Barriers to Economic Security: Disability,Employment, and Asset Disparities in Canada

Although ample research shows that people with disabilities face significant labor market barriers, questions remain about whether and how disadvantages in employment and earnings contribute to economic insecurity. We use 1999 to 2012 Canadian Survey of Financial Security data to study disparities in nonhousing assets, which include household savings, stocks, and pensions, across households with and without disabilities. We find that households where the respondent or their spouse reported a disability held 25 percent less in nonhousing assets after accounting for key employment, education, and demographic factors. Demonstrating the more complicated relationship between disability, employment, and assets, these direct effects were further strengthened by disability's indirect effects on assets through its relationship with employment income.     

“The only equality is the pain”: An exploration of the Irish policy sphere's approach to “access” and “entitlement” in health care

This paper critically analyses how overarching policy goals and practices surrounding access and entitlement to health care (HC) have been dominated by a conflicting system of libertarian and equity-based principles. We examine how this mixed-motives system originated and the importance of policy legacies inherited from the Poor Laws era in shaping modern conceptions of access and entitlement to HC. We also considered how these determined the scope of state intervention in this policy domain. Drawing on empirical evidence and interviews with key stakeholders in Irish health policy, we explored the appetite to engage in meaningful HC reforms that address the growing gaps of inequity between higher and lower socio-economic groups in society. Rather than emulating European counterpartsapos; emphasis on universal coverage within an egalitarian paradigm, Irish policy actors have sought to instill a spirit of fairness in HC delivery. Under the guise of equality of opportunity and equity, the policy focus has centred on directing publicly funded HC towards lower-income groups and the most vulnerable in Irish society. However, we argue that the operation of the mixed-motives structure has also created conflict and policy ambiguity surrounding overarching goals which frame the governance and consumption of HC in Ireland. This is evidenced by the dysfunction and complexity of the two-tier system of public-versus-private access to HC services. Ultimately, we argue that the policy aspirations of equality that underpin the HC structures surrounding access and entitlement should be revisited to achieve greater health outcomes and create a more equal society.     

Networks,case managers,and the job-search experiences of unemployed people

Employment services are commonly provided in network settings, but it is rare to find social policy analyses of how unemployed people search for jobs through networks. In a germinal analysis of social networks and employment, Mark Granovetter argued that “weak ties” (less familiar contacts) are more important to finding employment than are “strong ties” (family and friends). This is because weak ties provide more novel job-relevant information. Scholarship since Granovetter has predominantly supported the opposite argument, namely, that strong ties are more important for the unemployed, because they are more plentiful and thus provide more information in aggregate. Findings are also generally coloured by the focus being on “informal” networks or personal contacts. “Formal” networks, as represented most cogently by employment service providers, are absent or underestimated in most social network studies. On the basis of a qualitative study of 80 long-term unemployed people in Australia, incorporating analysis of both informal and formal networks, we argue that although “strong informal” ties are vital to job search, it is also important to consider “weak formal” ties, which can be complementary if and where service organizations are able to supply positive case management experiences.     

Differences in Adolescent Experiences of Polyvictimization and Suicide Risk by Sexual Minority Status

Sexual minority adolescents (SMA) report more suicide risk behaviors than heterosexual adolescents. Polyvictimization (co‐occurrence of multiple types of victimization) may be an important, underresearched correlate of this disparity. With the 2017 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (N = 13,179), national estimates of polyvictimization and suicide risk were assessed among high school students by sexual minority status (SM vs. heterosexual), and multivariate relationships between sexual minority status, polyvictimization, and suicide risk were tested. Additionally, risk profiles of those who experienced polyvictimization (2 + types of victimization; n = 1,932) were compared across sexual minority status. Results confirm that SMA are more likely to experience polyvictimization than heterosexual adolescents (31.8% v. 12.9%, respectively); however, also indicate that polyvictimization does not fully explain elevated suicide risk among SMA.     

Sexual Abuse by Design: an examination of the issues in learning disability services

This paper is based upon ideas developed by the authors during their past 6 years work on issues of sexuality and sexual abuse in a wide variety of learning disability settings in Britain. The paper argues that some features of service design in themselves make sexual abuse more likely to occur. It suggests ways of reducing risk, which should work alongside the more usually suggested educative approaches to individuals and groups of vulnerable people.     

Implementing affirmative action in higher education: University responses to Gratz and Grutter

In 2003, the Supreme Court handed down two landmark decisions regarding the use of affirmative action in higher education. In one case, Grutter v. Bollinger, the Court said it was constitutional to consider race in admissions decisions in order to achieve the educational benefits of a diverse student body. In stark contrast, the Court struck down in Gratz v. Bollinger the University of Michigan's undergraduate admissions policy on the grounds that too much of the decision was based on race. In this research note, we surveyed midwestern and southern institutions of higher education to see how college and university presidents in the Fifth and Sixth federal circuits have sought to implement Gratz and Grutter. We find schools in the Fifth Circuit (southern) do not consider race in admissions decisions and those in the Sixth Circuit (midwestern) utilize race to assemble a student body. We suggest that lower federal court precedent may explain why the midwestern schools consider race but the southern schools do not.     

Predicting the Probability that a Chemical Causes Steatosis Using Adverse Outcome Pathway Bayesian Networks (AOPBNs)

Adverse outcome pathway Bayesian networks (AOPBNs) are a promising avenue for developing predictive toxicology and risk assessment tools based on adverse outcome pathways (AOPs). Here, we describe a process for developing AOPBNs. AOPBNs use causal networks and Bayesian statistics to integrate evidence across key events. In this article, we use our AOPBN to predict the occurrence of steatosis under different chemical exposures. Since it is an expert-driven model, we use external data (i.e., data not used for modeling) from the literature to validate predictions of the AOPBN model. The AOPBN accurately predicts steatosis for the chemicals from our external data. In addition, we demonstrate how end users can utilize the model to simulate the confidence (based on posterior probability) associated with predicting steatosis. We demonstrate how the network topology impacts predictions across the AOPBN, and how the AOPBN helps us identify the most informative key events that should be monitored for predicting steatosis. We close with a discussion of how the model can be used to predict potential effects of mixtures and how to model susceptible populations (e.g., where a mutation or stressor may change the conditional probability tables in the AOPBN). Using this approach for developing expert AOPBNs will facilitate the prediction of chemical toxicity, facilitate the identification of assay batteries, and greatly improve chemical hazard screening strategies.