Are all jobs created equal? A cross-national analysis of women's employment and child malnutrition in developing countries

Using multi-level models, the analysis examines female employment and child stunting across 49 developing countries. At the country level, female labor force participation is not associated with malnutrition after controlling for economic development. At the individual level, a binary measure of employment is not significantly associated with malnutrition. However, a more nuanced measure of seven occupational categories shows that certain types of employment improve malnutrition. Professional, clerical, sales, and domestic jobs are associated with reduced stunting. These effects are only partially mediated by wealth, perhaps suggesting that some jobs may bring benefits to the household beyond the sheer acquisition of tangible resources. Agricultural jobs are associated with increased malnutrition. Manual labor and service work do not have an effect on malnutrition, compared to unemployment. Thus, women's employment is not necessarily a mechanism for empowerment and wellbeing. Not all jobs are created equal, and many of them do not confer the benefits that are typically associated with working outside the home.     

Lesbian women and household labor division: A systematic review of scholarly research from 2000 to 2015

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have begun to attend to distribution of household labor within same-gender couples compared to heterosexual couples, yet much of the available research with lesbian couples has attempted to superimpose division of household labor frameworks developed with heterosexual couples (e.g., gender role socialization, exchange bargaining theories) to fit the experiences of same-gender couples. Using two academic search databases, the present article provides a systematic review of the available 28 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000–2015 about lesbian partnerships and household labor divisions. Results indicate that lesbian couples engage in a more equal distribution of household labor than heterosexual couples, and that lesbian women often opt to eschew traditional gendered divisions of chores in favor of other factors such as quality of task or ability. The systematic review uncovered notable constraints in the demography of participants (e.g., race, socioeconomic status, geographic location) across studies. Strategies for deepening the depth and breadth of this line of work for future researchers, and implications for relationship satisfaction are also discussed.     

Transnational migration and the commodification of eldercare in urban Ghana

ABSTRACT

Over the past 20 years, organizations to provide commercial nursing services, mainly to the sick and debilitated elderly, have sprung up in Accra, Ghana. This article assesses the degree to which transnational migration has generated social changes in ageing at the level of everyday practices. It argues that a range of social actors differently involved in transnational migration has created and sustained a market for home nursing agencies in Ghana through diverse processes involving the imagination of care work abroad, complex negotiations between the elderly at home and their anxious children abroad, increased financial resources among the middle class and the evaluations of western eldercare services by return and current migrants. These dynamics illustrate the complexity of the role of transnational migration in generating social change and highlight the significance of the needs of local families and the role of the imagination in shaping social remittances from abroad.     

Integrative and Masking Emotion Work: Marital Outcomes Among Dual-Earner Couples

This study redresses a gap in the literature concerning the outcomes of emotion work by exploring how both integrative and masking emotion work relate to marital quality and marital conflict. Using data from a random sample of dual-earner couples in a northeastern city in an upper Midwestern state (n = 99 couples), this study explores the emotion-work performance of each partner. The findings show that men’s integrative emotion work is only significantly associated with men’s marital quality, whereas men’s masking emotion work significantly predicts their partner’s marital quality, men’s marital quality, and men’s marital conflict. Women’s integrative emotion work is significantly associated with women’s marital quality and their partner’s marital conflict, whereas women’s masking emotion work predicts women’s marital quality and marital conflict. Altogether, the findings suggest that considering both masking and integrative emotion work helps gain a fuller understanding of how emotion work shapes marital outcomes.     

Comparing the Experiences of Highly Skilled Labor Migrants in Sweden and Japan: Barriers and Doors to Long-term Settlement

As labor markets become increasingly global, competition among industrialized nations to attract highly skilled workers from abroad has intensified. Spurred by concerns over future economic needs caused by the demographic challenges of an aging population, both Japan and Sweden have joined this global competition. This article examines Japanese and Swedish immigration policies for highly skilled migrants and compares the highly skilled migrants’ experiences in the two countries through interviews with these migrants. Despite Japan and Sweden's completely different approaches to immigration itself, both countries’ policies, as well as the experiences of the skilled migrants, are strikingly similar. Highly skilled migrants experience language barriers and prejudice in both countries, making it difficult to build social networks with natives. Career development seems to be perceived as a common problem, although less so in Sweden, where labor markets are more flexible. Overall, these issues reduce both Japan's and Sweden's ability to retain skilled migrants. While they share similarities, Sweden's famed work–life balance and gender equality give it an edge in the competition for skilled migrants, which Japan does not share. This comparison identifies which social conditions facilitate or impede skilled migrant settlement.     

“非生产性劳动”是对马克思主义的颠覆吗?——论鲍德里亚对马克思主义的曲解

鲍德里亚批判马克思的生产与劳动概念,从根本上否定了马克思主义的逻辑基础,并进而通过当代资本主义的一个现实——劳动的"非生产化"否定了马克思主义批判资本主义的整个逻辑,最后通过所谓的劳动者与工厂的消失彻底颠覆了马克思主义。但是,鲍德里亚对马克思的批判始终是一种无稽之谈和自说自话,他始终没有能够进入马克思的真实语境,因此他所有的发现和批判其实不但没有颠覆马克思主义,相反却进一步证明了马克思主义的科学性与历史穿透力。缺失了马克思的历史辩证法,鲍德里亚只能走向文化虚无主义和悲观主义。     

从交往异化到雇佣劳动批判——赫斯哲学补论

在1844年以前,赫斯将"资产阶级社会"称为"金钱贵族制",并把费尔巴哈对宗教批判的人本主义异化史观直接运用到对现实资产阶级社会的批判中来,提出了所谓货币是人的交往类本质的异化的观点。在他看来,正是这个颠倒的金钱世界,造成了更加普遍的剥削和奴隶制。而在后来的研究中,赫斯开始关注现实中的劳动,但并未用哲学人本主义的逻辑来描述资产阶级社会中的劳动状态,而是使用了比较准确和实证的概念:雇佣劳动和奴隶劳动。     

解读斯密和马克思的劳动分工理论

人类社会经济增长的动力是历代经济学家致力于解释的一个问题。学术界一般认为,该问题的经典解释起源于斯密和马克思的劳动分工理论。按照这一思维线索,首先回顾亚当.斯密(Adam Smith)关于劳动分工的论述,然后介绍卡尔.马克思(Kari Marx)对劳动分工理论的继承和发展,最后在综述和比较的基础上作简要的评论,旨在通过重新解读斯密和马克思的劳动分工理论,对经济增长的原动力有更深入的理解。     

农村剩余劳动力转移对下岗人员再就业的冲击

农村剩余劳动力转移和下岗问题是全社会普遍关注的问题,农村剩余劳动力的转移时下岗职工再就业产生了不少的压力,形成了一种激烈的竞争关系,造成下岗职工再就业难度加大的局面。本文在描述农村剩余劳动力的转移对下岗人员带来冲击的同时,也分析了下岗人员受到冲击的原因。通过对农村剩余劳动力和下岗人员情况分析,意在剖析下岗人员失业的原因以及在市场经济条件下如何缓解农村剩余劳动力转移对下岗职工再就业冲击的问题。     

论我国劳动法立法体系的完善

《劳动法》作为我国劳动法部门的法典形式,由于规制重点不突出,操作性也比较差,已经不能满足经济和社会发展的需要。当前完善我国劳动法的立法体系,应着重做好“进”和“退”两个方面的工作。在“进”的方面,要进行包括《劳动基准法》、《就业促进法》、《集体合同法》、《劳动者薪酬保障法》等在内的单独立法;在“退”的方面,需要把社会保障法从劳动法体系中独立出去。