Consumption and poverty in the homes of the English poor,c. 1670–1834

The consumer behaviour of the poor in the long eighteenth century has attracted more historical attention in recent years. Yet, we have little understanding of whether regional factors affected consumption or how the poor’s ownership of household goods was influenced by level of poverty and the life-cycle. By focusing on Kent and drawing comparisons to other counties, this article argues that the material lives of the poor were improving by the late eighteenth century, but finds that there were distinct regional differences as the poor acquired more and better goods in London and the Home Counties than in relatively remote areas. Moreover, by using pauper inventories and labourers’ probate inventories, the research finds that the poor were not a homogeneous group with similar levels of material wealth, but should be considered in terms of different subgroups which often led very different material lives to one another due to life-cycle-related problems including sickness and old age. Labourers’ probate inventories are found to represent a minority of the poor who were materially richer than most, whilst pauper inventories appear to represent a more typical subgroup of the poor that struggled to make do and owned most types of goods in smaller numbers.     

Using a Person-Centered Approach to Examine the Impact of Homelessness on School Absences

Brought on by increasing levels of economic vulnerability, homelessness is a pressing issue for our schools. Homeless students often miss an inordinate amount of school days and are thought to fall at the farthest end of a “continuum of poverty.” Theoretically they have worse outcomes than their peers, though the past 20 years of literature have found inconsistencies in these comparisons. Thus the literature suggests analysis to compare types of students based on outcomes rather than demographic categorizations, a person-centered approach. Using this approach, a comparison of the number of absences for homeless students and their housed peers is made through quantile analysis. Using school administrative data collected over one school year for an entire school district we found that homeless students as an aggregate do not miss significantly more days of school than their poorest peers. However, we found homelessness and poverty dramatically increase the number of absences for children who are in the higher percentiles of absences meaning homelessness has a greater impact on those who miss more days of school in general compared to regular attendees. Findings from this study indicate that homelessness may exacerbate problems rather than cause them. Implications for practice are discussed and directions for future study are proposed.     

Intraindustry division of labor: The states of Mexico

Measures of occupational differentiation in each of eight industries vary markedly among the states of Mexico, a finding that is construed as evidence of territorial divergence in economic development. The relation among states between the relative size of an industry and the amount of occupational differentiation is direct for some industries but inverse for others. The interpretation is that industry size and intraindustry division of labor are directly related only to the extent that the labor force is concentrated territorially. Findings for the states of Mexico 1950 and 1960 are consistent with the interpretation.     

Prevalence of clinical autistic traits within a homeless population: barriers to accessing homeless services

ABSTRACT

Recent research suggests a high prevalence rate of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) amongst the homeless population. Although, it is well-documented that autistic people experienced many barriers to accessing health services, little is known about their challenges in accessing homeless services. Thus, the present study aimed to measure prevalence of high levels of autistic traits, and to identify barriers that prevent autistic people accessing homeless services. Participants recruited from homeless services (n?=?65) completed the Autism Quotient-10 (AQ-10) alongside a questionnaire regarding perceived accessibility of homeless services. Results revealed that 18.5% of participants scored Above the Clinical Threshold of the AQ-10 (ACT-AQ). Moreover, the ACT-AQ group reported that encountering big groups in shared accommodation represent a significant barrier to engaging with homeless services. Further research is needed to identify the full degree of ASC representation and the factors that might prevent autistic homeless people accessing homeless services, and thus overcoming homelessness.     

Embracing inclusive excellence: Asian and Asian American college students

ABSTRACT

This study aims to understand the importance of embracing and promoting inclusiveness in higher education as a path to academic excellence. As student populations become increasingly diverse and higher education faces significant challenges at home and abroad, cultural competence – understanding the specific culture, language, social, and economic status of people-, becomes more important than ever before because a sense of belonging is essential for students. This study is to re-envision diversity and practice our commitment to inclusive excellence-both preparing students with a quality learning opportunity and facilitating a sense of belonging by providing an embracing environment on campus.     

Research Selectivity, Managerialism, and the Academic Labor Process: The Future of Nonmainstream Economics in U.K. Universities

This paper reports the results of empiricalresearch designed to explore the impact of researchselectivity on the work and employment of academiceconomists in U.K. universities.Research selectivityis seen as part of the general trend towardmanagerialism in higher education in both the U.K. andabroad. Managerialism based on performance indicatorsand hierarchical control has been contrasted withcollegiate control-based or informal peer review. However,analysis of the academic labor process has idealizedcollegiate relations at the expense of professionalhierarchies and intellectual authority relations. We argue that in the U.K., there has evolved amainstream economics which is located within awell-defined neoclassical core. We find that theexistence of lists of core mainstream journals which arebelieved to count most in the periodic ranking exerciseposes a serious threat to academic freedom and diversitywithin the profession, institutionalizing the controlwhich representatives of the mainstream exercise over both the academic labor process and jobmarket. In this way, managerialism combines with peerreview to outflank resistance to new forms ofcontrolling academic labor at the same time asreinforcing disciplinary boundaries through centralizedsystems of bureaucratic standardization andcontrol.