Do household structure and household economic resources predict childhood immunization? Evidence from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago

This study assesses the influence of household structure and resource dilution characteristics on childrens immunization coverage in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. The study has three objectives: (1) to compare the impact of different types of household structures (e.g., single parent, two-parent, cohabiting and extended) on child immunization; (2) to examine the effects of household income and resource dilution on child immunization; and (3) to determine whether household structure and resource dilution interact to affect child immunization in these contexts.We use data from the Jamaica 1996 and Trinidad and Tobago 1997 Living Standards Measurement Study Survey and a series of logistic regression models to test hypotheses derived from the current child well-being literature. The results show that household income and household structures selectively predict childrens immunization coverage in both contexts, with significant interaction effects enhancing the interpretation for Jamaica. The key policy implications that emerge from this study are that household structure and income are crucial for understanding child immunization in the Caribbean.     

Male Pregnancy Intendedness and Children's Mental Proficiency and Attachment Security During Toddlerhood

Using a sample of biological resident fathers and their children from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (ECLS‐B) 9‐ and 24‐month surveys (N = 5,300), this study examines associations and the direct and indirect pathways through which men's pregnancy intentions influence toddlers' mental proficiency and attachment security. Findings indicate that unwanted and mistimed pregnancies for fathers had negative consequences for toddlers' mental proficiency and attachment security. Additionally, men's pregnancy intentions were found to work indirectly through lower prenatal behaviors and father engagement and greater mother‐father relationship conflict to negatively influence toddlers' mental proficiency. Men's pregnancy intentions also worked indirectly through greater relationship conflict and higher father involvement to influence attachment security.     

Halving poverty in HIPC countries by 2015: How costly if achievable?

This article assesses the likelihood and costs of halving the poverty headcount ratio by 2015 from its 1990 levels in sixteen post-HIPC-MDRI countries. An optimistic pro-poor growth scenario indicates that, on average, they will attain this goal 2 years before the end date. An estimated annual cost of 16 percent of the recipients’ GDPs suggests that currently available funds will be sufficient to finance the MDG poverty target, provided that they achieve a 6 percent annual economic growth, improve their equality of incomes and implement policies to raise absorptive capacity to levels obtained by East Asian countries in the mid-1990s.     

Resident Fathers’ Pregnancy Intentions,Prenatal Behaviors,and Links to Involvement With Infants

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study‐Birth Cohort, 9‐month resident father surveys (N= 6,816), this paper examines the association between male pregnancy intentions, prenatal behaviors, and postbirth father involvement. Findings indicate that prenatal behaviors are associated with five domains of father involvement. Men who did not want the pregnancy are less likely to exhibit paternal warmth following the birth, whereas men who wanted the pregnancy sooner than it occurred are more likely to exhibit nurturing behaviors. The influence of fathers’ pregnancy intentions and prenatal behaviors on postbirth involvement is for the most part not dependent on child gender. Findings suggest that prenatal programs that encourage fathers to actively participate in the pregnancy may be beneficial to later child well‐being.     

‘It is like being put through a blender’: inclusive research in practice in an Australian university

Abstract

How can university-based researchers committed to a position of solidarity with, and activism alongside, people with disabilities maintain such a stance in the metric-driven environment of the modern university? How can the academy ensure there is the opportunity for people with disabilities to contribute to production of the knowledge in which they have most at stake, in a wider environment where access to basic services for people with disabilities is precarious? In this article we draw on our experience as a team of university-based and community-based researchers with and without disabilities to reflect on these questions, using a framework of reflexive solidarity to consider practical strategies for strengthening the relationship between disability activism and the academy.     

Increasing Foreign Aid for Inclusive Human Development in Africa

In the light of evidence that poverty has been decreasing in all regions of the world with the exception of Africa, where about 45% of countries in sub-Saharan Africa did not achieve the Millennium development goal extreme poverty target, this study assesses whether increasing foreign aid improves inclusive human development. The investigation is on 53 African countries for the period 2005–2012. The empirical analysis is based on (1) the generalised method of moments (GMM) to control for persistence in inclusive human development, simultaneity and time-invariant omitted variables and (2) Instrumental Variable Tobit Regressions to control for simultaneity and the limited range in the dependent variable. The adopted foreign aid variables are: ‘humanitarian assistance’, ‘action on debt’ ‘aid for social infrastructure’, ‘aid to the productive sector’, ‘aid to the multi sector’, ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ and ‘programme assistance’. The following findings are established. From the GMM specifications, there are (1) synergy effects from ‘aid to the productive sector’ and a positive net effect from ‘programme assistance’ and (2) negative net impacts from ‘aid to social infrastructure’ and human assistance, albeit with positive marginal effects. From Instrumental Variable Tobit regressions (1) there is a synergy effect from ‘aid for economic infrastructure’ and (2) there are negative net impacts from ‘aid for social infrastructure’, ‘aid to the productive sector’ and human assistance, albeit with positive marginal effects. Policy implications are discussed.     

区域经济差距：技术创新能力视角的分析

区域技术创新能力是区域创新能力的重要组成部分,是区域经济增长的决定性因素。现阶段我国各区域技术创新能力的差异导致了区域经济差距,本文介绍了用SPSS进行聚类的依据,对中国各区域技术创新能力进行聚类分析,并探讨了技术创新能力是导致现阶段区域差距的关键。     

The Right to Life: Global Evidence on the Role of Security Officers and the Police in Modulating the Effect of Insecurity on Homicide

Social Indicators Research - The study investigates the role of security officers and the police in dampening the effect of insecurity on homicides. Insecurity dynamics are measured in terms of...