Labour force. Outlook to the year 2020 according to the current Central Statistical Office forecast

"The paper deals with the changes in the number and structure of population of working age in Poland and by voivodeships to the year 2020 as presented by the most current demographic forecast of the Central Statistical Office. The period 1995-2020 is going to be characterised, in its first stage, by a serious increase in the number of population of working age and then, after the year 2010, the size of this group will considerably contract.... The changes flagged will vary geographically."     

The interaction of demand and supply and its effect on the female labour force in the United States

Abstract In both 1900 and 1940 young women and unmarried women formed the most important component of the female labour force. By 1960, however, older women and married women had replaced them. An explanation for this shift is sought in divergent trends in the demand for female labour and in the supply of the kind of female workers typical of the 1900-40 period. Three series of estimates of the demand for female labour are compared to six series of estimates of the supply of different types of women. It was found that all three series of estimates of demand showed a rising demand for female workers in the 1900 to 1960 period. However, the number of young women (those aged 18-34) and of unmarried women, aged 18-64 was actually declining in the 1940 to 1960 period. As a consequence, the supply of such women was well below our estimates of demand in 1960. The maintenance and continued expansion of the female labour force in the 1940 to 1960 period rested, therefore, on the greater utilization of married women and women over the age of 35. As a consequence, the age and marital-status composition of the female labour force has undergone considerable changes in the 1940 to 1960 period.     

Forecast of labour force in Poland to the year 2020: methodology and results

"In 1995 the Labour Statistics Division of the Central Statistical Office (CSO) started methodological work on the preparation of a forecast of the labour force in Poland to the year 2020.... Variant ?intermediate' assumes a slow reconstruction of the economic activity of population from the level of the period 1978-88 (census 1978 and census 1988). The main part of this ?reconstruction' will take place in the years 1995-2010. The greatest anticipated changes concern youths (18-24 years), persons of immobility age (males 45-64 years and females 45-59 years) and the first groups of the retirement age. Variant ?maximum' assumes that the anticipated ?reconstruction' labour force participation rate will be faster (compared with variant ?intermediate')."     

The influence of labour force participation and education on fertility in Thailand

Abstract Increasingly, discussion of the appropriateness and effectiveness of methods to limit population growth have focussed both on measures which seek to provide new and efficient contraceptives to an ever larger target population and on those measures which go beyond family planning to emphasize the need for adoption of policies 'expressly related to family roles and opportunities for legitimate alternative satisfactions and activities'.(1) Proponents of the latter course of action argur that such policies offer greater promise of reduction in family size because they directly assault the motivational framework of reproduction. Among the means suggested for limiting reproductioe within marriage as well as postponing marriage is modification of the complementarity of the rolen of men and women.(2) Of particular interest in this regard is the nature of the relation betweens female labour force participation and education and fertility, and the implications these relations may have for future fertility reduction, particularly in the developing world.     

Child care demand and labor supply of young mothers over time

This paper uses panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) to analyze jointly fertility, employment, and child care decisions of young women over time. As these young women age (from 21 to 25 years on average) they become increasingly likely to have young children, to be employed, and to use non-relative forms of child care. A multivariate analysis reveals that rising wage rates and changes in household structure are important determinants of these upward trends. Further analysis reveals a considerable amount of movement each year among states defined by the presence of young children, employment, and child care arrangement. Overall the young women in the NLSY can be characterized as being in a volatile stage of their lives, when many economic and demographic factors are changing. They appear to respond to these changes by altering their labor supply and child care behavior.     

农村劳动力流动中限制性因素及其消极影响分析

市场经济要求各种生产要素自由流动,但在目前,由于我国多年来固有鄙视农民的观念和害怕农村劳动力流动产生的外部效应,导致政府、企业主对农村劳动力从户籍、工资、福利、工作岗位等多方面进行限制,以达到减少农村劳动力流动.事实上,农村劳动力的流动是必然趋势.限制措施已造成市场经济观念、运行规则在农村发展缓慢,农民的地域思想在加强,易激化城乡矛盾,影响社会的稳定.另外,限制措施严重影响了农村经济发展,导致内需乏力,成为制约我国整体经济健康发展的重要因素.     

我国劳动力供需增长的城乡构成

转型时期以来 ,我国劳动力供需增长重心都已明显地转移到城镇地区 ,但也不可忽视全国劳动力存量重心仍在农村。不论从存量还是从增量看 ,城乡都存在供过于求的矛盾 ,必须在加快城市化发展进程中努力扩增城市就业容量 ,充分发挥城市化对城乡就业压力的双向疏降作用。     

Tax reform,population ageing and the changing labour supply behaviour of married women

The burden of financing retirement incomes in an ageing population is predicted to rise sharply in future decades. This paper investigates the effects of reforms to the Australian tax-benefit system involving a greater reliance on proportional taxation for raising revenue and a more targeted welfare system for cutting government expenditure, in order to reduce expected budget deficits. Estimates of changes in net incomes and hours of work suggest that reforms of this kind shift the tax burden to lower and middle income households with a second earner and that they can have counter-productive labour supply effects. The study explores the impact of projected increases in female work force participation and illustrates the importance of shifts in the labour supply of married women in predicting the fiscal effects of demographic change.I wish to thank the discussants of this paper, Sijbren Cnossen and Hiromitsu Ishi, for their detailed and constructive comments which have been most helpful in revising the paper. Thanks are also due to John Buchanan, Glenn Jones, John McCallum and Elizabeth Savage for their comments and suggestions.This research has been supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council.     

Increasing contraceptive use in Bangladesh: The role of demand and supply factors

This article analyzes the determinants of contraceptive use in Bangladesh, focusing on the roles of demand for additional children and of family planning service supply. Data from the Matlab Family Planning Health Services Project are used to examine the contributions of these factors to the difference in prevalence of modern contraceptive use between the project area and a control area served by the government family planning and health programs. Results of multivariate analysis deriving from the Easterlin synthesis framework show the importance of family planning supply factors in reducing psychic and resource costs of fertility regulation and in activating latent demand for contraception. Demand for birth limiting and for birth spacing emerge as important explanatory factors; demand for birth spacing is greater in the project area, and both demand measures exert a stronger effect on contraceptive behavior in that area.     

Living conditions of young families in Poland (1991-1992)

"The article presents the results of a survey carried out by [Poland's] Institute of Social Economy in the last quarter of 1991. It included 1,716 women and their families.... The research gathered much information about the functioning of young Polish families at the end of 1991 and at the beginning of 1992; about their material situation as well as their living problems and needs."     

Women's expectations and experiences with labour pain in medical and midwifery models of birth in the United States

BackgroundThis research focuses on how women understand and experience labour as related to two competing views of childbirth pain. The biomedical view is that labour pain is abnormal and anaesthesia/analgesia use is encouraged to relieve the pain. The midwifery view is that pain is a normal part of labour that should be worked with instead of against.AimsTo determine differences in the preparation for and experiences with labour pain by women choosing midwives versus obstetricians.MethodsPrenatal and postpartum in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of 80 women in Florida (United States): 40 who had chosen an obstetrician and 40 who had chosen a licensed midwife as their birth practitioner.FindingsWomen in both groups were concerned with the pain of childbirth before and after their labour experiences. Women choosing midwives discussed preparing for pain through various non-pharmaceutical coping methods, while women choosing physicians discussed pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical pain relief.ConclusionsEqual numbers of women expressed concerns with childbirth pain during the prenatal interviews, while more women choosing doctors spoke about pain after their births. Women had negative experiences when their planned pain relief method, either natural or medical, did not occur. The quandary facing women when it comes to labour pain relief is not choosing what they desire, but rather preparing themselves for the possibility that they may have to accept alternatives to their original preferences.     

The labour supply of Indigenous Australian females: the effects of fertility and interactions with the justice system

Indigenous females are among the most disadvantaged groups in Australia; Furthermore outcomes for Indigenous Australians compare unfavourably with those for similar First Nations around the world. There appears to be a demographic transition under way in Indigenous Australia whereby declines in fertility and mortality are likely to lead to an increase in the number of Indigenous people supplying their labour in the near future. This paper examines the determinants of Indigenous female labour force participation with a particular focus on the role of fertility and interaction with the justice system. The analysis controls for the standard determinants of labour supply, but its main contribution is in taking into account the endogeneity of these potential interruptions to labour market participation. These findings are also important because Indigenous Australian females are 22 times more likely to be in prison than other Australian females and hence the analysis has crucial implications for the ability of policy makers to ‘close the gaps’ between Indigenous and other Australians. Once endogeneity of fertility with labour supply is taken into account, there is no significant independent effect on labour force participation and hence policy should focus on the other factors including education and training.     

The role of contraceptive supply and demand in Mexican fertility decline: evidence from a microdemographic study

This paper uses retrospective life history data to assess the impact of family planning services on contraceptive use in a rural Mexican township. Between 1960 and 1990 contraceptive use rose and fertility declined dramatically. Both contraceptive supply and demand factors were influential in these trends. The start of the government-sponsored family planning programme in the late 1970s was associated with a sharp rise in female sterilization and use of the IUD. However, once we controlled for the changing socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the sample, the presence of family planning services had no significant effect on the likelihood that women used modern reversible methods compared to traditional methods. Men and women expressed concerns about the safety of modern methods such as the pill and the IUD. Efforts to increase modern contraceptive use should place greater emphasis on communicating the safety of these methods and improving the quality of services.     

Australian midwives views and experiences of practice and politics related to water immersion for labour and birth: A web based survey

Background

There is little published research that has examined practitioners’ views and experiences of pain relieving measures commonly used during labour and birth, particularly for non-pharmacological measures such as water immersion. Furthermore, there is minimal published research examining the process of policy and guideline development, that is, the translation of published research to usable practice guidance.

Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (GLBT) experiences with Earth-spirited faith

Earth-spirited faiths (e.g., Pagan and Wiccan spiritualities) have been described as more affirmative toward gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) members than mainstream Judeo-Christian faiths, but no research has explored Earth-spirited faiths' GLBT-affirming behaviors. This study investigated those behaviors as well as the faith experiences of GLBT Earth-spirited individuals. At time of coming out, participants who were affiliated with mainstream Judeo-Christian faiths reported greater faith conflict than those affiliated with Earth-spirited faiths; however, there were no differences in resolution of the conflict between the two groups, internalized homonegativity, or self-acceptance. In addition, Earth-spirited faiths engaged in many GLBT-affirming behaviors.     

The quality of natural environment and mortality (based on the example of major cities in Poland)

"The paper presents the results of [a] study on the relationship between environmental degeneration and mortality in major cities of Poland [during the 1980s].... The authors examine 22 major cities differed according to the degree of pollution.... The analysis employs...life tables and methods of multiple regression.... The influence of the natural environment quality on mortality is diversified according to sex and age but in general, the interdependence is not strong."     

Dimensions of power: older women's experiences with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

Older women are particularly prone to being treated for depression, and, despite the controversy surrounding it, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has gained popularity as a treatment with this population. Research has examined the physical and cognitive changes associated with ECT but there is little understanding regarding how older women themselves experience this treatment. In order to gain better understanding into the subjective experience of receiving ECT, this qualitative study explored the experiences of six older women who were treated with ECT for a diagnosis of depression, using in-depth personal interviews. Analysis suggests that this experience for these older women could not be understood in isolation. Rather, their stories highlighted the importance of interpreting the ECT experience within a broader context that included the larger depression experience, the dynamics of helping relationships, and the discourse available to them for sense-making. Specifically, the central theme underpinning all of these women's stories was the shifting of power from themselves to others. This paper examines how this occurred and discusses implications for practice.     

Welfare analysis of a tax reform for Germany: a comparison of the unitary and collective models of household labour supply

We compare results of a tax reform analysis obtained with the collective and unitary models of household behaviour. We simulate real world micro-data by means of a collective approach, using a compound procedure of estimation and calibration based on the 1998 wave of the German socio-economic panel. We estimate a unitary model on this ‘collective’ data set. Investigating a move from joint to individual taxation on the basis of both models, we obtain important discrepancies between predicted adjustments to labour supply and distortions in the welfare analysis of the reform on the basis of unitary estimates.      

The experiences of Burmese healthcare interpreters (Iam) in maternity services in Thailand

Background

Interpreters (lam in Thai) have been employed in maternity services in Thailand due to increasing numbers of Burmese women migrating to Thailand. Access to healthcare interpreters is crucial for health professionals and Burmese migrant women using Thai maternity services but no studies have examined the role of the lam.