Saving Performance in Individual Development Accounts: Does Marital Status Matter?

Research indicates that marriage has a large effect on reducing the risk of poverty and is associated with a higher probability of attaining affluence over the life course when compared with nonmarriage. Using data from the American Dream Demonstration (N =2,364), this study compares savings performances of married and unmarried low‐income participants in a matched savings program—Individual Development Accounts. The results indicate that both married and unmarried low‐income participants can save in Individual Development Accounts. After controlling for program and other participant characteristics, there were no significant differences in savings between married and unmarried participants. We further examined possible factors that are associated with Individual Development Account savings performance for these two groups.     

Modelling the effects of repellent chemicals on foraging bees

Summary.  Many pesticide sprays that are used for crop protection are harmful to honey-bees. It can therefore be beneficial to add to the spray chemical compounds that are repellent to bees, to discourage them from feeding on recently sprayed crops. Experiments were conducted using an artificial feeding station to assess the repellent effects of various compounds. In this system, bees arrive at the feeding station, choose between feeding dishes to which different chemicals have been added, feed for a variable period and then depart. The number of bees at each feeding dish is recorded at intervals of 1 min. We discuss the analysis of data from this type of experiment, based on a queuing theory model.     

The contribution of exclusive representation to union strength

In this paper we show that exclusive representation and other union security agreements contribute substantially to union strength. A regression analysis of the growth of unionism among teachers during the 1970s measures just how potent exclusive representation and dues checkoff agreements are in stimulating union growth in the public sector. Further discussion prompts the conclusion that these powerful measures are especially inappropriate in the public sector, for they excessively coerce employees’ representation and benefit employers, not employees.     

THE CORRELATES OF HEALTHY FAMILY FUNCTIONING: THE ROLE OF CONSENSUS AND CONFLICT IN THE PRACTICE OF FAMILY THERAPY

The present study explores the relative importance of individual, dyadic and triadic measures of intrafamily functioning in predicting family health. Using self-report data from 78 families, it was found that dyadic measures pertaining to marital quality and parent-child relationships were more powerful predictors than either individual measures of emotional maturity, anxiety, self-esteem or locus of control, or triadic measures of the families' hierarchical alignments. The study also found that while mothers' and fathers' assessments of intrafamily functioning were more important than the childrens' (except for the childrens' view of parent-child relationships), the parents differed in that marital quality was more important to the mothers' evaluations of the family unit while parent-child relationships were more important to the fathers'. Compositely, the findings suggest that family health is a complex multidimensional phenomenon, and that change in a particular dimension of family life may not necessarily be greeted with consensual validation or repudiation by all family members.