Gender differences in self-regulation patterns and attitudes toward driving among older adults

The automobile is essential for many older adults to fulfill their daily needs, especially since many live where they lack access to public transit or other acceptable modes of transportation. Increased self-regulation is one way older drivers continue to drive safely and maintain mobility. This research considers whether self-regulation attitudes and patterns differ by gender. Results indicate that women and men report distinct patterns of self-regulation behaviors. Age, health status, and household status also interact with gender, influencing the extent of self-regulation. The results also show that women report lower levels of confidence in their driving skills than men, although the difference varies based on whether or not a woman lives alone. Implications of these results are considered for an aging population--particularly women--that over the coming decades will be more reliant on the automobile for transportation than ever before.     

Gender equality and the sex differential in mortality from accidents in high income nations

Despite their neglect by researchers relative to other causes of death, motor vehicle and other accidents contribute substantially to sex differences in mortality and address theoretical debates over the consequences of gender equality. A reduction-in-protection hypothesis argues that gender equality reduces the female advantage in accident mortality, a reduction-in-inequality hypothesis argues that gender equality increases the advantage, and an institutional adjustment hypothesis argues that gender equality initially reduces and then increases the advantage. The analysis tests these hypotheses using data on age-specific male and female accident mortality rates and indicators of work and family status for 18 high income nations from 1955–1994.In support of the institutional adjustment hypothesis, declining differentials in male and female motor vehicle and other accident mortality rates level off and sometimes increase in recent years, and measures of work and family change generally have similar curvilinear influences on the differential. Across nations, gender equality speeds the reversal in the differential for motor vehicle accidents, but not for other accidents.     

Gender differences in substance use and initiation of sexual activity

Even though widespread efforts have focused on educating young adults about HIV and AIDS, many individuals continue to engage in behaviors that place them at risk. These behaviors include frequent experimentation with alcohol and other drugs prior to sex, engaging in sexual activity with different partners, and inconsistent safe sex practices (Butcher et al. 1991). The combination of these risky behaviors causes increased concern about the spread of HIV among those of college age. This study focused on two behaviors by examining the relationship between substance use during adolescence and early initiation of sexual activity in a sample of 950 subjects aged 19–21 in a mid-sized southern city. Results indicate that early use of alcohol and marijuana relates to earlier initiation of sexual activity and subsequent risky sexual behavior among young adults. Also, gender differences were observed for frequent users of marijuana and alcohol with males engaging in riskier sexual practices. Recommendations for interventions are made.     

The evolution of population policies in Kenya and Malawi

Our case studies of the evolution of population policies in Kenya and Malawi offer insights into the interaction between the global population movement and national governments. The comparison is useful because it permits identifying the common strategies of a global movement, strategies that are likely to be evident elsewhere; it also permits identifying differences in national responses related to particular domestic contexts. We find a common repertory of movement strategies to influence the governments of Kenya and Malawi to adopt a neo-Malthusian population policy and to implement a family planning program. However, these strategies were promoted more or less aggressively depending on the national response and the chronological period. National responses were related to differences in the governments approaches to nation-building, their willingness to accept foreign influence and the importance they placed on preserving cultural traditions, and to their assessment of benefits they would gain from responding favorably to movement proposals. The data come from written accounts and from interviews with international actors and Kenyan and Malawian elites who participated in the policy development process.     

广东人口意愿生育性别偏好的影响因素分析

本文利用广东省人口和计划生育委员会与中山大学人口研究所2004年10月进行了题为“广东省人口生育意愿研究”的抽样调查数据,分析了个人特征变量、居住地区变量、意愿生育数量、传统偏男生育观念（即“生育目的”）变量和政策性变量对广东人口意愿生育性别偏好的影响。     

简析传统性别观念对人力资本投资性别差异的影响

我国妇女在劳动力市场上的弱势地位主要受人力资本投资的性别差异影响,而这种人力资本投资性别差异的形成可由传统性别观念来解释。目前,传统性别观念仍有较大影响力,通过影响人力资本投资个体、所在家庭及企业的投资决策,引发并维持了人力资本投资的性别差异,在此过程中还表现出一定的自我强化趋势。要改变这种状况,需采取各种适宜对策,大力促进传统性别观念向现代性别观念的转化。     

Gender differences in the experience of loneliness in U.S. Chinese older adults

This study aimed to explore the gender differences in the experiences of loneliness in the U.S. Chinese older population. The data were drawn from the PINE study, a population-based study of U.S. Chinese adults aged 60 years and older. The Revised–University of California at Los Angeles Loneliness Scale (R-UCLA) was used to measure loneliness. Overall, older Chinese women (28.3%) had a higher rate of loneliness than older men (23.3%, p < .001). In particular, women were more likely to sometimes or often experience a lack of companionship than men (22.9% vs. 17.3%, p < .001). Older women living with fewer people, with lower health status, poorer quality of life, and worsening health changes over the past year were more likely than men to experience any loneliness. This study indicates that gender differences exist in the prevalence, symptoms, and correlates of loneliness. Longitudinal studies should be undertaken to understand gender differences in risk factors and outcomes of loneliness.     

The use of traditional and modern methods of fertility control in Kinshasa, Zaire

Abstract The practice of post-partum abstinence has been a long-standing tradition in many societies of tropical Africa, yet recent research suggests an erosion of the taboo on post-partum sexual relations as a means of fertility control. The current study among women in the lower income groups in Kinshasa, Zaire, provides evidence of this. There is strong motivation toward child-spacing, as shown by 80 per cent of the women who reported to be currently practising some means of fertility control: 73 per cent with traditional methods, only 7 per cent with modern contraceptives. There appears to be some carry-over of traditional practice, in that abstinence is related to the age and nursing status of the last born child. However, the most widely practised method is withdrawal. This suggests a desire on the part of this population for alternatives to abstinence, an issue with important implications for future family planning programs in Zaire.     

养老金性别差异影响因素分析——以上海城镇“老人”为例

为了了解养老金性别差异的影响因素及各因素的影响程度,通过对2003年上海市老年人口状况与意愿跟踪调查原始数据的多元线性回归分析,本研究发现：．女性城镇“老人”在受教育年限、退休年龄和退休前职业等方面较男性城镇“老人”均处于劣势：不同特征女性城镇“老人”养老金整体上低于男性城镇“老人”：退休年龄和受教育年限对养老金的性别差异有较强的解释力;退休年份越晚,养老金的性别差异由退休年龄和受教育年限解释的比重越高。     

Birth spacing dynamics in China: The cases of Hebei and Shaanxi provinces

Even as fertility has declined in China in the last several decades, the first and second birth intervals have become shorter over time and the probability of having a second child has increased since the late 1970s. This increase in the probability of conception seems to be contradictory to the Chinese government's birth planning strategy which explicitly stresses timing and parity. Using retrospective survey reports from 1985 in Hebei and Shaanxi provinces, the study explored this paradox. The study revealed several findings: (1) government intervention, especially the one-child policy of the late 1970s, had a strong, unexpected influence on early conception in China; (2) the timing and probability of having a first birth were associated with macrosocial forces and familial relationships; and (3) the timing and probability of having a second birth were associated with biosocial, familial as well as macro-social characteristics.Abbreviations CBR crude birth rate - DPSB Department of Population Statistics, State Statistical Bureau, China - TFR total fertility rate This article is based on a paper presented at the 1991 Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Washington, DC, 21–23 March 1991.     

The influence of market wages and parental history on child labour and schooling in Egypt

This paper examines the influence of adult market wages and having parents who were child labourers on child labour, when this decision is jointly determined with child schooling, using data from Egypt. The empirical results suggest that low adult market wages are key determinants of child labour; a 10% increase in the illiterate male market wage decreases the probability of child labour by 22% for boys and 13% for girls. The findings also indicate the importance of social norms in the intergenerational persistence of child labour: parents who were child labourers themselves are on average 10% more likely to send their children to work. In addition, higher local regional income inequality increases the likelihood of child labour.

Temporary Employment and Social Inequality in Canada: Exploring Intersections of Gender, Race and Immigration Status

Using data from the 2002–2004 waves of Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics, this article investigates the consequences of different types of temporary employment—fixed-term or contract, casual, agency and seasonal employment—for differently situated workers in Canada. Attention to intersecting social locations of gender, race and immigrant status helps capture the complex implications of temporary work for inequality. In particular, it highlights the salience of gender relations in shaping workers’ experience of insecurity in different types of temporary employment.

Changing the Gender Balance in Caring: Fatherhood and the Division of Parental Leave in Norway

In this article, we study fathers’ use of parental leave in Norway, using register data from 1993 to 1997. In 1993, a special father’s quota (1 month) was introduced in the parental leave program. The father’s quota is a success in the sense that 85% of fathers entitled to the leave use it, but few take more than their quota (1 month). One policy intention was to make a real change in the gender balance in care. The analyses show that gender balance in breadwinning has a strong effect on fathers’ use of parental leave: controlling for parents’ educational level, labor market attachment and father’s income, we find that the more mothers contribute to the family economy and the more equalized their earnings are, the more parental leave fathers take.     

The effect of female migration on infant and child survival in Uganda

This article uses data from the 1996 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey to examine whether migration of women improves the survival chances of their children to age five. We expand on prior research by testing not only the hypothesized positive effect of rural-urban migration, but also the effects of other migration stream behaviours on child survival. Results show that up to 10% of children die before age five and within-group differences in mortality exist among urban and rural children depending on their mother's migration status. Only urban-urban migration was significantly related to child survival, compared to rural non-migrants, after controlling for other factors, although other streams of migration (rural-urban, urban-rural, rural-rural) were positively related to child survival. Generally, migration explains a small component of the variance in child survival. Several other factors, including parents' education, household size, household headship, mother's age at birth, duration of breastfeeding, and place of delivery have a significant predictive power on child survival.     

The impact of infant and child death on subsequent fertility in Ethiopia

This paper uses hazard regression models to assess the impact of experienced infant and child mortality on the risk of subsequent conceptions in Ethiopia. The purpose of this paper is to test for the presence of a fertility response to an infant or child death, net of the effects of truncated breastfeeding on fecundity. Using retrospective birth history data from a national survey in Ethiopia, we find a significantly higher risk of a conception in the months following the death of an index child, even after controlling for postpartum amenorrhoea and breastfeeding status. The fertility response is strongest after the death of the fourth or fifth child, which is when most women in Ethiopia are at or near their desired family size. However, we find no evidence of a fertility response to the death of a nonindex child. We attribute the higher risk of a conception following an index child’s death to the intentional efforts of couples to reduce the waiting time to a next birth and thereby replace the deceased child. However, absent evidence of replacement fertility in response to the death of older nonindex children, we interpret the response to the death of an index child as an emotional response to child loss rather than a conscious strategy to meet a fertility target.

The mismatch between employment and child care in Italy: the impact of rationing

In Italy the women’s participation is among the lowest in Europe. The female employment rate stands almost 13 percentage points below the EU average and 22 below the Lisbon target. One of the most important reasons is related to the characteristics of child care system. We analyze the characteristics of the child care system in Italy and its relationship to the labor market participation decision of mothers. The two decisions are jointly considered in a discrete choice framework, which also allows for simple forms of rationing. We go on to estimate a bivariate probit model of the child care and employment decisions and find evidence that rationing is an important factor in interpreting price effects on utilization rates and employment decisions. Responsible editors: Deborah Cobb-Clark & Tito Boeri     

Depressive Symptoms Among Native and Immigrant Adolescents in Norway: The Role of Gender and Urbanization

The study investigates depressive symptoms among 3,431 adolescents aged 13–15 years. The sample comprises both native Norwegian and immigrant adolescents living in Norway. The main finding of the study is that the level of depressive symptoms is significantly higher among the immigrant adolescents than their Norwegian counterparts. When analysed separately for boys and girls, the difference is still significant for boys. Generally depressive symptoms are significantly higher among girls than among boys. Depressive symptoms, especially in boys, may also be related to the degree of urbanization of the area they live in. In cities, there is a significant difference between native Norwegian and immigrant boys, with immigrant boys having a higher level of depressive symptoms than native Norwegians. The implications for future research about immigrant adolescents and their psychosocial adjustment are discussed.

长三角地区人口迁移特征及其空间差异

本文根据第五次人口普查数据,从年龄、性别、受教育程度等角度分析了长江三角洲地区人口迁移的社会学特征,以及迁移人口对长江三角洲地区人口发展的影响,此外还从人口迁移量的分布、省际迁入人口对迁入目的地的选择以及省内人口迁移流向选择等几个方面,系统考察长三角地区人口迁移的空间模式及其特征,为进一步加快长三角地区城市群的建设和发展提供了参考依据。     

Preference for caesarean and attitudes toward birth in a Chilean sample of young adults

BackgroundLittle empirical research exists about what motivates birth mode preferences, and even less about this topic in Latin America, where obstetric interventions and caesareans are some of the highest worldwide.AimTo identify factors associated with caesarean preference among Chilean men and women who plan to have children and to inform childbirth education and informed consent procedures.MethodsAn online cross-sectional survey measuring attitudes toward birth was administered to graduate students at a large public university in Chile. Eligible students were under the age of 40 and had no children but intended to have children. Logistic regression modelling was used to determine which sociodemographic factors, knowledge and beliefs were associated with caesarean preference.FindingsAmong eligible students, 730 responded and 664 provided complete answers to the variables of interest. Respondents had a mean age of 28.8; 38% were male and 62% female. Positive attitude toward technological intervention (Odds Ratio 7.4, 95% Confidence Interval 3.9–14.0), high risk perception of vaginal birth (Odds Ratio 1.8, 95% Confidence Interval 1.1–2.8), family history of caesarean (Odds Ratio 1.9, 95% Confidence Interval 1.0–3.8) and high fear of birth (Odds Ratio 3.7, 95% Confidence Interval 2.0–6.8) were associated with caesarean preference.DiscussionPreference for caesarean birth was highly associated with positive attitudes toward technological intervention and may be related to a lack of knowledge about the realities of caesarean and vaginal birth.ConclusionsPatient-centered education on the relative benefits and risks of birth modes has the potential to influence preferences toward vaginal birth.