Family planning in choiseul province,Solomon Islands

The results presented are from a rural prevalence survey on family planning in Choiseul Province, Solomon Islands. Married women aged 15–49 years with at least one living child and married men whose wife met the same criteria, provided data on knowledge, attitudes and practices of contraceptive use. Fifty one per cent of the female sample were using some form of contraception, 26 per cent reversible and 25 per cent non-reversible methods. Sixty-five per cent of men claimed that they or their spouse were using a method of family planning. Tubal ligation was the most common currently used method (25 per cent in the female survey). Desired family size was four for both males and females. Knowledge and approval of family planning was high, with 83 per cent of females and 81 per cent of males knowing of at least one method. Problems in accessing information and services for family planning include cultural and logistical constraints. Religious affiliation was the major variable affecting knowledge, use and approval of contraceptive methods. Nearly a quarter of the sample lived further than two hours travel time from the nearest health clinic supplying contraceptive methods. These clinics often have only an intermittent availability of supplies. A strong interest in family planning was demonstrated by both respondents and service providers.     

Beyond Women,Children, and Families: Gender,Representation, and Public Funding for the Arts*

Objectives. Research on the impact of female legislators has found that in their voting records women in elective office tend to be more liberal and more supportive of issues of concern to women, children, and families than are men, differences that conform to gender stereotypes held by voters. This article examines another well‐established gender stereotype that is not linked to the traditional concerns of women as conventionally defined by scholars: that women in public office will be more supportive of the arts. Method. The 40 votes taken on arts legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1983–2002, are examined using negative binomial regression in a model that includes district and personal characteristics. Results. Democratic Party membership and support, citizen ideology, urban residence, and gender are significant factors in explaining support for public funding for the arts. Female representatives are more likely than their male colleagues to support the arts, a finding that primarily reflects the greater support of Republican women for the arts in comparison with their male counterparts. Conclusion. This study suggests that substantive representation of women by female elected officials may extend to more policy issues than previous research has documented. Research on issues that are recognized as gendered (e.g., arts policy) but are not traditionally defined as women's issues is an area for further exploration.     

The Privatisation of Punishment: A Review of the Key Issues

Both the New South Wales and the Queensland Governments have opened the door to the privatisation of prisons in Australia. The term ‘privatisation’ refers to a range of processes in the financing and provision of corrective ‘services’ to criminal offenders. This paper canvasses the theoretical and policy issues related to the privatisation of prisons. Through a review of the international literature, the author suggests key areas of concern for future policy development and evaluation. The paper concludes with a comparison between the privatisation and the deinstitutionalisation of punishment and outlines the theoretical implications of such a comparison.     

Sex Differences in the Relationship between Military Service Status and Functional Limitations and Disabilities

This paper examines the relationship between military service status (active duty, veteran, never served), sex, and six functional limitations/disabilities using data from the 5% sample of the 2000 U.S. Census. We estimate multivariate logistic regression models separately for men and women, and evaluate sex differences by comparing coefficients across models using a Wald chi-square test and computing predicted probabilities. For both men and women, the highest rates of functional limitation/disability are observed among veterans, while the lowest rates are recorded among active duty personnel. The increased odds of functional limitations/disabilities associated with veteran status is higher among women than men, whereas the decreased odds of functional limitations/disabilities associated with active duty status is lower among women than men. The predicted probabilities, which are based on a subgroup of 40–49 year olds with select sociodemographic characteristics, indicate that veteran women’s probabilities of many types of functional limitations/disabilities equal or exceed those of veteran men. Overall, the findings suggest women experience a more detrimental effect of past military service and a less beneficial effect of current military service. More life course analysis with longitudinal data that accounts for factors that influence sex-differentiation with respect to selection into military service, experiences in the military, and the short- and long-term consequences of military service is needed to fully understand sex differences in the relationship between military service and functional limitations/disabilities.     

Change and Adaptation in Families with Young Carers

Using grounded theory methodology, members of nine families with 'young carers' were interviewed to explore their experiences of caring. A dynamic theory of change and adaptation emerged in relation to changes in who cares within families, in external support and in the attitudes of young carers towards caring. Adaptations included becoming used to the way life is, knowing how to care, balancing and trading off, rewarding care, and anticipating future adaptations. A model has been developed to offer an explanation of factors which influence young caring in families. These include family expectations about caring; who is available to care; the willingness and capability of young carers to help; and the degree of choice or obligation they experience. Formal and informal support services from outside the family, and environmental adaptations, can reduce the amount of family caregiving required, increase choice and contribute to balancing life for carers.     

Retirement and Productive Activity in Later Life

It is commonly believed that as people age and leave the labor force, they disengage from productive activity and become dependent. While consistent with the conventional economic view of what constitutes productive activity, this belief is inconsistent with a more contemporary view that unpaid work (domestic, volunteer, and caring work) is equally economically valuable (i.e., productive). We investigate differences in how people allocate time among productive and other activities pre- and post-retirement. Results indicate that people remain engaged in productive activities even as they move out of the labor force, substituting unpaid for paid work. Only respondents who have exceeded their normal life expectancy greatly reduce their productive activity. Evidence suggests a need to revisit assumptions underlying policy debate on population aging.

Workers' compensation for psychological injury: demographic and work-related correlates

This study aimed to determine the demographic and work-related factors that contributed to the filing of a workers' compensation claim for psychological injury. Four groups of employees were compared: those who filed a workers' compensation claim, those who sought psychological treatment for occupational stress but did not file a workers' compensation claim, those who experienced elevated stress levels but did not seek help or lodge a claim, and those who experienced stressful events at work but did not develop symptomatology. The results indicated few variables that could adequately explain why some stressed employees opted for a workers' compensation claim. The implications of these results are discussed.     

Spatial Redistribution of Poverty through Migration of Poor People to Depressed Rural Communities1

Recent demographic studies document movement of poor people from both urban and rural places to depressed rural communities. Such migration redistributes poverty to rural areas and further concentrates it within them. This article presents a case study of one depressed community in New York that became a migration destination for urban poor people, causing dramatic increases in poverty rate, welfare rolls, and service needs. On-site research showed that the community's attraction was inexpensive rental housing that had become available after loss of manufacturing jobs prompted a middle-class exodus. The lack of jobs was not a deterrent for low-income inmigrants, though, because many of them had limited job skills and other employment barriers and would have had difficulty getting or holding a job anyway. Similar processes of economic decline, population loss, and poverty inmigration appear to be occurring elsewhere also. The article identifies community-level impacts and policy implications; it concludes with suggestions for further research needs.     

The legal status of collective bargaining by public school teachers

This paper examines the characteristics of area populations that predict the content of bargaining legislation for public school teachers. The authors provide evidence suggesting that 1) pro-bargaining legislation is correlated with the representation of union members and related workers who benefit from collective bargaining, and 2) the legislation appears to be demanded by career workers as a means of transferring resources away from teachers with relatively short career horizons. An N-chotomous probit model is used to estimate the form of legislation that ranges from bargaining prohibition to prescribed bargaining. Data for the study were obtained from 95 SMSAs in 35 states. We are indebted to Paul H. Rubin and Elchanon Cohn for their substantial contributions to this project. We also received helpful suggestions from Chris Paul and R. Carter Hill.