Managing work and family in home-based employment

Two 10-item scales, one describing the management of the home-based work and the other, the management of the family work, were administered to a sample of household managers who are also the home-based worker. Scale items are designed to assess dimensions of input, planning, implementing, and output.T-tests are used to compare the means of the individual items and the scale means. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to assess whether the factoring of the scale items support the theoretical framework. Scores are higher for the management of the home-based work than for the management of family work. Although both scales are highly reliable, the items in the home-based work scale factor clearly into the dimensions of standard setting and controlling. One interpretation may be that, given a choice, the dual-manager may choose to consciously organize the paid work instead of the family work.This paper reports results from the Cooperative Regional Research Project, NE-167, entitled, At-Home Income Generation: Impact on Management, Productivity and Stability in Rural/Urban Families, partially supported by the Cooperative States Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Experiment Stations at the University of Hawaii, Iowa State University, Lincoln University (Missouri), Michigan State University, Cornell University (New York), The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, Utah State University, and the University of Vermont. Appreciation is expressed to Frank Chiang at Cornell University and Young Rae Oum at Iowa State University for the computer assistance needed to complete this research article. Patsy Sellen was instrumental in formatting and stylizing this paper to required guidelines.Her current research interests include household asset and debt formation, working families and employers' benefits, and home-based employment. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University in 1978.Her current research work includes an analysis of family resource management in Mexico and housing conditions in rural areas. She is also involved in the study of households who work at-home for pay and their associated management practices and coping strategies. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 1970.Her current research work includes such topics as divorce settlements, at-home income generation and management practices of households who are engaged in home-based employment. Her Ph.D. was received from Cornell University in 1978.     

Habitat- and matrix-related differences in species diversity and trait richness of vascular plants,Orthoptera and Lepidoptera in an urban landscape

Urban growth is considered to be a major driver of environmental change. Urbanisation can affect urban biodiversity in different ways. So far, most studies focused on the impact of urbanisation on single taxa in one habitat type. In this study, we used data of species inventories and GIS-based landscape elements to examine the effects of habitat size and landscape composition on the species diversity of three taxonomic groups (vascular plants, Orthoptera and Lepidoptera) in meadows and ruderal sites in the urban region of Basel, Switzerland. We also related the responses of three species traits (body size, dispersal ability and food specialisation) to habitat size in Orthoptera and Lepidoptera. We found that species of the different taxonomic groups differed in their response to habitat size and landscape composition both in meadows and ruderal sites depending on the traits examined. The species richness of Orthoptera and Lepidoptera was positively related to meadow size but not to the size of ruderal sites, while the opposite was true for plants. For Lepidoptera in ruderal sites, the percentage cover of ruderal area in the closer surroundings was a better predictor of species richness than habitat size per se. To sustain high levels of urban biodiversity, we recommend that urban planners develop adequate management strategies to satisfy the different requirements of various taxonomic groups and to increase the quality of green sites surrounding the target habitat.     

Relations Between Economic Well-Being,Family Support,Community Attachment,and Life Satisfaction Among LGBQ Adults

While studies with the general population indicate that one’s life satisfaction is related to economic well-being and social support, much less is known about these constructs among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) populations. The current study examines the relationship between economic well-being and life satisfaction in a sample of 458 LGBQ individuals. Further, the direct and moderating effects of family and community support are examined. As hypothesized, perceived financial stress and proximal family support each had a significant main effect on life satisfaction. Household income (adjusted by number of individuals living in the household) had a non-linear effect on life satisfaction. Community support for LGBQ individuals was not associated with life satisfaction, and the moderating hypotheses were not supported. The findings and the implications for future research are discussed.     

Promoting Well-Being Through Relationship Building: The Role of Smartphone Technology in Foster Care

Mindful of the tremendous risk factors that foster youths encounter, a federal demonstration project sought to increase their protective factors and to mitigate their adverse experiences. The ability to form and maintain healthy relationships is a key protective factor as it helps youths navigate life’s challenges, especially those challenges that result from unresolved loss and grief as a result of being in care. The study was guided by a relational competence framework. The youths were issued smartphones, and their social service providers were given a Web-based application designed to increase communication between the foster youths, their providers, and their mentors. Findings reveal several favorable outcomes associated with the use of the smartphones but also several unintended negative consequences. Recommendations for balancing youths’, caregivers’, and providers’ needs, positions, and rights are discussed. Likewise, the authors discuss the study’s implications for program development that utilizes smartphone technology to increase youths’ ability to experience healthy relationships.     

Birth order and health of newborns

We examine birth order differences in health of newborns and follow the children throughout childhood using high-quality administrative data on individuals born in Denmark between 1981 and 2010. Family fixed effects models show a positive and robust effect of birth order on health at birth; firstborn children are less healthy at birth. During earlier pregnancies, women are more likely to smoke, receive more prenatal care, and are more likely to suffer a medical pregnancy complication, suggesting worse maternal health. We further show that the health disadvantage of firstborns persists in the first years of life, disappears by age seven, and becomes a health advantage in adolescence. In contrast, later-born children are throughout childhood more likely to suffer an injury. The results on health in adolescence are consistent with previous evidence of a firstborn advantage in education and with the hypothesis that postnatal investments differ between first- and later-born children.     

The Importance of Household Management for the Business-Owning Family

The household managerial behavior of 673 business-owning families from the 1997 National Family Business Survey was examined using a scale adapted from Heck, Winter, and Stafford (1992). The scale was reliable and used to compare the managerial behavior of solo- and dual-role holders in the sample. Although t-tests revealed few significant differences between solo- and dual-role holders, factor analyses showed that the two groups differed noticeably in management style. The differences were not in the frequency of use of managerial activities but in which activities were viewed as related by the two groups.