The effect of paid maternity leave on low-income families' welfare use in the US

Despite the critical role that paid maternity leave can assume in the economic lives of low-income families, research to date has paid insufficient attention to whether paid maternity leave reduces welfare use for low-income families. Using the Current Population Survey (CPS) March Supplement 2007–2014 with the difference-in-difference (DiD) technique, this study finds a significant policy effect of paid maternity leave on reducing the probability of using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), TANF benefit amounts and TANF participation length. This study confirms that paid maternity leave is likely to prevent low-income families from using welfare during job interruptions stemming from the birth of a child. Given that TANF is often associated with negative political and social connotations, paid maternity leave can be used as an important social policy to improve economic security as well as offer empowerment in overall social standing for low-income mothers. The discussion focuses on the implications of the findings in a broader context of American welfare states.     

Evaluating social investment in disability policy

Disability policy in European countries is displaying a shift towards social investment: increasing human capital and access to the labour market. The reasoning that underlies this transition is that disabled persons would benefit from mainstream employment, but are impeded in traditional policy by deficiencies in labour supply and demand. However, the shift towards more activating policies in many countries is accompanied by a decline in social protection. It is unclear whether social investment may effectively promote the employment chances of disabled persons within this context. The present research examines this question through a quantitative, cross-sectional, multilevel analysis on microdata from 22 EU countries. Our findings suggest greater activation to predict lower employment chances, while reducing passive support shows mixed effects. Conversely, measures for facilitation in daily life predict greater employment chances, as do measures for sheltered work. These findings raise questions over the value of social investment for disabled persons—and underline the need to overcome broader barriers in the labour market and in society.     

Employers' perspectives on benefit conditionality in the UK and Denmark

This article examines the under-explored demand-side of active labour market policies (ALMPs). Based on interview data from a comparative study of the UK and Denmark, the paper analyses employers' perspectives and experiences of ALMPs. In both countries, employers were favourably disposed towards employing unemployed jobseekers but held negative views on conditionality. First, benefit conditionality led to employers receiving large numbers of unsuitable and unfiltered job applications, with associated negative resource impacts. Second, employers perceived this as a product of ‘box ticking' and compliance targets. Finally, employers criticised policy and media rhetoric for focusing solely on the supply-side and for problematizing unemployed candidates. The paper argues that these crucial, but neglected, employer perspectives demonstrate that the current benefit conditionality regime in the UK risks irrevocably ‘tarnishing' candidates, which undermines, rather than enhances, their chances of securing employment through ALMPs. This unique dataset provides further evidence that the current direction of policy requires urgent and radical re-thinking.     

居民养老保险:参保主体、筹资与待遇水平

本文从参保结构、筹资水平和待遇水平等3个方面对城乡居民养老保险制度进行了分析。研究发现,在参保结构方面,伴随着城镇化率的提高,居民养老保险参保人数的相对比例在下降;在筹资水平方面,个人缴费水平过低,其主要原因是财政补贴资金激励性不足,从而需要在进一步提高财政补贴的同时,优化补贴结构,提高对个人缴费的激励作用;在待遇方面,居民养老金总体水平较低、但增长幅度较大,与职工待遇相比,替代率的差距要远远小于绝对额的差距。     

Grandparents providing care for grandchildren and employment status of grandparents in South Korea

This study examines the association between providing care for grandchildren and the economic status of grandparents, focusing on the employment status. This study asks two questions. First, is providing care for grandchildren related to Korean grandparents’ employment status? Second, are the intensities of providing care for grandchildren related to grandparents’ employment status? In examining these research questions, this study focuses on gender and caregiving intensity. The findings suggest that providing care for grandchildren was associated with Korean grandmothers’ employment status. In addition, there are different relationships between providing care for grandchildren and grandparents’ employment status according to the caregiving intensities.     

“围城”中的“历史人”——论李梅亭与霍华德·科克形象的伦理悖论及镜鉴意义

《围城》与《历史人》都是著名校园讽刺小说.其代表人物李梅亭与霍华德·科克都是生活在动荡时期相对平静的大学校园“围城”中的高级知识分子,他们在日常生活中言与行的矛盾、表与里的抵牾,在职场生涯中道貌岸然的显性身份表象与其庸俗无聊、滑稽可笑的隐性角色扮演形成的伦理悖论,无疑具有强烈的喜剧效果和深刻的反讽性质.由于人物所处经济、政治、文化背景不同,其伦理悖论又各具特点,李梅亭身上散发出陈腐的朱熹式伪道学气息,霍华德·科克则是在激进外表下包裹着极端利己主义.李梅亭与霍华德·科克形象蕴含的伦理悖论在知识分子中具有一定典型性,其形象既为历史存照,也对今天重塑大学灵魂、重塑知识分子健全人格具有一定镜鉴意义.     

人类命运共同体的价值底蕴､文化范式与历史逻辑

推动构建人类命运共同体是新时代坚持和发展中国特色社会主义的基本方略之一,是对全球治理理念和模式的一种革新,是对人类社会发展理念的全新探索。党的十九大提出要“倡导构建人类命运共同体,促进全球治理体系变革”,这既是为全球治理贡献中国智慧与中国方案,也有利于构建具有中国特色的国际话语传播体系,有助于推动建立公正合理的国际新秩序。人类命运共同体的提出致力于全人类参与的共建、共享、共赢的价值导向,以包容互鉴的态度尊重不同文化之间的多样性与差异性,是对人类命运的历史思考,也是对当前全球化深入发展的现实回应。人类命运共同体思想承载着对人类命运的历史思辨,体现了人类对美好生活的向往与追求,成为推动人类文明进步与发展的价值引领。     

Scaling Back and Finding Flexibility: Gender Differences in Parents' Strategies to Manage Work–Family Conflict

Studies show that fathers report work–family conflict levels comparable to mothers. The authors examine gender differences in work‐related strategies used to ease such conflicts. The authors also test whether the presence of young children at home shapes parents' use of different strategies. They address these focal questions using panel data from the Canadian Work, Stress, and Health study (N = 306 fathers, 474 mothers). The authors find that mothers with young children are more likely to scale back on work demands when compared with fathers with young children, but mothers and fathers with older children are equally likely to pursue these strategies. Furthermore, women with young children and men with older children are more likely to seek increased schedule control as a result of work–family conflict when compared with their parent counterparts. The authors situate these findings in the vast literature on the consequences of work–family conflict.     

Maternal Employment,Community Contexts,and the Child‐Care Arrangements of Diverse Groups

Integrating family and child data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort with contextual data from the census, this study examined associations among maternal employment, aspects of communities related to child‐care supply and demand, and the early care and education arrangements of 4 year olds in Mexican‐origin, Black, and White families. Children with employed mothers were more likely to be in informal care arrangements than in early childhood education, regardless of racial/ethnic background. For children in Mexican‐origin families, selection into informal care over early childhood education was more likely in zip codes with greater demand for care as measured by higher female employment. Utilization of parent care versus early childhood education was also more likely for children in Mexican‐origin and Black families in zip codes with higher female employment. Constraints associated with maternal employment thus hindered children from enrolling in early childhood education, and community contexts posed challenges for some groups.