Pathway to Financial Success: Autonomy Through Financial Education in India

ABSTRACT

This study evaluates attitudinal outcome of financial education workshops on the financial autonomy of the participants (homemakers) in the state of Gujarat, India. A series of financial education workshops were conducted with 300 female homemakers. A pretest and follow-up (after 3 months) survey design was used to assess changes. The survey identified 3 types of autonomy outcomes (reflexive, emotional, and functional) using 15 variables. Data were analyzed using a paired t test, and significant results were obtained between the pretest and follow-up surveys. Specific findings may help financial education providers to design and implement such programs more effectively and may provide guidelines to assess their effect. Directions for future research are suggested.     

A Predictive Model for Financial Literacy among the Educated Youth in Kerala,India

ABSTRACT

The economic importance of financial literacy among individuals necessitates policy intervention. Estimation of financial literacy is a prerequisite for strategies to improve financial literacy. This paper, using data collected from the educated young adults in Kerala, the most literate state in India, builds a predictive model for financial literacy employing logistic regression. The study reveals the low level of financial literacy in the state. The model points to the significance of gender, age, religion, discipline of study, occupation, and personal income as determinants of financial literacy. The findings have implications for policies aimed at improving the financial literacy of young adults in India.     

Financial Literacy and Superannuation Awareness of Indigenous Australians: Pilot Study Results

Financial literacy in the general Australian population and how to improve it is now firmly on the national agenda, partly as a result of compulsory superannuation. This paper reports the results of a pilot study which explored the financial literacy levels and superannuation knowledge of Indigenous Australians living in an urban environment. Previous studies have indicated that social disadvantage has a strong correlation with poor financial literacy but previous surveys of financial literacy in Australia have not reported specifically on the Indigenous population. Findings suggest that in some areas financial literacy is significantly weaker than that in the general population. Several of the areas of comparative weakness relate to an over belief in the role of government and the extent to which financial matters are regulated. There is also a high level of desire for financial education and information but a lower level of usage of potential sources of financial information. The findings suggest that a closing of the financial literacy gap is required.     

Estimating the impact of the Global Financial Crisis on poverty and deprivation

Although the Australian economy has avoided going into recession since the onset of the global financial crisis, relatively little is known about the social impact of the crisis. Survey and anecdotal evidence presented by a number of community sector NGOs suggest that the demand for emergency relief and other services rose in the aftermath of the crisis. This article reports results derived from two national surveys on poverty and social disadvantage that were conducted in 2006 and 2010 – prior to and after the crisis struck. The survey data allow income‐based poverty rates to be estimated as well as the extent and nature of deprivation, where deprivation is defined as being unable to afford items that a majority regards as essential: things that no‐one in Australia should have to go without. Poverty and deprivation are not alternative indicators but can be combined into a multi‐dimensional measure of consistent poverty. The paper examines how conventional (income) poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty changed between 2006 and 2010, and analyses the sensitivity of the results to alternative definitions. The findings provide the first comprehensive evidence on how the profile of social disadvantage in Australia changed in the period that spans the financial crisis.     

Understanding the Financial Knowledge Gap: A New Dimension of Inequality in Later Life

ABSTRACT

To understand individuals’ financial behaviors, it is important to understand the financial knowledge gap – the distance between one’s objective and subjective financial knowledge. Overestimating one’s financial knowledge can lead to risky financial behaviors. To date, limited empirical work has examined how financial knowledge gap varies across age groups. We analyze the size and nature of the financial knowledge gap and its variation across age groups. Using nationally representative data, we find robust evidence that older adults overestimate their financial knowledge. Social workers can assess the financial knowledge gap and educate their clients to protect from financial fraud, exploitation, and abuse.     

Perceptions of Students about Younger and Older Men and Women who May Be Homeless

ABSTRACT

Future human service providers will interact with homeless persons in health, mental health, and social service practice contexts. This study investigated the perceptions of students enrolled in social work courses who are pursuing degrees in human service programs toward older and younger female and male homeless individuals. Respondents (N = 207) were given one of four vignettes in which a character was identified as an older male, a younger male, an older female, or a younger female who was frequently seen near an interstate highway, talking to him/herself and appearing unkempt, thin, and frail. Most respondents perceived the vignette character as mentally ill, neglectful of health, likely to have HIV, tuberculosis, hepatitis A and/or hepatitis B and/or hepatitis C, likely to experience suicidal thoughts/ideation, and to have head lice/scabies/body lice. Older men were more likely to be perceived as military veterans with a history of mental illness and substance abuse. Older women were least likely to be perceived as having a history of substance abuse or using a handout to purchase ethanol. Older women were perceived to be homeless because they could not afford other living accommodations. A general linear model revealed significant differences in 7 of 41 items that respondents answered based on the gender and age of the vignette characters. These perceptual differences between male and female homeless persons will require additional investigation.     

On the Edge: the Financial Situation of Older Renters in the Private Rental Market in Sydney

In this study, based mainly on 17 in‐depth interviews, I explore the financial implications of being an older private renter in Sydney. I illustrate that there are three key factors which determine their degree of financial stress – the actual rent being paid; the degree of support from family members and whether the older renter is living in a single or couple household. It is shown that several of the older renters interviewed found it hard to maintain their physical and mental health. The purchasing of basic items such as nutritious food and clothes was difficult. Having to devote such a substantial part of their income to cover the rent and never knowing when there would be another rent increase had a serious impact on the psychological health of some interviewees. The lack of finances encouraged isolation as interviewees found it financially difficult to participate in social activities.     

市场化与中国民众社会公平感的变迁:2005—2015

本文基于CGSS 2005和CGSS 2015研究中国民众社会公平感的变迁趋势，并从市场化的角度分析社会变迁与公平感变迁之间的关系。研究发现，2005—2015年，民众的结果公平感有所提升，但机会公平感有所下降。模型分析结果支持“参照群体论”，但与“社会结构论”并不完全一致。在控制所有变量的影响以后，地区的市场化程度能够显著提升个体的结果公平感，并削弱机会公平感。Oaxaca-Blinder分解结果进一步显示，2005—2015年，中国社会市场化程度的提高是导致民众结果公平感上升和机会公平感下降的主要影响因素。随着市场化改革的不断深入，机会公平问题应当在日后的公平感研究中得到更多关注。     

Informal Caregivers of Cancer Patients: Perceptions About Preparedness and Support During Hospice Care

This study examined the perceptions of preparedness and support of informal caregivers of hospice oncology patients. Respondents included coresiding, proximate, and long-distance caregivers. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data from 2 caregiver surveys, one administered prior to the care recipient's death and another completed 3 months postdeath. Respondents (N = 69) interpreted preparedness broadly and identified multiple sources of support including hospice personnel, family, friends, neighbors, and spiritual beliefs. Additionally, informational support, such as education, information, and enhanced communication were considered essential for preparing and supporting caregivers. Implications for social work research and practice are provided.     

Shared Spaces: An Intersubjective Case Study of a Graduate Student by a Graduate Student

The intersubjective therapeutic experience creates a shared space within which client and therapist are affected and changed, as seen in a psychotherapy case involving graduate students and a graduate student clinician. Analysis of a clinical case composite from an intersubjective perspective is the primary tool used to examine client–therapist concurrent graduate work. A composite is used to protect confidentiality. Several themes are explored: anxiety, perfectionism, and socioculturally situated life stage. As a search of the literature revealed no previous work on the intersubjective experience of psychotherapy when client and therapist are engaged in concurrent graduate work, further exploration is encouraged.     

End-of-Year Treatment Termination: Responses of Social Work Student Trainees

This qualitative study of the feelings and concerns of socialwork student trainees regarding their end-of-year treatmenttermination paint a picture of great personal distress. As thestudents see it, the premature termination prevented them fromreaching their treatment goals, did not suit the needs of theclients, and raised serious ethical questions. Their feelingsincluded sadness and regret, frustration, and uncertainty abouttheir professional capacities. They expressed concern that clientswould not manage on their own, anxiety that the premature separationmight harm the clients, and, above all, a great deal of guilt.Recommendations are offered for alleviating students’distress and helping them to better cope with it.     

Poverty,Partner Abuse,and Women's Mental Health: New Knowledge for Better Practice

ABSTRACT.

To better understand how poverty and poor mental health impact women who are abused by intimate partners, a convenience sample of 300 abused women using shelters or justice services for the 1st time were interviewed. The 300 women were categorized as having no income, being above poverty, and being below poverty according to U.S. Poverty Guidelines. Results indicated that no direct effect of income on poor mental health was noted; however, an interaction between type and severity of abuse and income level had an impact on poor mental health. Abused women who were above poverty with the highest incomes reported the highest levels of depression in the presence of high physical and sexual abuse. In contrast, women reporting no income reported no significant effect of severity or type of abuse on depression scores. Women just above the poverty level who experienced severe abuse were at highest risk for mental health problems. Poverty impacts the mental health of abused women according to the degree of poverty and type and severity of abuse. More research is needed to specify programs to maximize the mental health functioning and economic solvency of abused women.     

Cost Perceptions and Voter Demand for Environmental Risk Regulation: The Double Effect of Hidden Costs

This paper reports the first detailed empirical examination of the effects of voter cost perceptions on demand for environmental risk regulations. Using a statewide random sample of Washington's electorate, I examine voting behavior for a proposed regulation of gasoline stations under varying cost and distributional assumptions. Results suggest normative concerns are as important in explaining support as are expected risk reduction benefits. These norms include making polluters pay, imposing larger burdens on polluters with higher ability to pay, and enforcing public property rights. In contrast, potential price increases as a result of regulation have negligible effects on voter support.     

超越嵌入性范式：金融社会学的起源、发展和新议题

金融处于当代社会生活的核心，可视为一种社会现象。自M.韦伯开始，古典社会学已论证了社会学研究经济和金融领域的正当性。随着美国新经济社会学的兴起，社会学学者在新经济社会学框架下，以“嵌入性”为理论起点，从社会结构和社会建构两个理论维度研究了金融现象。欧洲学者则挑战了美国新经济社会学的嵌入性范式，为我们提供了研究金融现象的新视角。在新技术和全球化背景下，社会学能从更多角度对金融领域展开研究。     

1945-1947年中国城市学生运动区位研究

1945-1947年,国民党统治区爆发了三次大规模的学生运动,分别形成以昆明、北平、南京为中心城市的三个学生斗争的集中区域。三大区域的形成,既体现了近代中国社会发展不平衡的一般规律,也表现出不同区域的各自特点,显示了不同的政治力量在不同时期、不同地区产生的不同影响。考察影响战后中国城市学生运动的区位因素及内在联系,将三次学生运动高潮和三大斗争区域做历史的比较,对于认识中国共产党在不同时期和环境下,如何制定科学的方针和实施有效的斗争策略,具有积极的意义。     

Financial access and economic participation of youth with disabilities in China: an exploratory study

Financial access is an important indicator of economic participation and is particularly relevant to asset building among vulnerable individuals in transitional stages of their lives. Drawing on data from a survey of disabled youth (ages 16–25) in Beijing, this study examines determinants of the target group's financial access. It focuses on a range of individual, household and institutional factors that affect breadth and depth of financial access. Quantitative results complemented by field interviews demonstrate a gap between financial access breadth, measured by account holding, and access depth, measured by regular banking activity. Although individual characteristics, especially disability types and severity, have significant effects on the chances that a youth holds an account, household and financial institution factors show stronger effects on regular banking activity than do individual variables. Finally, this article discusses the implications of the study for economic participation and financial capability among youth with disabilities in China.     

Seeing Eye to Eye: Predicting Teacher–Student Agreement on Classroom Social Networks

This study examines the association between classroom characteristics and teacher–student agreement in perceptions of students' classroom peer networks. Social network, peer nomination, and observational data were collected from a sample of second through fourth grade teachers (N = 33) and students (N = 669) in 33 classrooms across five high‐poverty urban schools. Results demonstrate that variation in teacher–student agreement on the structure of students' peer networks can be explained, in part, by developmental factors and classroom characteristics. Developmental increases in network density partially mediated the positive relationship between grade level and teacher–student agreement. Larger class sizes and higher levels of normative aggressive behavior resulted in lower levels of teacher–student agreement. Teachers' levels of classroom organization had mixed influences, with behavior management negatively predicting agreement, and productivity positively predicting agreement. These results underscore the importance of the classroom context in shaping teacher and student perceptions of peer networks.     

电子商务对企业财务管理的挑战和对策

电子商务对传统企业财务管理的模式和方法提出新的要求 ,它能够降低财务管理的成本 ,使企业财务管理突破时空界限 ,信息全面集成 ,实现财务信息的动态实时处理。为此 ,企业必须迅速解决技术人才问题 ,加强法律、法规的研究与制定 ,大力推动企业信息化 ,引导企业实施网络财务战略。     

The Poverty Situation in Indonesia: Challenges and Progress of the Marginalized Group

This paper focuses on Indonesian poverty alleviation programs. It examines the national poverty reduction programs of cash‐based support projects for the poorest of the poor and highly marginalized groups. Indonesia was the country hardest hit by the East Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. In 2005, Indonesia began unconditional cash transfers (UCT) for the first time – giving cash money to the poorest, poor and near‐poor targeted households. As a result, the income of the poorest households receiving UCT increased by 1.3 times compared to that of non‐recipients. The UCT can be seen as a new benchmark for Indonesia as a mechanism of a “shockbreaker” for the poor affected by the crisis. In 2007, the government of Indonesia began a trial of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program known as the Hopeful Family Program (Program Keluarga Harapan or PKH). The CCT program was provided to poor families with an allowance conditional on their attention to their children’s education and health. With this program, women in the community gained access to new resources, in the form of the additional cash. CCT is planned to be the basis of the development of a future social security system.