Immigrants and the public sector budget – accounting exercises for Sweden

Net contributions to the public sector budget in Sweden are investigated using large samples of foreign born and native born. The accounts build on various assumptions including that expenditures on public consumption are allocated according to the age of the person. The results indicate that during the period 1983 to 1992 net contributions of immigrants deteriorated. Upon arrival to Sweden, immigrants on average place a burden on the public sector budget but after a few years this no longer applies. Refugees initially put a larger burden on the public sector budget than other immigrants, but such a difference declines with years since immigration. Received: 11 March 1998/Accepted: 31 May 2000     

Gender Quotas for Agricultural Boards: Changing Constructions of Gender?

This article explores the processes by which gender is given meaning through social interaction in boardrooms. In Norway, alongside mandatory quotas regulating the composition of Public Limited Company boards, voluntary quotas were designed to increase women's membership on the boards of agricultural co‐operatives. This radical step to secure a minimum of 40 per cent women makes these boards an interesting site for investigating the construction of gender in a traditionally male‐dominated organization. In the debate, arguments in favour of a quota accentuated diversity and differences between women's and men's competences, opinions and values. The analysis of interview data from the boards of four agricultural co‐operatives suggests that equal representation is a muted, taken‐for‐granted value. Equality and diversity are not understood as incompatible ideas, and gender is produced dynamically through practice rather than constituted as an inherent, fixed attribute. Gender as difference is less pervasive than expected as women tend to be recognized as belonging to the gender‐neutral category of a board representative despite any recognized differences. The study demonstrates that voluntary quotas may change the context and both challenge old assumptions and promote new understandings of gender in local situations.     

Life at Trastad Gård: on the experiences of the former inmates of a large institution for people with learning difficulties in northern Norway

In Norway, institutionalised care for people with learning disabilities ended in the 1990s. The aim of this article is to discuss the living conditions at Trastad Gård as described by some of its former inmates. The biographical approach was adopted to capture and discuss the experiences of six former inmates at the institution. Four main but interconnected issues evolving from the stories of our informants were discussed. These include their experiences on coming to the institution, feelings of homesickness, loneliness and lessons of everyday life. The findings were primarily discussed with reference to theoretical perspectives of power and power relations.     

Fatigue effects of noise on aeroplane mechanics

Abstract

Subjective fatigue and reaction time performance were measured in a group of 24 aeroplane mechanics, during 1 week of high noise exposure and 1 week of low noise exposure. Subjective ratings were collected before and after each work day. On the last day of each week subjects also completed a reaction time task before and after work. The mechanics felt more sleepy and less energetic during the high noise week. This effect was most evident towards the end of the day and there was a build-up of the effect during the week. Reaction times were prolonged during the high noise week. Possible confounding factors are discussed and found to be less likely explanations of the effects.     

Poll of Polls: A Compositional Loess Model

A large number of polls on party preferences are published today. In order to obtain an estimate of the changes in political opinion, the polls may be combined into a poll of polls. We discuss a method for combining polls using the fact that they are compositions and respecting the properties of the compositional sample space (the simplex). The method is easily implemented and the estimate may be computed in linear time. We provide an example with Swedish data from year 2007 to 2010. The method also allows us to present the deviations between the estimated compositions and the observed. In the data set, we note, for example, differences between different polling institutes.     

The social worker-client relationship -- a Sartrean approach

Several theorists argue that a close and mutual relationship between social worker and client is the 'core' of social work practice. However, this relationship is not examined in a profound way. In the article, the assumption of the essential relationship between social worker and client is scrutinized, using Jean-Paul Sartre's phenomenological, existential philosophy. The aim is to see what Sartre's theory can bring to the discourse about this relationship as a central aspect of social work as a field of knowledge. Ultimately this is of importance for intervention as well as evaluation.     

Does family policy affect fertility?

From the mid-1960s to around 1980, Sweden extended its family policies that provide financial and in-kind support to families with children very quickly. The benefits were closely tied to previous work experience. Thus, women born in the 1950s faced markedly different incentives when making fertility choices compared to women born only 15–20 years earlier. This paper examines the evolution of completed fertility patterns for Swedish women born in 1925–1958 and makes comparisons to women in neighbouring countries where the policies were not extended as much as in Sweden. The results suggest that the extension of the policy raised the level of fertility, shortened the spacing of births, and induced fluctuations in the period fertility rates, but it did not change the negative relationship between women’s educational level and completed fertility.