application of the model (Juvenile delinquency in Israel) for evaluating social problem intervention is discussed.     

Family building: A social psychological study of fertility decisions

Decision theory, coupled with a hierarchically arranged questionnaire format, is discussed as a possible approach to the prediction of birth planning decisions. The empirical success of the scheme is examined in terms of interrelating attitudes, behavioral intention, desired family size, and birth planning behavior.This project was supported by Research Grant HD-07225-01A1 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Center for Population Research, by NICHD Center Grant HD-09397-01 to the Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology, University of Washington, and by the University of Washington Graduate School Research Projects Fund, from the Public Health Service Biomedical Research Support Grants, Grant #RR07096. The authors thank Dr. Barbara H. Beach for her help with the data analyses. Requests for reprints should be sent to Brenda D. Townes, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195.     

Age structure and economic policy: The case of saving and growth

The age structure of the population affects aggregate saving, which affects growth through investment. Growth in turn is influenced by other age structure effects and feeds back into aggregate saving by well known life cycle mechanisms. Some of these feedbacks are generally ignored in empirical work. Especially the age structure effect on macroeconomic variables is a commonly overlooked, yet easily accessible factor useful for prediction, policy evaluation and design. The connection between age structure, savings and growth in the OECD from 1950 to 1990 illustrates how policy analysis that ignores the macroeconomic effects and feedbacks from age structure changes is liable to lead to faulty and potentially costly conclusions about policy issues.     

Life satisfaction and the economic and social characteristics of neighbourhoods

This paper uses data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey to investigate the association between neighbourhood effects and life satisfaction. We find that neighbourhood measures of social support and interaction and the absence of socio-economic deprivation are positively and significantly correlated with individual life satisfaction. Neighbourhood fixed effects, however, explain only an additional 1.5 to 2.5% of the variance in life satisfaction over the 14% explained by individual characteristics.

Capital investment in neighborhoods: Theories which inform national urban policy in the United States

This article addresses two fundamental issues in the design and implementation of federal urban policies: (i) the shifting priorities of urban policy characterizing urban renewal, the Community Development Act, and recent neighborhood-oriented redevelopment efforts and (ii) the sociological theories which underlie such priorities. The first part of the article traces the shift in priority of national urban policy from an earlier focus on economic redevelopment and housing assistance for the economically disadvantaged to the more recent thrust toward neighborhood rehabilitation, revitalization, and stabilization. The central role of private sector economic involvement in the new urban strategies is discussed and the triage model of urban development is proposed to explain recent urban policy efforts. In the latter part of the article the sociological theories underlying many of the new urban policies are shown to contain inherent contradictions and inadequacies which were largely ignored by policy-makers. The authors conclude that the articulation between these theories of neighborhood dynamics and the present urban policy focus dooms recent programs, once again, to failure.     

The economic costs of marital disruption for Young Women over the past two decades

This paper examines the economic costs of separation and divorce for young women in the United States from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. Broadened opportunities for women outside marriage may have alleviated some of the severe economic costs of marital disruption for women. This paper contrasts the experiences of two cohorts of young women: those who married and separated or divorced in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s and those who experienced these events in the 1980s. Based on panel data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth 1979–1988, Young Women 1968–1978, and Young Men 1966–1978, the results show stability in the costs of disruption. A multivariate analysis shows that young women in the more recent cohort have more labor force experience before disruption than those in the earlier cohort, but prior work history does not protect women from the severe costs of marital disruption.