The transition to parenthood in Puerto Rico: Occupational status and the timing of first births

This study examines the relationship between occupational status and fertility timing during a period of rapid development in Puerto Rico. Our fundamental hypothesis is that women with higher status occupations face greater opportunity costs than those with less valued jobs and therefore will be more likely to postpone parenthood until later ages than women without such high costs. We test this hypothesis using event history techniques with data from the 1982 Puerto Rico Fertility and Family Planning Assessment, an island-wide survey of women between the ages of 15 and 49. The analysis examines the effects of occupational status on the timing of first births, and finds strong support for the basic hypothesis, especially regarding the post-ponement of teen births. After the teen years, the effects are less pronounced. Overall, it appears that employment opportunities have played an important role in childbearing decisions in Puerto Rico.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America, Denver, Colorado, 30 April–2 May 1992.     

A Tiered Framework for Risk‐Relevant Characterization and Ranking of Chemical Exposures: Applications to the National Children's Study (NCS)

A challenge for large‐scale environmental health investigations such as the National Children's Study (NCS), is characterizing exposures to multiple, co‐occurring chemical agents with varying spatiotemporal concentrations and consequences modulated by biochemical, physiological, behavioral, socioeconomic, and environmental factors. Such investigations can benefit from systematic retrieval, analysis, and integration of diverse extant information on both contaminant patterns and exposure‐relevant factors. This requires development, evaluation, and deployment of informatics methods that support flexible access and analysis of multiattribute data across multiple spatiotemporal scales. A new “Tiered Exposure Ranking” (TiER) framework, developed to support various aspects of risk‐relevant exposure characterization, is described here, with examples demonstrating its application to the NCS. TiER utilizes advances in informatics computational methods, extant database content and availability, and integrative environmental/exposure/biological modeling to support both “discovery‐driven” and “hypothesis‐driven” analyses. “Tier 1” applications focus on “exposomic” pattern recognition for extracting information from multidimensional data sets, whereas second and higher tier applications utilize mechanistic models to develop risk‐relevant exposure metrics for populations and individuals. In this article, “tier 1” applications of TiER explore identification of potentially causative associations among risk factors, for prioritizing further studies, by considering publicly available demographic/socioeconomic, behavioral, and environmental data in relation to two health endpoints (preterm birth and low birth weight). A “tier 2” application develops estimates of pollutant mixture inhalation exposure indices for NCS counties, formulated to support risk characterization for these endpoints. Applications of TiER demonstrate the feasibility of developing risk‐relevant exposure characterizations for pollutants using extant environmental and demographic/socioeconomic data.     

蒙古——突厥史诗英雄与骏马同时诞生母题的比较研究

蒙古—突厥史诗中的英雄及其骏马有着不同寻常的关系。蒙古—突厥史诗中英雄及其骏马同时诞生母题与英雄的骏马将自己的主人拖出地面的再生母题之间的结构关系。蒙古—突厥史诗中英雄被敌人抛入地下之后英雄的骏马用尾巴把主人从地下拖出地面的母题与英雄的骏马先于英雄的诞生而出生的特异诞生母题之间在结构上存在着一种置换关系。两者都是英雄的诞生仪式。     

基层政府的政策变通逻辑 ——以H县“不再生育合同”为个案

本文通过H县“不再生育合同”的个案分析基层政府在社会治理中的政策变通逻辑。政策变通不是对政策目标的背离,而是为了政策具有可行性。政策变通是社会治理中政策制定上的普遍主义和政策执行上的特殊主义相结合的体现。基层政府政策变通的初始逻辑是为了实现国家的政策目标,政策变通范围的扩散逻辑是为了尊重政策对象的习惯,基层政府不断扩大政策变通适用对象范围是出于自利动机以筹集工作经费,除了以上三种逻辑外,政策变通延续还有一个重要逻辑,即基层政府面临对象要求兑现知情选择法定权利的压力。这些多元复合逻辑驱动的政策变通不仅没有偏离政策目标,反而使取得良好的政策预期效果。     

Not a lonely crowd? Social connectedness,religious service attendance,and the spiritual but not religious

Using the 2006–2014 General Social Survey and 2006–2012 Portraits of American Life Study, I find that on three dimensions of social connectedness: social interaction frequency, core discussion network size, and number of close ties, that religious service attenders are more connected than religious non-attenders and then either spiritual nor religious, but there are few differences between attenders and the spiritual but not religious. Difference-in-differences and fixed-effects models show little evidence that switches between categories are associated with changes in connectedness, and additional models show that prior social connectedness explains only a small amount of future switches. This paper challenges assumptions that the non-religious are a homogenous group lacking the benefits provided though the social networks of religious congregations and has implications for research on what it means to be spiritual, measuring religion and spirituality, and understanding the role of formal organizations in social life.     

Preliminary evaluation of contingent meals and telephone use to improve evidence-supported family therapy session attendance in mothers referred by Child Protective Services for substance abuse

Persons referred by Child Protective Services (CPS) for substance abuse evidence high rates of nonattendance to therapy sessions, taxing systems of care and exacerbating outcomes. This study examined the influence of two telephone-based incentive programs on therapy session attendance in mothers who were referred by CPS for substance abuse. After baseline therapy session attendance was established in an evidence-based clinic that incorporated a telephone engagement intervention (Phase I), participants were provided free cellular telephones with limited minutes and permitted to order free meals delivered by the therapist during upcoming sessions (Phase II). The third phase was similar to Phase II, but participants were provided unlimited minutes. Results indicated that participants’ attendance was significantly improved when meals and cellular telephone minutes were contingent on attendance. Although the percentage of sessions attended by participants during Phase III was higher than Phase II, unlimited minutes and meals did not significantly enhance attendance relative to limited minutes and meals. Session attendance for significant others of these participants was significantly higher during Phase III as compared with Phase I. Session attendance of significant others was statistically similar between Phase I and II and between Phase II and Phase III. Study implications and recommendations for future research and practice are discussed in light of the findings.     

Job loss and family adjustments in work and schooling during the Mexican peso crisis

We use individual data from a panel of families during the depth of the peso crisis in Mexico to investigate whether the transition of the male household head from employment into unemployment affects the labor force participation of his spouse and children. We find that significant added-worker effects are in operation especially for adult females (wives), but no evidence that the labor force participation, the school attendance, and the likelihood of advancing to the next school grade of teenage males are influenced by the event of unemployment of the household head. The head's unemployment is significantly associated with a higher probability that teenage females do not attend school. However, lower attendance does not appear to impede their advancement to the next grade.

论青年女性流动人口初育间隔与人口控制——来自厦门流动人口家庭问卷调查的启示

青年女性流动人口实际生育行为的控制对于人口规模与结构的控制,起着至关重要的作用。而生育时间的选择作为影响流动人口生育实践的一个重要因素,体现在对各孩次生育间隔的控制上。本文在描述分析的基础上,应用Cox比例风险模型,主要对厦门市青年女性流动人口初育间隔的影响因素进行估计和检验,并在总结分析的基础上对流动人口控制问题提出几点对策思考。     

城市较高收入群体生育意愿偏高的现象及其理论解释——基于上海的调查

本文通过在上海市闵行区的实地调查结果,同时结合其他研究文献和社会新闻报道的资料,对发达地区较高收入者生育意愿偏高的现象及其特征进行了总结．并利用伊斯特林相对期群假说对这一现象产生的原因进行了理论分析。     

Presence and process of fear of birth during pregnancy—Findings from a longitudinal cohort study

Background

The prevalence of fear of birth has been estimated between 8–30%, but there is considerable heterogeneity in research design, definitions, measurement tools used and populations. There are some inconclusive findings about the stability of childbirth fear.