Measuring socioeconomic mortality differentials over time

Using 1973 Current Population Survey data matched to 1973-1978 Social Security mortality records, this study measures the relationship between the income and education of men and their subsequent mortality. The estimated relationships are compared with socioeconomic mortality differentials found by Kitagawa and Hauser in their study of 1960 census-death certificate matched data. The comparison suggests that there has been no improvement in the relative mortality experience of low socioeconomic status men. More generally, the article discusses how Social Security data could be used to monitor, on a continual basis, our progress toward eradicating significant mortality differentials in the United States.     

Contraceptive sterilization in the U. S.: 1965 and 1970

There was an impressive increase between 1965 and 1970 in the prevalence of contraceptive sterilization, an increase that accelerated in the later years of the period and was shared in by virtually all subgroups considered. Among couples in 1970 for whom sterilization had been an option (recognizing that it is a terminal method), about one of every five had chosen this method of contraception. About half of all sterilizations were vasectomies, though vasectomies have outnumbered tubal ligations in recent years. Differentials in prevalence and in increases during 1965–1970 are reported for a number of life-cycle and social variables. In addition, a profile of the contraceptive sterile is presented for recent sterilizations. Significant proportions are relatively young and of low parity at the time of sterilization. In the context of the continued diffusion of the pill and IUD and increases in legal abortion, the net demographic effect of increasing sterilization is regarded as low, though sterilization is an important component of an effective fertility control regime.     

Job,family, and gender: Determinants of nonstandard work schedules among employed Americans in 1991

This study provides the most recent national estimates of the prevalence of employment during nonstandard hours (evenings, nights, or rotating hours) and on weekends. It also examines in a multivariate context the relevance of job and family characteristics as determinants of such employment, separately for men and for women. The findings support the contention that the demand for employment during nonstandard hours and weekends is pervasive throughout the occupational hierarchy, but particularly in service occupations and in personal service industries and for both men and .women. Gender differences exist, however, in the relevance of family factors. Being married reduces women’s but not men’s likelihood of employment during nonstandard hours, and the presence of children affects women’s but not men’s hours and days of employment. (The direction of the effect for women depends on the children’s age.) Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Long-term effects of international migration: Lessons from Israel

The paper shows that characteristics of immigrants at the time of immigration affect both long-term occupational achievements and income at the end of the labor force career, after age 59. Data representing 174,000 Jewish males 60 and older from a 1985 survey by the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics are analyzed to show how the timing of immigration, the number of years in the country, age at immigration, country of origin, and educational resources at time of immigration are related to years in the labor force in the host country, occupational achievement, pension entitlement and income after age 59. Both direct and indirect effects are analyzed. The results show the importance of immigration characteristics on long-term socioeconomic adjustment, and the necessity of considering social status over the life course as an indicator of long-term immigrant adjustment. Decomposition of the effect of country of origin pinpoints what characteristics at time of immigration influence social status differences in ethnic groups at older ages. The discussion includes a number of methodological implications for future studies in immigration.Abbreviations AA Asian-African - CBS Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics - EA European-American This article is based on a paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, New York, March 1993. It was written while the authors were on leave from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.