社会资本:破解“空心化”农村养老困境的现实选择——以H村为例

农村"空心化"已成为中国社会经济发展过程中中西部地区的一种普遍现象,年轻人的流失突显了农村的养老问题。在年轻人回乡事亲孝亲和农村社会化养老服务在短时间内都难以做到的情况下,加强农村社区社会资本建设,以协助老年人解决日常生活中的困难,成为破解"空心化"农村养老困境的现实选择和可行之路。     

Urbanization in China and the Coordinated Development Model—The case of Chengdu

China's urbanization faces two greatest difficulties of creating non-farm jobs to “landless farmers” and providing required amenities and social services to urbanites-to-be. In the earlier phase of development, TVE employment had provided important relief to the job pressure. Later, the “Small-city Strategy” that emphasized forming towns and small cities around where rural population resided successfully deterred rural population's entry into large cities. Today, China is implementing a Coordinated Development between the urban and rural sectors, aiming to reach a balanced development between the two sectors by making not only large cities more welcoming to rural migrants but also the small cities, towns, and areas where rural population now reside harder to leave. At the core of the coordination are three concentrations of rural residents, farmland, and firms, intended to help rural residents to settle in large cities, small cities and towns, as well as new residential areas in the countryside, to de-segment land to realize economies of scale, and to gather firms of a same industry in organized industrial areas to gain agglomeration economies and create non-farm jobs. This article examines the trajectory of China's urbanization, analyzes the working mechanism of the Coordinated Development model, and investigates Chengdu's practice of the Coordinated Development, which will help to provide insights into the new developments in China's urbanization.     

The quest for sustainable employment: Challenges faced by young people during the job‐search process

Young people who are unable to find and sustain employment are at risk for long‐term social and economic exclusion. Active labour market policies (ALMPs) addressing the problem of youth unemployment have focused on building the employability skills of young job seekers to expand their employment opportunities. Yet research exploring how young people navigate the job‐search process is limited. Drawing on interviews with young Australian job seekers and their employment consultants, this article addresses the questions of how young people navigate entry into employment through the job‐search process and what challenges they face. The study revealed three common frustrations experienced by the young people during their job‐search: employers' expectations of relevant work experience in the young person's preferred occupation, being required to apply for jobs not aligned with their career aspirations, and the impact of personal factors on their ability to confidently present themselves to prospective employers. The findings highlight the need for ALMPs and employers to facilitate positive employability support mechanisms that will build a stable platform from which young people can build a trajectory towards sustainable employment to reduce long‐term youth unemployment.     

YOUNG REFUGEES TALK ABOUT WELL‐BEING: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF REFUGEE YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH FROM THREE STATES

Young people from refugee backgrounds face enormous challenges in the settlement process within Australia. They must locate themselves within a new social, cultural, geographic and adult space, yet also try to find security within the spaces of their own families and ethnic communities. Traumas of the past can mix with painful experiences of the present. The stressors in the lives of these young people can be both complex and diverse. This paper explores the nature of these stressors among young people from refugee backgrounds living in Australia. It is based on in‐depth interviews with 76 young people from refugee backgrounds now living in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. A qualitative analysis of the impact of these stressors as well as the coping strategies employed are discussed. It is argued that trauma exists within a life continuum and that approaches to supporting young people in these circumstances should be wary of limiting their focus to biomedical categories such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or Acculturation Stress and instead focus on a wider social context.     

中国农村人力资本流动对新农村建设的影响

农村劳动力流动过程中,较高素质的青壮年劳动力优先流出,而低素质的农村劳动力和贫困人口则留在农村和农业中,这就形成了农村劳动力数量丰富而人力资本缺乏的现象,农村人力资本的单向流失和净流失状态不利于社会主义新农村建设。在农村劳动力转移背景下,我们除了要研究剩余劳动力的转移问题外,也不能忽略怎样提高农村的人力资本整体水平。各级财政改变过去资源配置向城市倾斜的做法,加大对农民教育、农民培训和农村公共卫生等方面的投资,培育懂科学懂技术的新农民,积极发展县域经济,加快城镇化发展步伐等方法是提高农村人力资本含量,防止优秀人才过度外流的有效措施。     

人口老龄化趋势下我国农村“空巢老人”养老困境及化解

随着现代化进程的推进,越来越多的农村青壮年进城务工,从而造成大量的"空巢"老人。农村"空巢老人"具有少子老龄化、身体多病且精神空虚化、收入水平低且劳动强度大等特点。与城市"空巢"老人相比,农村"空巢"老人面临着更为严峻的养老困境。为此,加强孝德文化教育,营造关爱"空巢"老人的良好氛围;扩大招商引资规模并加大农民自主创业的政策扶持力度,实现劳动力就地转移就业,为家庭养老创造人力条件;鼓励"空巢"老人将土地使用权返还村集体,由村集体对土地进行适度规模经营,将土地收益进行分红;建立健全农村社区养老新模式;加大社会养老机构建设力度等,是应对这一困境的主要策略。     

Impacts of off‐farm employment on welfare,food security and poverty: Evidence from rural Vietnam

How off‐farm employment can enhance welfare in terms of food consumption and poverty alleviation is a critical question facing many developing countries. This study addressed that question by pursuing two objectives: (i) to quantify the impact of off‐farm employment on rural households’ welfare, food security and poverty; and (ii) to examine the factors that affect their decision to work off‐farm. Using panel data, we estimated a difference‐in‐difference combined with a propensity score matching model. The findings show that off‐farm employment improves income, ensures food security and contributes to poverty alleviation. The results also show that age, marital status, education, labour, financial capital, land, location, market access and losses from natural disasters are significant contributing factors to the decision to participate in off‐farm employment. The findings suggest that to improve the welfare of rural households, the Vietnamese government should proceed with policies that enhance their opportunities for participation in off‐farm employment.     

Expediting youth's entry into employment whilst overlooking precariousness: Flexi‐employability and disciplinary activation in Hong Kong

With an emphasis placed on supply‐side interventions such as skills training and incentives enhancement, active labor market polices (ALMPs) are strongly promoted by international organizations and widely adopted across different welfare regimes to boost employment rates. This article first presents the under‐examined relationship between ALMPs and employment precariousness, which has posed a challenge to the neoliberal notion of employability and activation. Youth‐focused employment policies tend to speed up employment entry whilst downplaying the risk of precariousness and the importance of job quality, and thus further reinforcing the belief that engaging in precarious employment is tolerable if not inevitable. The article then examines the case of Hong Kong, which illustrates that its relatively low rate of youth unemployment may conceal the unfavorable employment conditions confronted by youth. It is argued that the service‐led employment policies and short‐term vocational training define the employability of young workers in terms of labor flexibilities. The coined phase of “flexi‐employability” is characterized by promoting youth's readiness for, and adaptability to, the volatilities and changing demands of the labor market. Arguably, the disciplinary approach to youth activation would only strengthen the work‐first principle by enforcing young people to take up jobs available and leave welfare as soon as possible, but without thoroughly addressing the risks and insecurities generated by the labor market in undermining their well‐being.     

社会化视角下农村青少年辍学打工问题研究——以豫中X村个案为例

随着农村经济的发展和国家对农村义务教育的大力投入,贫困已经不再是农村青少年辍学的主要因素,但农村青少年辍学打工现象却越来越严重。青少年时期是个体社会化的重要阶段,农村各种社会化机构的变迁对农村青少年社会化的影响促发了其辍学打工的行为选择。     

Beyond the Local: Extending the Social Capital Discourse

Social capital and community capacity have become key concepts in social policy responses to marginalised individuals and communities. Policy making has occurred in the context of heated debate about the roles government and business institutions in strengthening community capacities. In this paper, we will explore theoretical positions about the role that these institutions play in building local social capital. We argue that the dominant conceptions of social capital in Australia fail to recognise the potential for non‐local institutions to strengthening local community capacity. Drawing on a study of four geographically diverse communities we show that a substantial proportion of community members were disconnected from non‐local government and business institutions. We conclude with some initial suggestions for extending the social capital discourse to recognise and build the role of non‐local institutions in strengthening local communities.     

Whose agenda? Issues of power and relationship when listening to looked‐after young people

Listening to children and young people is for social workers a legal requirement, it is also believed to lead to better outcomes and is increasingly promoted in policy. The practice of listening is, however, rarely straightforward, and this is particularly the case with socially excluded groups. As a result, the voices of the marginalized are less likely to be heard. In this paper the author draws on interview data from a research study into communication between social workers and looked‐after children for the light it sheds on why effective dialogue with disaffected young people can be hard to achieve. It is argued that much that appears unsuccessful in an interaction can be understood in terms of power plays, with young people resisting the adult's agenda and trying to impose their own. True listening to disaffected young people requires time, so that a trusting relationship can be developed. It also demands an acceptance that the adult agenda may be flawed and a willingness to consider alternative possibilities. This can challenge the preconceptions, not just of individual workers, but of agencies and of national policy‐makers.     

Recent public policy and Australian older workers

This article considers the characteristics and utility of pro‐work policies targeting Australian older workers that have emerged in the context of population ageing, amid concerns that this will lead to labour shortages and an increasing social welfare burden. There has been a recent surge in public policy regarding the ageing workforce, the efficacy of which has not been tested by evaluation studies. After considering the conceptual foundations and objectives of various government initiatives, it is argued that the present public policy approach may have serious flaws that are not only detrimental to the stated overall objective of prolonging working lives, but may, in fact, be harmful to older workers and fail to address the needs of business. This stems from programs reaching only a small proportion of those older people who would potentially benefit from assistance, and from misdirected effort aimed at encouraging behavioural change on the part of employers or industries. It is argued that there is a need for greater targeting of policy efforts on the actual needs of industry and for public policy itself to become more age‐aware.     

Creating High‐Technology Growth: High‐Tech Employment Growth in U.S. Metropolitan Areas, 1988–1998*

Objective. Growth in the share of high‐technology employment is critical to discussions of the postindustrial transition. Do new state and local technology policies create growth in the share of high‐technology employment? This article examines this question along with the effects of location and agglomeration advantages, identifying sources of qualitative growth in the U.S. economy. Methods. We examine change in the share of high‐technology employment in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States between 1988 and 1998. High‐technology employment is measured from the BLS Current Employment Statistics Survey. The scale of state and local technology policies are measured from a comprehensive survey of state and local technology programs. A generalized linear model (GLM) estimates the effects of technology policies along with regional proximity, location, and agglomeration factors. Results. Technology grant and loan programs and research parks have direct effects on the share of high‐technology employment, along with private venture capital firms and military R&D. Research parks also magnify the effects of private venture capital firms, while public venture programs and technology development policies compensate for agglomeration deficits. Rapid population growth provides a more conducive context for these policies but does not directly influence growth in the share of high‐technology jobs. Conclusion. State and local technology policies compensate for and magnify the effects of agglomeration advantages, indicating that state and local government can play a strategic role in high‐technology development.     

Who is Jobless? A Comparison of Joblessness in Rural and Urban Areas in China

Since market‐oriented economic reform was launched in China in the 1980s, unemployment has been recognized by the government. This paper focuses on the differences in joblessness in rural and urban areas between rural migrant workers, peasants, and urban citizens. The results indicate that people in rural areas frequently lose their jobs, which differs from the traditional perception. There is a significantly lower jobless rate in urban areas. In contrast to the results of previous studies, the employment situation of rural migrant workers is closer to urban citizens rather than peasants. Logistic regression results show that the elderly, women, and less educated citizens have a higher likelihood of joblessness, both in urban and rural areas. Minorities have a lower likelihood of joblessness in rural areas and a higher likelihood in urban areas. Chinese Communist Party members and people without dependent children have a lower likelihood of joblessness in urban areas.     

Community care for adults with severe mental disorders in rural China: A case study

In China, family care is the dominant form of care for people with mental disorders. Since 2004, the government has been developing a community‐care model that places more responsibility on community organisations and the local governments at the provincial, municipal and county levels for the provision of formal care. As a large number of people with severe mental disorders live in rural China, this case study was conducted in a rural county in order to examine the development of community care. It was found that, although family care remains dominant, families’ need for formal care is increasing. Community services have improved, but their development is constrained by several contextual and micro factors. In this study, it is argued that the community‐care model introduces a process of reconfiguration of the relative responsibility for care among the family, social organisations and the government, but progress depends on further administrative and fiscal reforms.     

The social networks of young people in Ireland with experience of long‐term foster care: some lessons for policy and practice

This paper presents findings from the first study of the social networks of a group of young people in Ireland who have experienced long‐term foster care. The study group was composed of two groups of young people, a group who were currently in care and a group who had left the care system. The central focus was to examine the impact of foster care on the social network experience of the young people. Findings indicated that foster care impacts on the young people's social network experience in the following ways: losing contact with extended family; a greater challenge in making and sustaining friendships; an impact on education; and an inability to maintain contact with groups and activities that are of significance. This paper also presents recommendations in relation to policy and practice, including the raising of awareness of the importance of a social network approach in working with young people with care experience.     

Social capital and community building through an electronic network

This paper describes a social policy experiment that explores current and potential links between trends in Australian public policy. The central example is provided by the implementation of a wired community set up in a low‐income public housing estate by an entrepreneurial not‐for‐profit internet service provider, InfoXchange. ‘Reach for the Clouds’, the wired community being established at Atherton Gardens in Fitzroy, Melbourne, is attractive to policy‐makers and funding bodies, combining community‐building, public‐private partnerships, self‐help and place‐based management. However, although the project is promoted as an exercise in community‐building through technology, many of the key assumptions are untested. It seems self‐evident that low‐income people who are socially and economically excluded would benefit from greater ‘connectedness’ with one another. However, it is not clear that such exchanges, online or off‐line, will build ‘community’. The paper attempts to establish some distinctions between online communities of interest and place based communities, untangling the relationship between social connectedness and models of social capital.     

Need,well‐being and outcomes: the development of policy‐thinking for children's services 1989–2004

This paper describes how government policy thinking about the well‐being of children and young people developed between the Children Act 1989 and the Children Act 2004. These two Acts are milestone statements about how services to children in England and Wales should be delivered. It is an account informed by the author's own experience as a government adviser on children's social care over much of this period and supporting documentation. It traces the strands of government policy thinking about how to deliver services for children from children in need to the articulation of the five Every Child Matters outcomes. It argues that attempts to achieve coordinated service planning for children and young people played a significant role in the formulation of shared objectives and the articulation of child outcomes. However, it argues that looking at real outcomes exposes how children in the UK do relatively badly compared with other rich nations. It questions whether we can realistically expect our services to deliver significantly improved outcomes given the impact of enduring inequality in our society. This paper is dedicated to the memory of David Lambert CBE, former Assistant Chief Inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate in London, who died suddenly on 7 October 2010. He lent me articles to assist me in writing this paper.     

Optimizing the “demographic dividend” in young developing countries: The role of contractual savings and insurance for financing education

Many developing regions are facing a youth bulge, meaning that young people comprise the highest proportion of the population. These regions are at risk of losing what could be a tremendous opportunity for economic growth and development if they do not capitalize on this young and economically productive population, also referred to as the “demographic dividend,” defined as the increase in economic growth that tends to follow increases in the ratio of the working‐age population – essentially the labor force – to dependents. Nations undergoing this population transition have the opportunity to capitalize on the demographic dividend if the right social, economic, and human capital policies are in place. In particular, Sub‐Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and North Africa are at risk of losing the demographic dividend. These regions face high youth unemployment, low primary school completion, and low secondary school enrollment. This results in an undereducated and unskilled segment of the population. The prohibitive costs of education prevent young people from finishing school, thereby entering the labor market unprepared. This article presents a case for youth‐focused financial inclusion programs as one of the antidotes to the masses of poor, undereducated, and low‐skilled young people swelling the labor markets of poor developing countries.