Factors of regional poverty reduction in Colombia: Do institutional conditions matter?

Colombia has a unique history, which has been heavily conditioned by armed conflict lasting more than 50 years. This study examines the institutional conditions for success and failure in reducing poverty in Colombian departments by considering changes that took place between 2003 and 2014. Fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis identifies the changes in regional conditions that reduce poverty over time. The pathways for poverty reduction are multidimensional, and many involve changes in institutional attributes such as government transparency, absence of violence, and electoral turnout. The framework developed in this paper can be used to monitor necessary and sufficient pathways in regional clusters.     

The impact of child and parental age on protective factors against child maltreatment

Although young age for both the parent and child is implicated in incidences of maltreatment, little is known about the association between parent or child age and protective factors related to child maltreatment prevention. With a sample of parents receiving child maltreatment prevention services in Kansas ( N  = 1993), we used regression analyses to examine whether the interaction of child and parent age influences family‐level protective factors over time. We found mixed support for each hypothesis, indicating that the age of parents and children differentially impacts family‐level protective factors. Implications for the Strengthening Families approach and child maltreatment prevention are discussed.     

Effects of individualised follow‐up on activation programme participants' self‐sufficiency: A cluster‐randomised study

Recent developments within activation policies emphasise tailor‐made and individualised services; however, little is known of what the effects of these initiatives are. The aim of this study was, therefore, to analyse, in a cluster‐randomised design, the long‐term effects of an individualised follow‐up model on welfare recipients' self‐sufficiency. The follow‐up model systematises the work done by social workers within the Qualification Programme, which is a welfare‐to‐work programme in Norway. In the study, 18 labour and welfare offices were randomised to experimental and control groups. The data consist of baseline questionnaires for Qualification Programme participants (n = 617) and follow‐ups based on administrative data at 12, 24 and 30 months after baseline. The results show significant effects of individualised follow‐up on self‐sufficiency at the 30‐month follow‐up and strong positive trends at the 18‐ and 24‐month follow‐ups. Thus, comprehensive and individualised follow‐up of participants within activation programmes seems to generate positive long‐term effects on self‐sufficiency.     

Apprenticeships in homelessness: a quantitative study

Training and education are acknowledged routes into employment, but they also entail risks of contemporaneous financial loss, and economic and social insecurity. This paper explores the specific risk of homelessness among apprentices and trainees, drawing on a survey conducted in South Australia in 2013. Housing has been largely overlooked by studies of the wellbeing of apprentices and trainees, and by explorations of the drivers of attrition rates that continue to plague Australia's training schemes. The data examined here reveal the high proportion of income that trainees spent on their housing; home moves motivated by the desire to reduce rental or mortgage payments; and a small proportion of learners who experienced periods of homelessness. Closer statistical analysis reveals that apprentices and trainees with past experiences of homelessness were disproportionately likely to be pursuing courses in retail and personal services, or in transport. They were also likely to be receiving Youth Allowance or AUSTUDY payments. We recommend better recording of apprentices' and trainees' housing situations and greater use of administrative data to improve our understanding and reduce the incidence of homelessness among this population.     

Trajectories of Internalizing Symptoms From Early Childhood to Adolescence: Associations With Temperament and Parenting

Despite the great number of children affected by anxiety and depression, developmental trajectories of internalizing disorders are not well understood. The current study applied a group‐based modeling approach to examine the interplay between the temperamental trait of negative emotionality and parenting on internalizing symptoms from early childhood to adolescence. Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (N = 881), analyses revealed that a four‐group model best characterized trajectories of internalizing symptoms from the age of 4.5 to the age of 15. Interestingly, children with high negative emotionality were more likely to belong to groups with elevated levels of internalizing symptoms if their mothers exhibited high warmth/sensitivity. Our findings add to the understanding of developmental pathways of internalizing problems from early childhood to adolescence by suggesting that certain combinations of temperament and parenting may increase youth's propensity to develop internalizing problems.     

Preface

Sociological Forum -     

Life‐Course Transitions and the Age Profile of Internal Migration

Despite underlying regularities in the age profile of migration, there is mounting evidence of cross‐national variations in the ages at which migration occurs. Explanations for these differences have variously been sought by reference to cultural, social, and economic factors, and through analysis of reasons for moving. There is also a growing body of work linking migration events to particular transitions in the life course. We set out a conceptual framework that links contextual factors to the age structure of migration through life‐course transitions that act as proximate determinants of the age at migration. We propose metrics to capture the prevalence, timing, and spread of four key life‐course transitions: education completion, labor force entry, union formation, and first childbearing. We then seek to quantitatively establish the link between these indicators and the age and intensity of internal migration at its peak for a global sample of 27 countries. Correlation and factor analysis reveal substantial diversity in the timing and spread of transitions to adult roles, and show that cross‐national differences in the age profile of migration closely parallel variations in the age structure of the life course for over two‐thirds of countries. Migration age profiles are aligned with transitions to adulthood for both sexes but most strongly among women.     

Statistical modeling of selected aspects of the childbearing process with application to world fertility survey countries∗

The childbearing process should be monitored in developing countries experiencing high population growth rates and high levels of maternal and infant mortality. A mathematical model for estimation of certain aspects of the childbearing process, which requires only data on age‐specific fertility rates, is developed. Synthetic maternal childbearing indices, namely, mean ages at first and last birth, length of reproductive life span, inter‐birth spacing, and proportion of childless women, in addition to the well‐known mean age at childbearing, for the WFS countries are obtained using the proposed model. The indices are free from age truncation effects, and, under certain assumptions, provide information about a cohort's completed fertility before the women stop reproducing. The effects of women's residence and education on fertility are also examined.