Structural Analyses Of The Quality Of Life Of Children At Risk

Quality of life (QOL) is usually assessed in terms of levels. This paper, in contrast, examines the structure of the quality of life of its subjects: two groups of children at risk, children who were kept at home and those who were removed from home. The social workers who made the decisions were asked to assess the children’s quality of life using Shye’s Systemic Quality of Life Model. The study’s main finding is that the QOL structure of the two groups of children differs both from the theoretical “ideal” (or “healthy” structure) and from each other. The QOL structure of the children who were kept at home was closer to the ideal than that of the children who were removed. The difference from the ideal in both groups is consistent with the fact that both groups of children at risk, whose QOL is compromised by definition. The greater proximity to the “ideal” of the QOL structure of the children who were kept at home suggests that the social workers who made the decisions viewed these children as having a healthier QOL than the children who were removed from home.     

Work and pay in flexible and regulated labor markets: A generalized perspective on institutional evolution and inequality trends in Europe and the U.S.

In recent years a “unified theory” has emerged out of labor economics, which argues that a combination of “macroeconomic shocks” and flexible labor market institutions in the U.S. has produced strong upward trends in wage inequality, while these same shocks have produced high unemployment and low employment growth in Europe as a side effect of the wage stability preserved by that continent's rigid labor market institutions. This paper takes issue with the common view that inequality trends are best explained by a model of stable institutions interacting with changing macroeconomic forces. It argues that European institutions in fact have changed, and that institutional changes which were triggered by the broader macroeconomic forces have affected the form as well as the size of inequality trends. While the U.S. has experienced rising strong skill-based wage inequality, institutional change in France has produced an upward trend in the density of insecure jobs and an increased concentration of low-skill workers in insecure jobs. These results challenge the view that low employment rates is the sole mechanism through which European labor markets have absorbed asymmetric shocks to their demand for labor.     

The Development of A County Level Index Of Well-Being

In an effort to assess the level of community need and inform responsive resource allocation, Larimer County, Colorado developed a county-level index of well-being. This paper describes the development of that index including the selection of indicators and the methodology for scoring and presenting those indicators. We also present how the local community used the information and describe problems we found while aggregating indicators. Next, we show the results of evaluating our index using Hagerty et al.’s (2001, Social Indicators Research 55, pp. 1–96) 14 criteria for determining validity and usefulness of quality of life indices. The Larimer County index performed above both the “satisfactory” rating and the mean of the 22 indices evaluated using Hagerty et al.’s. We conclude that the Larimer County index is based on a solid approach that will be helpful to local policy makers.     

Buying membership in the transnational community:migrant remittances,social status,and assimilation

I analyze the effects that social status and immigrant incorporation have on migrant remittances. Understanding remittances as one type of transnational practice, I conceptualize them as the fee that migrants pay to remain members of the transnational community. I define a “status hypothesis” in terms consistent with the view of transnational engagement as a response to status loss, predicting a negative association between increases in social status and remittances. Since immigrant incorporation usually entails status gain, this hypothesis is consistent with the conventional assimilation paradigm. While the status hypothesis could be linked to the new economics of labor migration as well, it collides with the view of transnationalism as an alternative path for successful immigrant incorporation. Using data on male Mexican migrants to the United States, I find enough support for the status hypothesis, indicating the need to clarify the ultimate meaning of transnational practices. In addition, my analysis shows that there is room to integrate economic theory, the assimilation paradigm, and the transnational perspective into a comprehensive understanding of transnational engagement.     

Segregated jobs or ethnic niches?: The impact of racialized employment on earnings inequality

Using data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality (MCSUI), this study examines the extent to which the racial or ethnic composition of jobs affects racial and ethnic-linked earnings inequalities among whites, blacks and Hispanics. Four types of jobs are distinguished according to the racial/ethnic composition of jobs in work establishments: predominantly white, multi-racial or mixed, predominantly black, and predominantly Hispanic. We found considerable differences among the four types of jobs. Jobs composed predominantly of white workers are characterized by the highest earnings, the highest status occupations, and the highest levels of education. In contrast, jobs predominantly composed of Hispanic workers are characterized by the lowest salaries, the lowest status occupations, and the lowest levels of education. The data analysis supports the hypothesis that job segregation is responsible for earnings disparities in the case of blacks versus whites, but only partial support for this hypothesis is found in the case of Hispanics versus whites. The analysis also provides support for the “devaluation hypothesis” which suggests that all workers experience pay penalties in jobs in which minority workers are predominant. Further analysis reveals that had most workers been rewarded like whites employed in predominantly white jobs, their earnings would have increased considerably. The only groups of workers who “benefit” from job segregation are Hispanic workers employed in predominately Hispanic jobs. In the absence of competition with others, Hispanics employed in predominantly Hispanic jobs earn more than they would earn in other jobs. The differential effects of the ethnic composition of jobs on economic outcomes of minority populations are evaluated and discussed in light of the roles played by sheltered and protected ethnic economies.     

A theoretical framework of collective action for the evaluation of family planning programs

Typically, a family planning program seeks to alter individuals' fertility behavior. The very necessity for the existence of a family planning program presumes that individuals' fertility expectations and behavior are not yet consistent with the objectives of the program. Therefore, some individuals may choose not to cooperate. In this article I establish a theoretical framework for the evaluation of family planning programs by synthesizing the literature on the theory of collective action. Because of the characteristics of collective action — indivisibility and externality — noncooperation (free riding) is bound to occur. Faced with the problem of free riding, a good family planning program should ideally apply selective incentives, localize the costs and benefits, and invest in social capital. The relations among these three factors, cooperation, and fertility are also spelled out.An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Washington, DC, 11–15 August 1990.     

Rurality Index for Small Areas in Spain

An operational definition for “rural area” is pivotal if proposals, policies and decisions aimed at optimising the distribution of resources, closing the gap on inequity between areas and raising standards of living for the least advantaged populations are to be put in place. The concept of rurality, however, is often based on alternative and conflicting definitions, requiring clarification of the underlying theoretical model. Traditionally a geographical area has been classified as rural by taking into account either the number of inhabitants or population density. Two kinds of problem are raised with this approach, however, namely: it is inherently difficult to describe such a complex concept as rurality with a single variable; and reducing the concept down to a rural/urban dichotomy by setting a non-universal cut-off point does not usually provide an accurate account of reality. Within the context of the rural–urban continuum, this paper has devised a rurality index for Spanish municipalities based on the 1991 Population, Housing and Household Survey. The index was built on a principal components factor analysis, giving rise to a single factor that is correlated to the aging of the population, economic dependency, farming, livestock or fishing-related employment, habitability of housing and population density. A score to each municipality was allocated. This index can be regularly updated thus enabling the progress of the concept of rurality to be monitored in our setting over time and then compared with other countries using the same methods.     

The ‘What’, ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Employee Well-Being: A New Model

This paper examines the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of employee well-being. Beginning with the ‘what’ of well-being, the construct of mental health was explored with the aim of building a model of employee well-being. It was proposed that employee well-being consists of three core components: (1) subjective well-being; (2) workplace well-being and (3) psychological well-being. Following this, the ‘why’ of employee well-being was investigated; that is, why employee well-being should be an important matter for organisations. It was argued that employee well-being is an important precursor to organisational well-being, as indicated by its links to employee turnover and performance. The next section was concerned with the ‘how’ of employee well-being; that is, how well-being can be reliably enhanced. Drawing on two models of strengths and a practice model of psychological assessment, it was asserted that strength-based development can reliably enhance employee well-being. A solid framework for understanding and measuring employee well-being is offered in the hope that it will foster a more integrated approach to assessing and optimising employee well-being.

Ties that bind: A case study of the link between employers, families, and health benefits

Most US residents receive health benefits from their employer. Groups of employees and their families are therefore the basis for health care financing. Health care costs rose dramatically during the 1980s and employers looked for ways to control them. One approach is to control the size of the group provided health benefits by an employer. This paper uses a demographic perspective to explore the determinants of change in an employer's group. It examines the linkages among employer policies, employee turnover, and family dynamics. How much control does an employer have over group size? We identify the relative contributions of employment and demographic processes to changing group size. We use a decomposition technique based on matching individual records between consecutive years. We apply this technique to a case study of the health benefits group consisting of General Motors salaried employees and their families. We find that employers face limits to the control that they can exert over the size of the health benefits group associated with their active workforce. Demographic processes unrelated to employee turnover or transfers to layoff or retirement accounted for a large portion of the population change in the case study.     

Ethnic inequalities at the transition from school to work in Belgium and Spain: Discrimination or self-exclusion?

In the labor market, net disadvantages of immigrants, so-called “ethnic penalties”, may stem from rather different sources, among them discrimination by employers or self-exclusion processes. This paper attempts to indirectly disentangle these two mechanisms by studying ethnic penalties from a time-related perspective. Using the EULFS 2000 ad hoc module on school-to-work transitions, a comparative event-history analysis of entry into stable higher status employment is conducted for two European countries, Belgium and Spain. These countries differ considerably in their immigration contexts and patterns of school-to-work transitions, requiring different hypotheses about the relevance of the self-exclusion mechanism. The results show that in Belgium ethnic penalties for non-EU immigrants exist and remain constant irrespective of the length of the job search. In Spain the gap between non-EU immigrants and the native-born is even more pronounced and, importantly, increases significantly over time. This leads to the conclusion that discrimination seems to be relevant in both contexts and that self-exclusion resulting from early abandonment of job search activities is a further important factor in Spain.     

The Income and Health Effects of Tribal Casino Gaming on American Indians

The legalization of American Indian casino gaming in the late 1980s allows examination of the relationship between income and health in a quasi-experimental way. Revenue from gaming accrues to individual tribes and has been used both to supplement tribe members’ income and to finance tribal infrastructure. We assembled annual data from 1988–2003 on tribal gaming, health care access (from the Area Resource File), and individual health and socioeconomic characteristics data (from the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance System). We use this information within a structural, difference-in-differences framework to study the effect of casino gaming on tribal members’ income, health status, access to health care, and health-related behaviors. Our difference-in-differences framework relies on before-after comparisons among American Indians whose tribe has at some time operated a casino and with-without comparisons between American Indians whose tribe has and those whose tribe has not initiated gaming. Our results provide identified estimates of the positive effect of gaming on American Indian income and on several indicators of American Indian health, health-related behaviors, and access to health care.     

The effects of job displacement on job quality: Findings from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

This study examines the extent to which job displacement divides the career experiences for a cohort of workers. Previous studies of job displacement find nontrivial economic losses for displaced workers, but the effects of displacement on “non-economic” properties of jobs have been largely overlooked. Results using the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study indicate that workers who were displaced have lower levels of occupational status, job authority, and employer-offered pension and health insurance than they would have had had they not been displaced. Difference-in-differences estimates, which control for temporally-invariant unobserved heterogeneity, are generally larger than cross-sectional estimates; still, there is a close correspondence of estimates across a range of methodological approaches attesting to the robustness of the estimates in the face of various technical assumptions and model specifications. Effects of displacement on job quality also exhibit conditioning by gender, education, occupation, and industry: while less educated, blue collar and manufacturing workers experience significant losses for employer-offered benefits, more educated, upper white collar and non-manufacturing workers experience significant losses for occupational status, job autonomy, and job authority.     

Optimising the continuity experiences of student midwives: an integrative review

BackgroundIn several countries, midwifery students undertake continuity of care experiences as part of their pre-registration education. This is thought to enable the development of a woman-centred approach, as well as providing students with the skills to work in continuity models. A comprehensive overview of factors that may promote optimal learning within continuity experiences is lacking.AimTo identify barriers and facilitators to optimal learning within continuity experiences, in order to provide a holistic overview of factors that may impact on, modify and determine learning within this educational model.MethodsAn integrative literature review was undertaken using a five-step framework which established the search strategy, screening and eligibility assessment, and data evaluation processes. Quality of included literature was critically appraised and extracted data were analysed thematically.FindingsThree key themes were identified. A central theme was relationships, which are instrumental in learning within continuity experiences. Conflict or coherence represents the different models of care in which the continuity experience is situated, which may conflict with or cohere to the intentions of this educational model. The final theme is setting the standards, which emerged from the lack of evidence and guidance to inform the implementation of student placements within continuity experiences.ConclusionThe learning from continuity experiences must be optimised to prepare students to be confident, competent and enthusiastic to work in continuity models, ultimately at the point of graduation. This will require an evidence-based approach to inform clear guidance around the intent, implementation, documentation and assessment of continuity experiences.     

“Making work pay” in a rationed labor market

This paper empirically analyzes the labor supply effects of two “making work pay” reforms in Germany. We provide evidence in favor of policies that distinguish between low effort and low productivity by targeting individuals with low wages rather than those with low earnings. We discuss our results more generally and with comparisons to the family-based tax credits in force in the US and the UK. For the evaluation of the policies, we apply a static structural labor supply framework and explicitly account for demand-side constraints by using a double-hurdle model.     

Gender trouble in the workplace: applying Judith Butler’s theory of performativity to news organizations

Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, introduced in her 1990 book Gender Trouble, has significantly shaped individual and collective understandings of gender. This essay examines performativity as a framework for critically assessing gender performances in patriarchal workplace environments, including the institutional rules and norms that shape behaviors and interactions. Specifically, we suggest that performativity offers a valuable lens for critiquing women’s experiences in newsrooms, spaces where expectations for gender can significantly shape professional experiences and success. We provide an overview and evaluation of the development and existing applications of Butler’s performativity theory, including its use in organizational contexts. We also propose methodological and topical approaches through which performativity can be used to study newsrooms and the experiences of female journalists in particular.     

Race Disparities in Pubertal Timing: Implications for Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among African American Women

Compared to white girls, sexual maturation is accelerated in African American girls as measured by indicators of pubertal development, including age at first menses. Increasing epidemiological evidence suggests that the timing of pubertal development may have strong implications for cardio-metabolic health in adolescence and adulthood. In fact, younger menarcheal age has been related prospectively to poorer cardiovascular risk factor profiles, a worsening of these profiles over time, and an increase in risk for cardiovascular events, including non-fatal incident cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular-specific and all-cause mortality. Yet, because this literature has been limited almost exclusively to white girls/women, whether this same association is present among African American girls/women has not been clarified. In the current narrative review, the well-established vulnerability of African American girls to experience earlier pubertal onset is discussed as are findings from literatures examining the health outcomes of earlier pubertal timing and its antecedents, including early life adversity exposures often experienced disproportionately in African American girls. Gaps in these literatures are highlighted especially with respect to the paucity of research among minority girls/women, and a conceptual framework is posited suggesting disparities in pubertal timing between African American and white girls may partially contribute to well-established disparities in adulthood risk for cardio-metabolic disease between African American and white women. Future research in these areas may point to novel areas for intervention in preventing or lessening the heightened cardio-metabolic risk among African American women, an important public health objective.     

Completing the Picture: The Challenges of Bringing “Consumption” into the Population–Environment Equation

The issue of environmentally significant consumption is closely linked to population–environment relationships, but with some exceptions the two literatures have proceeded along separate tracks. We explore three consumption–environment research agendas: household–level consumption; ecological footprints and material flow accounting; and values, attitudes, behaviors and lifestyles. In each of these we note areas of overlap with the population–environment literature, and ways in which the population–environment literature might benefit or borrow from conceptual or methodological approaches in the consumption–environment literature. We also propose ways in which consumption research might be integrated into the largest (in terms of funding) of the population–environment research agendas, land-use and land-cover change research. In the concluding section we present a conceptual framework for understanding the population–environment literature that incorporates production and consumption into the model, and we propose some population–consumption–environment (PCE) research areas to which the population-environment research community could make significant contributions.     

Quality of Life in Macau,China

We report the initial findings of an ongoing, long-term investigation into subjective quality of life in Macau, a Special Administrative Region of China. Data were collected via quarterly public surveys (2007 to 2009; n = 8,230), as part of the Macau Quality of Life Report. The main aims of the study were to: (a) ascertain the public’s satisfaction with life and with the regional situation in Macau; (b) confirm the utility of the International Wellbeing Index (IWI) as a measure of subjective life quality; and (c) contribute to ongoing discussion in the literature on quality of life in China. The data indicated moderate levels of personal (PWI = 64.4; range 63–66.7) and national (NWI = 59.7; 57.4–63.7) wellbeing across the study period, which implies that residents in Macau are generally satisfied with life. The lowest scores were reported in the first quarter of 2009, a period of great economic uncertainty in Macau and the world, but were positioned within the normative range. The IWI demonstrated good psychometric performance, consistent with previous studies in China and the West, which confirmed its utility. These findings are discussed in relation to the IWI’s theoretical underpinnings and the literature.     

On Nonstable and Stable Population Momentum

This article decomposes total population momentum into two constituent and multiplicative parts: “nonstable” momentum and “stable” momentum. Nonstable momentum depends on deviations between a population’s current age distribution and its implied stable age distribution. Stable momentum is a function of deviations between a population’s implied stable and stationary age distributions. In general, the factorization of total momentum into the product of nonstable and stable momentum is a very good approximation. The factorization is exact, however, when the current age distribution is stable or when observed fertility is already at replacement. We provide numerical illustrations by calculating nonstable, stable, and total momentum for 176 countries, the world, and its major regions. In short, the article brings together disparate strands of the population momentum literature and shows how the various kinds of momentum fit together into a single unifying framework.     

Valuing Time: A Conference Overview

The article provides an overview of the development of the field of time use studies. It provides an intellectual history charting the various interests that have shaped the growing applications of this broad social indicator. Recent applications, reflected in this special issue, are (a) interpreting the meaning of leisure, time; (b) the social and environmental consequences of affluence; and (c) non-market work, parenting and balance between work and family. New approaches to trends in average leisure time have attempted to interpret the impact of social and technological change on the meaning of leisure. These approaches suggest that the ‘economic emergence of women’ rather than the ‘IT revolution’ has been the more influential trend and that being ‘busy’ may have replaced conspicuous idleness as the signifier of social status. These new forms of social organization in advanced societies have also attracted a great deal of research on children’s use of time, parenting and work-family balance. An important new application for time-use information has been in the study of ‘diseases of affluence’, the health consequences of increasing sedentary activities, and over-eating, the environmental consequences of consumerism, all of which leads to the need to reassess the economic significance of activities that occur beyond the market. A special feature of this article is an extensive review of approaches to valuation (in dollars and cents) of the outputs of unpaid (non-market) work. The article provides a framework for what activities it makes sense to value and the current ideas about ‘best practice’ methods of valuation.