Going solo: Findings from a survey of women aging without a partner and who do not have children

Greater longevity in the UK population has led to the increasing diversity of women experiencing aging in a multitude of ways. Internationally, gender inequalities in aging are still relatively invisible within both government policy and everyday life for particular groups of women. This article explores the concept of women growing older “solo”—by which we mean women who find themselves nonpartnered and aging without children as they move into later life. We report on the findings from a mixed-methods survey of 76 solo women in the UK aged 50 years and over, used to provide a broader overview of the issues and challenges they face as they move into later life. Qualitative data from the survey captured respondents’ perspectives about the links between their relationships status and well-being in later life and highlighted specific cumulative disadvantages emerging for some women as a result of their solo lifestyles. We discuss two key themes that were identified, “solo-loneliness” and “meaningful futures,” in conjunction with the relevant literature and make suggestions for future research within gender and aging studies that could enhance more positive approaches to solo lifestyles.     

人口受教育程度对居民消费的影响研究--基于动态面板分位数回归法

本文采用1996～2015年的31个省市自治区宏观数据,使用动态面板分位数回归方法研究人口受教育程度和居民消费的数量关系。研究结果表明,人口受教育程度对消费有着较为显著的影响,且人口受教育程度对中等消费支出水平的影响略大于高、低消费支出水平的影响,这说明中等消费水平的居民消费受到人口受教育程度的影响更加敏感和有弹性。另外,模型中其他各解释变量系数在各分位数上的差异不大,说明这些影响因素对于不同消费支出水平的消费影响没有太明显差异。     

Government Capital,Intimate and Community Social Capital,and Food Security Status in Older Adults with Different Income Levels

Whether government‐based forms of food assistance such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), communal efforts including food pantries, aid from friends and family, or alternative means such as gardening are the appropriate means to reduce the prevalence of household food insecurity is a continuous source of policy contention. To inform this debate, we examine the relative importance of these forms of food assistance and acquisition to a sample of U.S. older adults from the 2010 Brazos Valley Health Assessment of central Texas households that have been stratified by income eligibility for SNAP, low‐income SNAP ineligibility, and above low income status. To identify how membership in these socioeconomic groups constrains household capacity to acquire sufficient food to maintain an adequate and healthy diet, we explore the varied associations of assets received from government; communal and intimate social networks; and alternative food sources such as gardening, hunting, and fishing with household food security across socioeconomic status, while examining the importance of place of residence on the use of capital assets. SNAP participation was the only specific capital asset associated with all levels of food insecurity for both SNAP‐eligible and ineligible low‐income groups, thus emphasizing the continued importance of food assistance among poverty‐level older adults.     

山西省城乡居民收入差距问题研究

文章利用改革开放以来山西省的统计数据,通过对山西省城乡居民收入差距进行历史的、全方位的、多角度的分析,可以看出这一差距从总体上来说是扩大趋势,这种趋势必然会影响改革、发展、稳定的大局。城乡居民收入差距扩大既有我国长期实行的＂二元＂经济结构和现阶段分配制度的影响,又有公共产品供给不平衡和社会保障体系不完善等原因。缩小这种差距,需要采取科学推进新农村建设、完善社会保障体系、进一步减轻农民负担、促进劳动力要素合理流动、进一步加大对农村教育的投入等措施。     

政府智库与民间智库的合作与交流

政府智库与民间智库合作的制度条件主要包括开放的公共决策体制、共同的决策价值基础和对称的资源依赖结构。构建政府智库与民间智库的合作机制,应从以下方面着力：联合成立研究协会,搭建合作的组织平台;围绕研究主题,发挥合作的政策职能作用;成立智库合作发展基金,建立合作项目资助制度;提升研究质量,建立合作项目绩效的综合评价制度。     

Examining the interplay of an organization's prior reputation,CEO's visibility,and immediate response to a crisis

In one of only a few crisis communication research studies taking a relational approach, examining the effects of a company's prior reputation in publics’ responses to a given crisis situation, Lyons and Cameron (2004) found that both reputation and response profoundly affected publics’ attitude and behavioral intentions toward an organization involved in a crisis situation, using hypothetical, fictitious organizations and crises. Using actual organizations and crises, our research team designed a 2 (reputation: good vs. bad) × 2 (crisis response: apologetic vs. defensive) × 2 (CEO visibility in immediate crisis response: visible vs. invisible) within-subjects experiment (N = 102) to examine the variances in stakeholders’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a company after being exposed to online video that delivered a corporate crisis response. Findings were counter-intuitive: a defensive response to a crisis is as acceptable to crisis stakeholders as an apologetic response if the CEO is visible (or audible) in the response and if the pre-crisis company-stakeholder reputation is positive. Good reputation, defensive crisis response and CEO visibility in immediate response to a crisis resulted in the best stakeholder attitudes and purchase intentions.     

新生代农民工群体特征研究

自2010年中央一号文件首次提出“新生代农民工”说法,新生代农民工开始成为社会各界关注的对象,通过梳理相关文献大致可勾画出新生代农民工所谓“四高”、“一低”、“一薄弱”的社会印象和群体特征。相对其他群体来说,新生代农民工受教育水平并不高,对于农民身份认同相对减弱,城市社区认同较高。对于新生代农民工群体特征的研究应该区分农民工的人口学特征与社会特征,并充分认识到新生代农民工群体的异质性,对其定义和特征把握要注意从与周围群体和代际关系中共同考虑。     

Who Among the Elderly Owns Stocks? The Role of Cognitive Ability and Bequest Motive

Conventional advice is to reduce risky investments as one ages. Such a generalized focus on risk avoidance may be inappropriate for elderly with longer life spans and those with financial goals that extend beyond their lifetime. To better understand risky asset holdings among the elderly, we investigated the effect of cognitive ability and bequest motive on stock ownership and stock purchase. Using the 2004 wave of the Health and Retirement Study, we found that one-third of elderly households held stocks and 36% of those elderly stockowners had recently acquired stocks. The respondent??s cognitive ability and bequest motive were strongly related to stock ownership. Among those who owned stock, a bequest motive was positively related to a recent purchase of stocks.     

后穆巴拉克时代的埃及穆斯林兄弟会

穆巴拉克政权倒台后,穆斯林兄弟会成为埃及政坛最具实力的政治力量。它通过组党、组建政治联盟、引导过渡期政治安排等措施,巩固了其在政治格局中的优势地位。由于穆兄会在组织结构、经济实力等方面的优势,加之埃及世俗政治力量的式微,它旗下的自由与正义党有望在议会选举中胜出。迄今为止,穆兄会的政治议程尚不明朗,但政治现实将促使其趋于务实。穆兄会的经济政策与穆巴拉克政权相似,使其难以领导埃及实现经济转型。与此同时,穆兄会的崛起将促进阿拉伯国家伊斯兰党派走向联合,引发阿拉伯世界地缘政治结构的变动。当然,穆兄会上台也为埃及与以色列和美国的关系带来较大的负面影响。