The simultaneous examination of economic and social factors in destination selection: Employing objective and subjective measures

This research examines the role of social and economic factors in the past selection of destinations made by migrants living in Rhode Island. Results indicate that social ties play a more important role in the selection of destinations with low levels of opportunity than they do in the movement to high opportunity areas. An important aspect of the study was the simultaneous investigation of both objective and subjective measures of social and economic factors in the selection of low and high growth destinations. The analysis suggests that the simultaneous consideration of objective and subjective factors provides a more refined accounting of the potential influence of social and economic factors in the selection of destinations. The findings hold when age is introduced as a control.     

Conservation and family planning in Tanzania: the TACARE experience

Community-based distribution (CBD) programs present an alternative way of effectively reaching people in rural areas of developing countries where conventional methods of delivery do not exist or fail. This paper reviews the experience and findings from the Jane Goodall Institute’s (JGI) TACARE program in the Kigoma region of Tanzania. It focuses on the family planning CBD program and its integration within the TACARE program to meet the broader mission of JGI’s conservation efforts. Both qualitative and survey data suggest that the CBD program meets the needs for contraception in participating rural communities and is a complementary and acceptable strategy to ultimately contribute to reduce population pressure on the villages around Gombe National Park.     

Length of residence,social ties,and economic opportunities

This study examines length of residence for movers—that subsection of the population which accounts for the high mobility rates in the United States. The propensity for repeated migration is studied in relation to economic opportunities and previous familial and personal contacts. The results indicate no influence of economic opportunities on duration of residence. This finding is consistent with recent research that indicates economic conditions are not a general stimulus for out-migration, although they are for in-migration. On the other hand, length of residence is found to be longer where previous familial and personal contacts existed. Overall, the results provide additional evidence of the importance of social, as opposed to strictly economic, variables in the migration process.     

Urbanization and the fertility transition in Ghana

This paper examines the way in which migration and urban residence operate to alter fertility outcomes. While urban-rural fertility differentials have long been established for most developing societies, the nature of these differences among migrants and between migrants and those of succeeding generations is not well understood. The evidence presented here suggests that rural-urban migration and urbanization may contribute positively to processes of fertility transition. Using data from the 1998 Kumasi Peri-Urban Survey, which included a 5-year retrospective monthly calendar of childbearing, we suggest that migrants adapt quickly to an urban environment. Our results also reveal generational differences in recent and cumulative fertility. While migrants exhibit higher cumulative fertility than urban residents of the second and third generation, their fertility is significantly lower than rural averages in Ghana. Children of migrants exhibit childbearing patterns quite similar to those in higher-order generations. Most noteworthy is the nature of the disparities in childbearing patterns between migrants and the succeeding generations. Migrant women have higher lifetime fertility than urban natives. Migrant women also exhibit higher fertility over the last 5 years than second generation or high-order urban natives. But these first generation women exhibit lower fertility (vs. urban natives) for the year immediately prior to the survey. These patterns lend support to an interpretation that combines rather than opposes theories of selectivity, disruption, adaptation and socialization. We conclude by discussing mechanisms that might explain these interrelated processes of fertility adjustment and suggest that policies discouraging rural-urban migration need to be revisited.     

Welfare states and social mobility: How educational and social policy may affect cross-national differences in the association between occupational origins and destinations

Cross-national differences in the association between origins and destinations correspond to differences in both welfare regime type and access to post-secondary education. Socialist and social democratic welfare regimes foster a weaker origin–destination association than liberal, corporatist, or mixed regimes do. Nations with better-educated labor forces tend to also be the nations where the association between origins and destinations is weakest. Furthermore, the social and educational policy interact so that the tendency for educational access to lower the origin–destination association is most pronounced in the liberal welfare setting where the association would otherwise be greatest. Greater access is not necessarily associated with greater equality of opportunity, and we find very weak evidence that equality of educational opportunity itself is a direct influence on equality of occupational opportunity (even though nations that have a strong origin–education association also have a strong origin–destination association).     

Global QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL), health and ability are primarily determined by our consciousness. Research findings from Denmark 1991–2004

Social Indicators Research - Objective: To explain the global quality of life (QOL) from 2000 indicators representing all aspects of life. Design and setting: Two cross sectional population...     

Changes in psychosocial well-being during stages of gay identity development

The current study evaluated the stage theory of Homosexual Identity Formation (HIF) developed by Cass (1979), in terms of the relationship between stage of gay identity development and psychosocial well-being. Four hundred twenty-five males (12 to 64 years, M = 29.2) reporting sexual attraction to other men provided demographic information and completed psychosocial measures: the Happiness-Sadness Scale (McGreal & Joseph, 1993), the Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener, Emmons, Larsen & Griffin, 1985), the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Russell, Peplau & Ferguson, 1978), the Index of Self-Esteem (Hudson, 1982), and the Gay Identity Questionnaire (Brady & Busse, 1994). Correlation analysis and ANCOVAs controlling for age and nationality demonstrated that the 6 sequential stages of HIF were associated with a U-shaped function for the psychosocial variables. Well-being was high during the initial Confusion and Comparison stages of HIF, was reduced during the middle Tolerance and Acceptance stages, and was again high in the later Pride and Synthesis stages. Each of the psychosocial variables was significantly different according to stage of development (p <.001). Qualitative analysis of subjects' comments also revealed support for the U-shaped pattern.     

SHORT REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Iris Chi, Neena L. Chappell, and James Lubben (eds.), Elderly Chinese in Pacific Rim Countries: Social Support and Integration Wayne A. Cornelius, Thomas J. Espenshade, and Idean Salehyan (eds.), The International Migration of the Highly Skilled: Demand, Supply, and Development Consequences in Sending and Receiving Countries Bimal Ghosh (ed.), Managing Migration: Time for a New International Regime? Institute of Medicine, Forum on Emerging Infections, Emerging Infectious Diseases from the Global to the Local Perspective: Workshop Summary Hans‐Peter Kohler, Fertility and Social Interaction: An Economic Perspective David Kyle and Key Koslowski (eds.), Global Human Smuggling: Comparative Perspectives Brian C. O'Neill, F. Landis Mackellar, and Wolfgang Lutz, Population and Climate Change Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes (eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences Thomas Spira, Nationalism and Ethnicity Terminologies: An Encyclopedic Dictionary and Research Guide, vol. 1 Li Zhang, Strangers in the City: Reconfigurations of Space, Power, and Social Networks within China's Floating Population     

The Time-Pressure Illusion: Discretionary Time vs. Free Time

People’s welfare is a function of both time and money. People can – and, it is said, increasingly do – suffer time-poverty as well as money-poverty. It is undeniably true that people feel increasingly time pressured, particularly in dual-earner households. But much of the time devoted to paid and unpaid tasks is over and above that which is strictly necessary. In that sense, much of the time pressure that people feel is discretionary and of their own making. Using data from the 1992 Australian Time Use Survey, this paper demonstrates that the magnitude of this ‘time-pressure illusion’ varies across population groups, being least among lone parents and greatest among the childless and two-earner couples.     

Census adjustment and the distribution of federal spending

In 1989, programs that use population counts to determine the distribution of their funds transferred $236 per capita to state and local governments. If the 1990 census were adjusted to reflect undercounting, about 40% of state and local governments would receive increased grants averaging $56 per miscounted person; other jurisdictions would lose an almost equal amount of grant money. The surprisingly small reallocations arise because 1) total funds allocated by population are essentially fixed; 2) allocations depend on other factors in addition to population; and 3) programs vary as to whether they allocate funds in direct or inverse proportion to population.