The Psychological Impact of Work Re-entry Training for Female Unemployed Sole Parents

This study examined the psychological effects of short ‘re-entry to the workforce’ courses on the population of female sole parents, neglected in previous unemployment research. The data for the study were obtained from 118 female sole parents participating in the course, who were compared with a waiting list control group at the beginning and end of the course, and at a follow-up four weeks after the course had ended. Results indicated that the course produced decreases in depressive affect, negative mood and minor psychiatric symptomology. On all psychological measures, increases in well-being were shown to be maintained several weeks after the course had ended. It was concluded that the course offered significant and enduring psychological benefits to participants.     

Collective identities,women's power resources,and the making of welfare states

Theory and Society -     

Attitudes and behavioral intentions about abortion

This paper examines the extent to which there may be differences in attitudes toward abortion and intentions when one is faced with making an abortion decision for oneself. Data from a 1977 national survey were used. The results indicated that while such differences existed only on a limited scale in medically indicated situations of abortion, discretionary situations had a sizable proportion of respondents who would approve of abortion for others but would not opt for abortion themselves. The differences in attitudes and intentions were affected by sex, religious behaviors, ideological dimensions of fertility, sexual permissiveness, and freedom of expression.     

Socio-Economic Status and Changing Work Attitudes in High School Students

Two samples of South Australian high school students were surveyed, one in 1980 and one in 1986. The 1986 students displayed greater optimism about their prospects of obtaining satisfactory employment despite the fact that official statistics show that the rate of youth unemployment did not decline between 1980 and 1986. The increased optimism, along with a greater willingness to stay longer at secondary school, to undertake tertiary study and to upgrade qualifications was apparent mainly in the students of low socio-economic status and represented a shift in their work attitudes towards those displayed by the students of higher socio-economic status. It is suggested that the students of low socio-economic status had become aware of the importance of qualifications in securing satisfactory employment and their increased optimism was realistically based on a determination to acquire those qualifications.     

Socio-economic resources and first-union formation in Finland, cohorts born 1969-81

Social scientists generally agree that better individual economic prospects enhance the probability of marriage for men, whereas there are conflicting views with regard to women. Moreover, it is argued that cohabitation does not require as strong an economic foundation as marriage. The aim of this study, which was based on Finnish register data, was to find out how the socio-economic resources of young adults affect first-union formation, and whether the effects vary by sex or union type. The results show that high education, labour-force participation, and high income seem to promote union formation. The findings are similar for women and men, which is plausible given the comparatively gender-egalitarian societal context. Similar factors encourage entry into both union types, although the union-promoting effects of university-level education and stable employment are stronger in the marriage models, suggesting that long-term prospects are more important when marriage is contemplated.     

Socioeconomic Resources and the Dissolution of Cohabitations and Marriages

A large body of research focuses on the (socio)economic antecedents of marriage dissolution. Less is known about the factors that affect the stability of cohabitations. The focus in this study, which is based on Finnish register data, is on whether the socioeconomic resources of the partners affect the stability of cohabitations and marriages in a similar way. According to the results, a lower level of education, unemployment (of the man in particular) and the male partner’s (or the couple’s) low income increased dissolution rates in unions of both types. The stabilizing effects of each partner’s high educational level as well as the male partner’s employment and high income were stronger in marriages. The union types also seemed to differ in that the separation-promoting effect of the female partner’s high (absolute or relative) income was stronger in marriages, but high-income women are few and the interactions between union type and the income of the female partner were statistically insignificant. The overall conclusion is that in the Finnish context, the socioeconomic antecedents of union dissolution are remarkably similar in cohabitations and marriages, but socioeconomic resources are somewhat more important for the stability of marriages. Only weak support was found for the idea that cohabitations are more compatible with income equality.     

THE EFFECT OF INSURANCE COVERAGE ON PREVENTIVE CARE

Despite the growth in health insurance products that differentially cover preventive care and nonpreventive care, little is known about how preventive care utilization responds to targeted changes in coverage. Using administrative data from a large company, this paper examines the implementation of an insurance benefit design which differentially increased the price of nonpreventive care while decreasing the price of prevention. Leveraging a difference‐in‐differences research strategy, we find that preventive care utilization did not increase and even declined due to the differential price change. This evidence indicates a meaningful negative cross‐price effect, suggesting that nonpreventive care and preventive care are complements. (JEL I13, I11)     

Disparities in Children’s Family Experiences by Mother’s Socioeconomic Status: The Case of Finland

A well-known argument claims that socioeconomic differentials in children’s family structures have become increasingly important in shaping child outcomes and the resources available to children in developed societies. One assumption is that differentials are comparatively small in Nordic welfare states. Our study examines how children’s experiences of family structures and family dynamics vary by their mother’s educational attainment in Finland. Based on register data on the childbearing and union histories of women in Finland born from 1969 onwards, we provide life-table estimates of children’s (N?=?64,162) experiences of family dissolution, family formation, and family structure from ages 0–15 years, stratified by mother’s education level at the child’s birth. We find huge socioeconomic disparities in children’s experiences of family structures and transitions. Compared to children of highly educated mothers, children of mothers with low levels of education are almost twice as likely to be born in cohabitation and four times as likely to be born to a lone mother. They are also much more likely to experience further changes in family structure—particularly parental separation. On average, children of low-educated mothers spend just half of their childhood years living with both their parents, whereas those of high-educated mothers spend four-fifths of their childhood with both parents. The sociodemographic inequalities among children in Nordic welfare states clearly deserve more scholarly attention.