Life Chances Research Articles

Life Chances, Subjective Perceptions, and Healthy Lifestyles in Older Adults: Longitudinal Evidence From China.

Previous studies and theories show that healthy lifestyles are affected by life chances and subjective perceptions. However, it remains unclear how older adults change between different lifestyle profiles as they age. We proposed the healthy lifestyle duality framework and tested it among older Chinese adults using a longitudinal design. Data were obtained from 4 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Surveys conducted between 2008 and 2018 (N = 31,445). Latent transition analysis and hierarchical multinomial growth curve models were performed to investigate healthy lifestyle profiles and their associations with life chances and subjective perceptions over time. Four distinct healthy lifestyle profiles were identified: healthy, risky, low-standard, and mixed groups, and their changes show path dependency. Across 10 years, the proportion of the healthy group ranged from 11.16% to 16.97%. Both life chances and subjective perceptions were longitudinally associated with healthy lifestyles, with age and cohort effects observed. Our findings support the healthy lifestyle duality framework and reveal that life chances and subjective perceptions influence lifestyle changes over time. Public health policies and health intervention programs should adapt to the specific needs of different age groups and generations.

ANALISIS PREMI TAHUNAN INDIVIDU DENGAN MANFAAT YANG DIBAYARKAN PADA AKHIR TAHUN KEMATIAN

Life insurance is an insurance product that provides guarantees in the form of benefits to the insured's family if the insured dies in the future. The amount of this benefit is influenced by the amount of the annual premium paid by the insurer to the insured. The researcher will calculate the amount of the individual's annual premium on endowment insurance. The researcher will use a fixed interest rate to calculate the discount factor and the Gompertz distribution approach to calculate the insurer's chance of survival. Previously, the researcher will estimate the Gompertz distribution parameters using the Maximum Likelihood Method (MLE) based on the 2011 Indonesian Mortality Table (female). Furthermore, the researcher will calculate the insurer's chance of survival using the Gompertz distribution to obtain the actuarial present value of the initial term annuity and the actuarial present value of the endowment life insurance. In addition, the researcher will calculate the comparison of the present value of the endowment life insurance to the present value of the life annuity. The last step is that the researcher will multiply the comparison of this present value by the benefits received to calculate the amount of the individual's annual premium. The calculation results show that the comparison of the present value of dual-purpose life insurance to the present value of a living annuity is getting smaller as the policy coverage period increases. As a result, the amount of the individual's annual premium will also be smaller. This shows that the amount of the annual premium is influenced by interest rate factors, the insurer's life chances, and the length of the coverage period.

Population Checks and Natural Laws: Malthus, Climate Determinism and Emigration

Through the lens of emergent laws of climatology developed to advance the scientific foundations and popular reach of practical meteorology in the nineteenth century, this article examines the checks on population and the global movement of people linked to reoccurring climate patterns and abnormal climatic events. Meteorological research contributed to debates within political economy and the public health movement, and to the disputed moral rationale for poor law reform. Scientific authority for this new analysis rested on a network of personal, religious, and professional links between T.R. Malthus, Thomas Chalmers, Francis Jeffrey, David Brewster, James D. Forbes, James Stark, Edwin Chadwick and William Pulteney Alison. The work of climate determinists argued that several causations were simultaneously affecting the nation’s vital statistics. The potential advantage to health from moving on a permanent basis to a more salubrious climate was explored. Adding further to the conundrum of colonisation, and the case for assisted migration, the laws of climatology offered reasons why any migrants pulled into parts of urban and Highland Scotland by freed resource – the vacuum effect – would still experience a positive Malthusian check on their life chances.

BEYOND GROWTH: SHIFTING THE PARADIGM BY EMBRACING MATURITY

For many years in the twentieth century, economic growth was synonymous with progress. In the twenty-first century, growth still holds a central place in the concept of development in Western societies, despite being identified as a fetish or an ideology, and its limits having been recognised for decades. Most recently, new debates on the need to develop a paradigm not exclusively based on growth have emerged again in Europe. Scholars have been reflecting on the idea of “beyond growth”, proposing models for new green growth, advocating for degrowth, or suggesting a radical evolution of growth. Next to these perspectives, this contribution suggests that the concept of maturity could successfully shape a new narrative on “beyond growth”. To better describe the idea of maturity, which implies that development is possible without necessarily entailing expansion, two cases are analysed. At the macro level, the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act demonstrates that a new economic approach is possible, featuring bold investments in clean energy. However, the paradigm shift toward a system that does not revolve around growth is not yet in sight in this case. Conversely, at the micro level, the analysed case of some Italian winemakers illustrates what it truly means to value maturity in business activities. Beyond these two cases, further opportunities for alternative development are explored, focusing on digital transformation. It is framed as an opportunity for increased life chances while acknowledging that the same old capitalist logic remains deeply entrenched in it and may jeopardise the opportunities.

In Transit: The Making of Urban Migrants in India

The neo-liberal transformation of India was aided by the restructuring processes launched by the SAP in 1991 and brought the open market to the centre of economic imagination for new India. As the Indian economy opened up to the global financial capital systems and the private sector expanded, a large proportion of labour was relocated to the private, unorganized sector in India. This sector swallowed a majority of the migrant population that was flowing into the urban centers of India. The “middle class aspirations” that the migrants to the cities harbored materialize as a part of the larger neo-liberal aspiration of being upwardly mobile and living a ‘good life’. Based on an ethnographic study conducted in two phases, this paper accounts the narratives of men and women migrants who are employed in the various service sector units of two shopping malls in the city of New Delhi. This paper maps the diversity in the migrant experience by comparing the experiences of two distinct groups of migrants employed in these sectors in India- the indigenous migrants from North East India and the migrants from the rural hinterlands of North India. By comparing the narratives of two groups of migrants my paper tries to argue that in addition to education and credentials, classifications of caste, community and ethnicity play an important role in determining ‘life chances’ and employment opportunities for migrants in urban India.

Poverty proofing healthcare: A qualitative study of barriers to accessing healthcare for low-income families with children in northern England.

Poverty impacts negatively on children's health and future life chances. Access to the UK's National Health Service (NHS) is based on clinical need rather than the ability to pay but horizontal inequities in access exist. Children North East, a charity supporting children experiencing poverty, are working with partners to reduce the impacts of poverty on NHS access. This collaborative study aimed to understand barriers to healthcare access faced by families living on low incomes to validate and support further development of a Poverty Proofing© healthcare tool. Twenty-four parents and eight Voluntary Community Social Enterprise sector staff participated in qualitative interviews or focus groups. Data were analysed thematically, and three main themes were identified as impacting access to healthcare: hidden costs, securing appointments and developing relationships with healthcare providers. We conclude that low-income families experience both financial and other barriers to accessing NHS healthcare and that these barriers are exacerbated for low-income families living in remote/rural areas.

Unpacking State Production of Temporal Dispossession: The Intersections of Labour, Asylum and Informalization in Sweden

Using the analytical frame of ‘temporal dispossession’, in the present article, I examine lived experiences of navigating the state production of informalization. This is connected to the increasingly blurred lines between migration regimes and labour market politics in Sweden. With temporary residence permits having become the new norm for asylum policies in Sweden, time and labour market productivity are central to the distribution of vulnerability and life chances, as labour market participation functions as the only means of qualifying for permanent residence. Theoretically engaging with ‘temporal dispossession’ and racial capitalism, I highlight how dispossession operates in and through the border regime, specifically through temporal governance, and how the latter is weaponized to dispossess people of their life chances. Empirically, I focus on how the interlocutors inhabit, negotiate, and defy the precarization of asylum through their labour market participation. Their work, however, is marked by super-exploitation, as they are pushed to the margins of the labour market, often in informalized, underpaid, or unpaid positions with the promise of future employment and stability. The analysis focuses on the strategies of defiance enacted by the interlocutors and their different ways of interrogating contemporary capitalist formation through their experiences of devaluation at the intersection of asylum and labour.

Housing, debt, and credit score classification situations: what the unique ‘situation’ of mortgage prisoners reveals about contemporary class inequality

ABSTRACT The expansion of debt-leveraged homeownership in Anglo-capitalist economies – including the US, UK, and Australia – has created powerful stratifying effects, which prevailing critical Marxist and asset-based stratification accounts assert are reconfiguring class inequalities. While the Marxist account contends that altered class relations are centred on bifurcations between creditors and debtors, the asset-based one constructs typologies of differing relationships to asset ownership. This paper challenges this for insufficiently acknowledging the role of classificatory credit scoring systems within credit markets in unequally shaping access to debt and subsequently, housing; and the interest-bearing consequences. Drawing on a qualitative case study of 28 interviews with ‘mortgage prisoners’, existing borrowers unable to remortgage even if up to date with payments, and proceeding in close conversation with Fourcade and Healy's notion of ‘classification situations’, I examine how mortgage prisoners’ credit score situation impacts their capacity to (re)access debt-leveraged housing. The results demonstrate: mortgage prisoners’ credit score situation dominates their experience of homeownership; many are hyperaware of their credit score and internalise its moralistic valuation; and some are resigned to or defeated by its apparent impermeability. Examining the mortgage prisoners’ case enhances critical Marxist and asset-based accounts by highlighting the complexity of financialised housing systems and how it impacts stratification and life chances.

Protagonists as the basic actors of contemporary international relations

The relevance of the article is due to the new correlation of sociopolitical actors in the strategy of major civilizations. The purpose of the article is to substantiate the new balance of power on the world stage. The article analyzes such basic parameters of the alignment of socio-political actors as the own defense forces of country-civilization, shows the unity of the basic interests of the majority of workers in all civilizations, which provides solid life chances for their inhabitants. The concepts of progressive and reactionary protagonists are revealed. The article highlights the indigenized strata of the population in the main civilizations that contribute to progressive protagonists. The vector of historical development and the degree of stability of international relations are studied depending on the number of protagonists (in the case of monopolization of world politics by one actor, with the duality of protagonists and in the case of protagonists` pluralization).

Towards the privileging of care-experienced children and young people’s educational and other ‘life chances’ within social work practice and education

Care-experienced children and young people frequently face adverse ‘life chances’ when compared to their peers. Their life-course trajectories typically include numerous personal, structural and culturally determined challenges set from a young age. Social workers in the UK now play a minimal role in direct support for young people and are instead encouraged to focus on short-term priorities, safeguarding investigations and monitoring ‘risky’ working-class parents. This article considers some explanations and evidence offered for educational and other inequalities experienced by care-experienced children and young people, and highlights specific issues regarding ongoing neoliberal reforms of social care. Case examples relating to criminal justice, asylum-seeking children and sexuality are then briefly discussed. The conclusion draws from evidence to identify some recommendations that may help improve care-experienced children and young people’s full learning potential. This includes moving away from the current neoliberal-inspired short-term focus placed on managing risk and towards the provision of more contextual and meaningful support.

Social care in childhood and adult outcomes: double whammy for minority children?

Background Children in social care report poor outcomes in many aspects of their later lives. Less is known about differences by ethnicity. Objective We examined the health, socio-economic, family and living arrangements across the first three decades of adult life by the intersection of ethnicity (White, Black, South Asian) with social care. Participants and setting Linked census and life events data for a 1% sample of the population of England and Wales in the ONS Longitudinal Study. Participants were dependent children in 1971–2001 (analytic sample n = 669,474). Methods Categorical regression models compared health, socio-economic circumstances, living arrangements and relationships, controlling for country of birth, childhood census year, childhood and adult age in years, gender, and head of household social class, qualifications, employment status and marital status. Results Adverse adult outcomes following social care in childhood were conditional on the interaction of social care with ethnicity, mainly in the socio-economic domain. For some outcomes the White group had the poorest outcomes: for example, 15% lower probability of being employed than other White people (65% versus 80%). Black adults with a history of social care did not differ from other Black adults, except for the lowest probability of acquiring their own home, while care-experienced South Asian adults did not differ from other South Asian adults. Conclusion Minority ethnicity moderated the social care to adult outcomes relationship in both positive and negative ways. Overall, there was little evidence of intersectionality for Black children in social care affecting their life chances.

The invention of race and the persistence of racial hierarchy: White privilege, White supremacy, and White colorblindness

AbstractGiven the long history of contention over the meaning of race and the continued discomfort about what role it plays in the structure of inequality, I endeavor to clarify the origins of the association of race with skin color and other physical features by briefly discussing the historical record by which race became codified in law. My focus is the U.S. and specifically Colonial Virginia, where the codification of racial categories in law was especially consequential. I also discuss the existence of a racial hierarchy in which Whites are dominant and Nonwhites of various types are subordinate. I argue that the continued existence of this racial hierarchy not only has a legacy from the past, but it is reproduced in the present and continues to have major effects on the life chances of those thought of as belonging to different racial groups. I also discuss the elasticity, ambiguity, and contested nature of racial classifications, as well as the internal differentiation among those thought to belong to the same racial groups and the changes and variations over time that are continually remaking the meaning of race. Because of the political significance of race, I also clarify the meaning of key concepts that have been receiving recent attention: White privilege, White supremacy, and White colorblindness. Finally, I discuss race as a process rather than as a classification and briefly discuss how Whites and men can become allies, advocates, and activists in support of social justice.

Our First Experience with Transplantation – A Case Report

Goal: Transplantation is the medical procedure of transplanting an organ from a living or deceased person into the body of a recipient whose organ is severely and irreversibly damaged. In this way, the recipient's survival rate and quality of life are improved. Heart transplantation is a revolutionary procedure that provides a new chance for life to patients with serious heart diseases. It represents a great challenge both for the patient and for the entire healthcare system. We aim to provide a comprehensive account of our first heart transplant experience. Through a detailed analysis of the case report, we will present the challenges we encountered, the successes we achieved, and provide a deeper insight into the entire process of heart transplantation from the perspective of nurses.

Family Functioning, Identity Commitments, and School Value among Ethnic Minority and Ethnic Majority Adolescents.

Ethnic minority youth show worse school adjustment than their ethnic majority peers. Yet, it remains unclear whether this gap can be explained by differences in family functioning and consequent identity commitments. This study examined (1) whether family functioning relates to identity commitments over time and (2) whether identity commitments impact later school value (3) among minority and majority adolescents. Minority (N = 205, Mage = 16.25 years, 31.1% girls) and majority adolescents (N = 480, Mage = 15.73 years, 47.9% girls) participated in this preregistered three-wave longitudinal study (T1: March-April 2012; T2: October 2012; T3: March-April 2013). Dynamic Panel Models revealed that most within-person cross-lagged associations were not significant in the total sample. Yet, multigroup analyses revealed differences between groups: Stronger identity commitments related to lower school value among minority adolescents, but were unrelated to school value among majority adolescents over time. Additionally, higher school value increased identity commitments among minority youth, yet it decreased identity commitments among majority youth over time. The findings highlight the differential interplay between identity commitments and school adjustment for minority and majority adolescents, with important implications for their future life chances.

Nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness: A multi-national comparison.

INTRODUCTION: Stigmatizing attitudes perpetuated by nursing professionals are a pervasive problem for people experiencing mental health issues. This global issue has detrimental consequences; inhibiting one's life chances and help-seeking behaviours. To date, few studies have compared nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness from a multi-national perspective. To compare undergraduate nursing students' attitudes towards mental illness across six countries: Australia, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and USA. In a cross-sectional design, data were collected from undergraduate nursing students (N = 426) using the Social Distance Scale. A one-way analysis of variance was used to compare differences between countries. Nursing students' attitudes to mental illness differed between countries. Social Distance Scores were highest amongst nursing students from Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Students from Taiwan and India possessed moderate stigma scores. Social Distance Scores from the USA and Australia were lowest. Clear differences in stigmatizing attitudes emerged between countries; these are discussed in relation to possible cultural influences. It is suggested that educating nurses, combined with direct contact with people with lived experiences of mental illness, can reduce stigmatizing attitudes regardless of country, location or educational institution.

LIFE CHANCES AND STRUCTURAL INEQUALITY

The article delves into the historical trajectory of global inequality, tracing the transition from an era of relative equality to the emergence of profound disparities following the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the West. It scrutinizes the Eurocentric narrative of progress, emphasizing the pivotal role of scientific advancements, technological innovations, and capitalist expansion in shaping the Western ascendancy. Furthermore, it explores the concept of life chances as a lens through which to analyse structural inequality and the distribution of resources among individuals. The discourse extends to the revaluation of values in the context of sustainability, advocating for a shift towards a more sustainable and equitable societal framework. The paper underscores the enduring challenges posed by durable inequality and the allure of the Western lifestyle to less privileged regions. Through a multidisciplinary lens encompassing historical, sociological, and ecological perspectives, it offers insights into the complexities of global development, social stratification, and the quest for a more just and sustainable world order.

Age Differences in Unemployment Risk and Reemployment Outcomes in Late Working Life in Sweden

ABSTRACT Participation of older workers in the labor market depends, among other things, on older workers employment chances. This study examines age differences regarding risk of unemployment and reemployment outcomes in late working life in Sweden. Using Swedish registry data, we analyzed the probability of unemployment as well as work-related activity following unemployment (wage- or self-employment; exit; downward mobility) of all people born between 1954 and 1968 (aged 49–63) and registered in Sweden between the years 2012 and 2018. Results show that although risk of unemployment does not differ significantly across age groups, younger age groups are more likely to be reemployed as wage-employed while older age groups are more likely to be reemployed as self-employed or exit working life. After an unemployment period, older employees are more likely to have a lower wage than during their previous employment or become part-time unemployed. We conclude that different age groups have unequal chances in late working life in terms of reemployment, risk of exit, and risk of downward mobility following unemployment. Policies for extending working life and promoting inequality should include measures for increasing employability of older workers such as anti-discriminatory laws and dealing with skills mismatch.

Neuropsychological Stimulation Program for Children from Low Socioeconomic Backgrounds: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Guatemala remains one of the poorest countries in Central America and suffers from high rates of social inequality and violence. In addition to the negative impact that two years without attending school has had on Guatemalan children due to the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, this unfavourable socioeconomic context poses a risk to children's emotional and cognitive development. This work presents a protocol for implementing a cognitive and emotional stimulation program aimed at increasing the academic performance of these children and consequently improving their quality of life. The protocol proposes the implementation of a randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of a 24-session-long stimulation program. It targets the cognitive functions of attention, language, executive functions, and social cognition, using the digital neurorehabilitation platform NeuronUP. The participants (n = 480) will be randomly assigned to an Experimental or Control group. Pre- and post-intervention assessments will be carried out, together with a follow-up in the next academic year, in which both groups will change roles. Results will be compared for the first and second years, looking for differences in academic and cognitive performance between groups. Mid- and long-term outcomes are still unknown, but effective interventions based on this protocol are expected to facilitate the following benefits for participants: (1) improved cognitive and emotional development; (2) improved academic performance; (3) improved well-being. We expect to create a validated neuropsychological stimulation program that could be applied in similar socioeconomically disadvantaged contexts around the world to help these children improve their life chances.

Foreword

I was delighted to open the conference on ‘Violence Against Children’ organized by the Department of Religion Studies, at the Universityof Johannesburg, in partnership with the New Testament Society of Southern Africa (NTSSA). I am extremely pleased that a special issue on the topic has been produced so briskly. Although there is currently much work being done on violence, there is insufficient interdisciplinary and collaborative work on how violence configures the lives of children in Southern African countries. One does not hear of conferences on children or children’s rights as often as one might hear about initiatives on other compelling topics. This coming together of scholars to reflect on the experiences and lived realities of children – and, on the theme of childrenand violence – is exciting and timely. Currently, there are more than 2 billion children in the world, with the highest proportion living in sub-Saharan Africa. By the middle of this century, more than 40 percent of children younger than 5 years will be resident here. It is often pointed out that a child’s life chances are shaped by the place of birth, year of birth, and privileges of the natal familial context – in this regard, class, race, nationality, regionality, and gender are some of the key predictors of a child’s future. Many countries face entrenched inequalities and disparities, thus economic, sociopolitical,cultural, religious, and communal factors often have considerable and defining impacts on a child’s future well-being and success. Interventionsto create equality of opportunities and mitigate inherited disadvantages have been considerable. Despite government and civil society efforts, thesituation of children today remains dire. This is distressing to note for all who work in this field and who acknowledge that a country’s future stability, growth, and development, are inextricably linked to the ways in which this youngest cohort is treated, catered for, inspired, and afforded economic, social, and educational opportunities.

The same social elevator? Intergenerational class mobility of second-generation immigrants across Europe

Abstract Ethnicity and social class are two of the main axes stratifying life chances in developed societies. Nevertheless, knowledge of the integration of ethnic minorities into the pattern of class reproduction remains incipient as evidence stems mostly from studies concentrating on specific ethnicities or single host countries. This article advances this knowledge by providing a comparative perspective on the intergenerational occupational mobility of second-generation immigrants and the majority population across 26 European countries. Drawing on pooled data from the European Social Survey (2004–2018), the article demonstrates that ethnic penalties arise for employment and occupational mobility in many countries, however, with crucial differences across and—to a smaller extent—within major country groups. Across countries, ethnic barriers for the second generation are connected to their social integration in the host society and the composition of the first migrant generation, emphasizing the importance of familial and social support for social advancement. By contrast, I detect no link between anti-immigration norms and ethnic penalties, and only mixed evidence for the role of integration policy. The article concludes that ‘ethnicity matters’ in many European societies, even if ethnic cleavages vary according to the composition of migrant populations and the context in the host society.