Consumption and Saving Behavior of Older and Younger Baby Boomers in Korea

The 1998 Korean Survey of Family Income and Expenditures was used to examine the overall consumption and saving behavior of Korean baby boomers and compared the differences in consumption and saving behavior between older and younger boomers. The t -test results indicated that the younger boomers allocated a significantly higher percentage of their expenditures on food away from home, household appliances, transportation and communication than did the older boomers, whereas the older boomers spent higher amounts and allocated larger budget shares on their children's education than did the younger boomers. The results of Ordinary Least-Squares (OLS) regression analysis showed that, holding other factors constant, older boomers not only spent significantly more in the total consumption expenditures and education expenditures, but older boomers also saved significantly less than did younger boomers.     

Thank God you're here: the coming generation and their role in future‐proofing Australia from the challenges of population ageing

Like much of the industrialised world, Australia's population is ageing, the implications of which are twofold: increasing demand for publicly funded services and a decline in the supply of prime working‐age people. In grappling with the challenges of a diminishing workforce, the Australian Government is currently relying on its migration programs to provide both the much‐needed labour and skills for the resource boom and also to stimulate the economy through population growth. However, there may be another, not yet fully considered solution to the upcoming demographic problem. This paper investigates how the grandchildren of the baby boomers, termed here the Thank God You're Here generation (Gen TGYH), might impact on Australia's predicted workforce shortage. This generation of workers will enter the labour force as the last of the baby boomers reach retirement age, and will not only be bigger in size than preceding generations (Y, X and Baby Boomers), but also potentially be better educated than the retiring generation. This paper will also canvas the opportunities for both Gen TGYH and employers as well as the challenges for policymakers and governments in maximising the opportunity provided by this generation in the Australian economy.     

从“单独二孩”政策看性别评估机制在公共政策中的缺席与问题

“单独二孩”政策的出台是我国计划生育基本国策调整变化的一个重要转折点,被寄予“稳定适度低生育水平,促进人口长期均衡发展,保持合理的劳动力数量和结构,促进经济持续健康发展”的厚望。但是,育龄女性作为该项新政关联度最高的目标群体,在“单独二孩”政策制定和合法化过程中几乎处于失声状态,政策前评估基本忽略了这部分人群的立场和利益。当下社会现状和性别关系模式下,“单独二孩”政策可能对女性造成加大潜在的生育保障压力、加重养育照料负担、加剧就业困境等负面影响。“单独二孩”政策引发我们思考性别评估机制在公共政策中的缺席和问题。     

‘Back to our Roots?’ Re-visiting psychoanalytically-informed baby and young child observation in the education of student social workers

While there is a well-established literature on psychoanalytically-informed baby and young child observation in social work education, little has been published recently. This paper reviews the rationale for its use, evaluating its impact on students’ learning in the light of contemporary policy and practice contexts facing social work education. Analysis of feedback gained from a recent cohort, identifies three ways in which learning through baby and young child observation contributes: firstly, students encounter and learn about the complexity of child development from the direct experience of observing and secondly, observing facilitates the development of important skills for practice; students’ ‘use of self’. Thirdly, through observing, students describe how they develop the capacity to take-up and sustain a professional role. Well-structured teaching and learning through observation is therefore shown to provide a rigorous, theoretically-grounded contribution to the training of university-based social work students entering this complex and challenging professional field.     

Bisphenol A: How the Most Relevant Exposure Sources Contribute to Total Consumer Exposure

Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disrupting chemical that is found in human urine throughout industrial societies around the globe. Consumer exposure pathways to BPA include packaged food, household dust, air, and dental fillings. To date, information on the relative contribution of the different pathways to total consumer exposure is lacking, but is key for managing substance‐associated risks. We investigated the relative contributions of the pathways known to be most relevant for nine different consumer groups. Our results suggest that the most important pathways for infants and children are the use of polycarbonate (PC) baby bottles and for adults and teenagers the consumption of canned food. Dental surgery can also considerably contribute over a short time directly after the surgery. For infants fed with PC baby bottles with mean dose rates of 0.8 μg/kg_bw/d the highest exposure dose rate was calculated. This dose rate is far below the tolerable daily intake of 50 μg/kg_bw/d. However, it is of the same order of magnitude as recently reported concentrations that caused low‐dose health effects in rodents. We find a pattern of falling exposure levels with rising age that is supported by urinary concentrations of BPA available for selected consumer groups. Similarly, the exposure levels we predict are confirmed by the levels reported in these studies.     

Anticipation of Retirement Among Baby Boomers

ABSTRACT

A total of 32 interviews were conducted with women in academia who were born between 1946 and 1964. Twenty-one of these interviews were completed with academic women in the United States. and eleven with academic women in New Zealand. The data were analyzed to determine what these “baby boomers” anticipate for their retirement as well as their concerns about facing retirement. Cohort and cross-cultural comparisons were made. The authors identified common themes in the interviews. These included rejection of the traditional definition of retirement, anticipated age at retirement determined by personal needs rather than age-graded societal norms, retirement projected to be an active period involving a mix of work and leisure activities, and major concerns, about health and health care, the availability of entitlements and finances. The findings from this study indicate baby boomers are forging a new path for retirement. Further research investigating the transition for women of the baby boom generation from worker to retiree may open windows into the future of retirement for women.     

略论原始民族在生育过程中的饮食禁忌

饮食是人类生存和繁衍的首要物质基础。饮食文化比起器物文化来,它的社会学和心理学的因 素更为显著。原始民族在生育过程中所施行的饮食禁忌,特别是父亲的饮食禁忌是原始民族利用交感巫术给 予妻子心理上的安慰和鼓励,籍巫术的感应力以求母婴的平安、种族的繁衍。     

三峡移民生育意愿探析

对三峡移民生育意愿实地经验调查的基础上 ,着重分析了个体因素、社区因素与生育意愿存在的相关性。分析结果表明 ,社区因素在移民生育意愿的形成中可能具有更深层的影响力 ,在我们的移民人口管理工作中 ,应当注重从社区整合的角度出发改变人们传统的生育观念。     

《蝉歌》的诗性解读

王敦贤的散文笔意洒脱,恣意汪洋,深得庄子遗风,有非常浓郁的地域色彩。其散文集《蝉歌》是一部抒写心灵的美妙之歌,作者通过对自然、对生活、对故乡的独特体验的透视,体现了深刻的哲理内涵、质朴的赤子情怀和逍遥的审美观照。文本充分展示了深厚的哲学底蕴和对生命本体的关注,呈现出一种个性十足的艺术化内在世界。