Differences In Socioeconomic Characteristics Research Articles

The life course and subjective well-being across generations – an analysis based on cross-national surveys (2002–2016)

This paper identifies subjective well-being trajectories through happiness measures as influenced by time, socio-economic, demographic and behavioural determinants. Hierarchical age-period-cohort models are applied to European Social Survey (2002–2016) data on the population aged 30 and older in 10 countries. A U-shaped relationship between age and happiness is found for some countries, but a rather flat pattern and considerable diversity beyond age 80 are detected for other countries. Lower happiness levels are found for baby boomers (1945–1964) than for preboomers and post-boomers, and also for late boomers (1955–1964) than for early boomers (1945–1954). Women, highly educated and native people are shown to have higher happiness levels than men, less educated and non-native people, respectively. Moreover, a positive assessment of income, having a partner, and being a parent, in good health, employed and socially active are all found to have a positive impact on happiness levels. We find evidence of gaps in happiness levels due to differences in socio-economic characteristics over the life course in some, but not in all of the countries analysed.

Understanding the Influence of Latino Diversity over Child Poverty in the United States

The U.S. Latino population is diverse in terms of countries of heritage, citizenship status, languages spoken, generational status, and geographic settlement patterns. The likelihood of Latino children living in poverty is often associated with these features of Latino diversity; we challenge that view with analyses showing that the underlying economic conditions of families across demographic groups explain much of the likelihood that a child will experience poverty. We use data from the American Community Survey to examine the extent to which the associations between features of diversity and poverty are explained by differences in socioeconomic characteristics. We find that the relationship between parental heritage and child poverty is largely explained by socioeconomic characteristics. Parental citizenship and English language proficiency, while partly attenuated by socioeconomic characteristics, also have direct effects on the likelihood of a child living in poverty, suggesting that programs and policies may need to be tailored to support the economic well-being of these particularly vulnerable subgroups.

Is Opioid-free Post-Vasectomy Analgesia a Pain? A Single Surgeon Experience

To determine the impact of transitioning from opioid to non-opioid analgesia post-vasectomy on unplanned opioid prescriptions and health encounters. A retrospective review for patients who underwent vasectomy from October 2018 through December 2019 was performed. Beginning February 1st, 2019, patients were counseled to take scheduled acetaminophen and ibuprofen in lieu of acetaminophen with codeine, with an opioid prescription only provided upon request. Analysis was performed comparing 200 consecutive patients before and after this transition. Baseline patient characteristics, unplanned postoperative encounters for pain within 30 days of vasectomy, and associated narcotic prescriptions were compared between groups. 400 patients were included, consisting of 200 patients pre and 200 patients postintervention. There were no differences in socioeconomic characteristics between groups. No differences between the pre- and postintervention groups were observed in terms of generating telephone calls to clinic (9% vs 11%, P = .5), clinic visits (2.5% vs 2.5%, P = 1), or ED visits (0% vs 1%), P = .5) for the pre and postintervention cohorts, respectively. Patients that are not prescribed opioids after vasectomy do not generate additional phone calls, clinic, or ED visits compared to those that were routinely prescribed prior to our institutional change. We have permanently discontinued the routine use of opioids for post-vasectomy analgesia. Other physicians performing vasectomy should consider making this change as well.

Understanding the palm oil smallholders characteristics and their compliance towards the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO): A case study in North Sumatera, Indonesia

Palm oil smallholder who managed more than 40% of palm oil area in Indonesia are expected to comply with the mandatory regulation of sustainable palm oil (ISPO). However, basically there are two types of smallholder whose condition need to be considered to develop the most suitable certification scheme. This paper aimed to (1) see the difference in socio-economic characteristics between independent and managed smallholders, (2) identify the behavioral factors of independent and managed smallholder as well as (3) analyze the compliance of smallholder towards ISPO indicators. The data of smallholders of Padang Lawas Regency, North Sumatera were collected in terms of socio-economic characteristics, behavioral factors, and compliance towards ISPO. The results of the study showed that socio-economic characteristics of independent and managed smallholder are significantly different in term of ages, education, family member, experiences, farm sizes, and on farm income. Besides, there is a wide gap between the behavioral factors of managed and independent smallholder towards ISPO indicators. It is implied by the attitude, social norm, ability to perform, and intention to comply with the sustainable scheme. However, in average, smallholders considered to have bad compliance towards the indicators of ISPO.

Profitability and perceived resilience benefits of integrated shrimp-tilapia-seaweed aquaculture in North Central Coast, Vietnam

Sustainability of aquaculture-dependent livelihoods under increasingly changing climate crucially depends on effective adaptation. However, empirical evidence about aquaculture farmers' adaptation to climatic shocks is inadequate. We study the private profitability and farmer perceived resilience effects of adaptation through polyculture of shrimp with mono-sex tilapia in North Central Coast (NCC), Vietnam. Data come from a survey with a random sample of 80 farmers including 25 farmers directly targeted with the intervention, 26 autonomous adopters, and 29 non-adopters. Majority of the respondents were male with an average age of 49 years and 17 years of experience in brackish water shrimp farming. Significantly more targeted than autonomous adopters and non-adopter households completed education beyond primary level. Similarly, more targeted than autonomous farmers and non-adopters participated in aquaculture producer and saving groups. Controlling for these differences in socioeconomic characteristics through a weighting procedure, we find higher economic gains and greater reductions in feed and pond preparation costs among farmers applying the integrated practice compared to non-integrative practices. Furthermore, farmers’ perceptions indicate enhanced adaptive capacity with adoption of the shrimp-tilapia polyculture intervention. These results imply that promoting shrimp-tilapia polyculture is welfare-increasing in the presence of weather shocks. However, successful adoption and scaling of the practice will require increased investment to strengthen institutional capacity to facilitate access to markets and financial services by farmers.

Impact of Urban Agriculture on Household Income in Zambia: An Economic Analysis

The study aimed to empirically determine the impact of urban agriculture on household income in Zambia. The analysis was based on the 2007/2008 Urban Consumption/ Expenditure secondary data collected in Kitwe and Lusaka districts, with a total sample size of 2,682 urban households. The propensity score matching approach is used to estimate the impact of urban agriculture on household income since the method takes into account the systematic differences in socio-economic characteristics between the urban agriculture practicing and non-practicing households by matching from both groups with similar characteristics. Results indicate that urban agriculture has a significant positive effect on household income. The income of households that practiced urban agriculture increased by 13.7% to 19.1%. It implies that urban agriculture has the potential to improve household livelihood through enhanced income.

Retrospective Report of Discharge Against Medical Advice and Emerging Roles of Medical Social Workers in Nigeria

The study presents a retrospective report of cases of DAMA and the emerging roles of Medical Social Workers in Nigeria using a teaching hospital as a case. Retrospective report of 553 DAMA cases were retrieved from social case-note of Medical Social Workers between a period of five years (June, 2015 to December, 2019) at University College Hospital, Ibadan Reasons for DAMA were mostly because of financial constraints. Medical Social Worker’s intervention were hovering around education and facilitating legal procedure to DAMA to prevent litigation to the hospital. There was an association between socio-demographic characteristics and rates of DAMA (p<0.05), diagnosis of patient was also significantly associated with rate of DAMA in the hospital(p<0.05) and there was an association between gender and social work interventions to cases of DAMA at the University College Hospital(p<0.05). The study concluded that high rate of DAMA in Nigerian hospital is as a result of differences in socioeconomic characteristics of patients and severity of their diagnosis. Therefore, hospital admission processes should be person-cantered care services and inclusion of Medical Social Workers in the flow-char of granting DAMA to patients

PD09-08 IS OPIOID-FREE POST-VASECTOMY ANALGESIA A PAIN? A SINGLE SURGEON EXPERIENCE

ABSTRACT Objective To determine the impact of transitioning from opioid to non-opioid analgesia post-vasectomy on unplanned opioid prescriptions and health encounters. Methods A retrospective review for patients who underwent vasectomy from October 2018 through December 2019 was performed. Beginning February 1st, 2019, patients were counseled to take scheduled acetaminophen and ibuprofen in lieu of acetaminophen with codeine, with an opioid prescription only provided upon request. Analysis was performed comparing 200 consecutive patients before and after this transition. Baseline patient characteristics, unplanned postoperative encounters for pain within 30 days of vasectomy, and associated narcotic prescriptions were compared between groups. Results 400 patients were included, consisting of 200 patients pre and 200 patients postintervention. There were no differences in socioeconomic characteristics between groups. No differences between the pre- and postintervention groups were observed in terms of generating telephone calls to clinic (9% vs 11%, P = .5), clinic visits (2.5% vs 2.5%, P = 1), or ED visits (0% vs 1%), P = .5) for the pre and postintervention cohorts, respectively. Conclusions Patients that are not prescribed opioids after vasectomy do not generate additional phone calls, clinic, or ED visits compared to those that were routinely prescribed prior to our institutional change. We have permanently discontinued the routine use of opioids for post-vasectomy analgesia. Other physicians performing vasectomy should consider making this change as well.

Difference of Socio-Economic Characteristics based on Food Security Levels in Urban and Rural Poor Household in South Sulawesi

Backgorund; Nutritional problems arise due to the problem of food security at the household level, namely the ability of households to obtain food for all household members. This reflects the lack of accessibility of households to obtain food, one of which is caused by poverty. Many factors can affect household food security. Aim; This study aims to analyze differences in socio-economic characteristics based on the level of food security of poor urban and rural households in South Sulawesi as measured by the HFIAS Method and the modified Maxwell Method. Method; This study used a cross sectional design. Sampling using purposive sampling with a sample size of 170 households. Data analysis performed was bivariate analysis with t-independent test and chi square test. Results; The results showed that the variables that had differences between food-security and food-insecurity household groups as measured by the HFIAS method were household size (p = 0,000), while variables that had differences between household groups were food-security and food-insecurity (0.029) and household size (p = 0.000). Conclusions; Household size variables have differences between food-security and food-insecurity household groups as measured by the HFIAS method and the modified Maxwell method. Household size is an important variable that affects the level of household food security.

Exploring the spatial heterogeneity of individual preferences for integrated river basin management: an example of Heihe river basin.

This study mainly focuses on welfare impacts from improving considerably degraded river stretches of Heihe river basin and to determine the impact of spatial heterogeneity on willingness-to-pay (WTP)for integrated river basin management (IRBM). The significant WTP values for ecological attributes improvement revealed that the respondents of Heihe river basin significantly support the integrated ecological restoration program. However, socioeconomic characteristics and residential location have a significant impact on WTP values for different ecological attributes. The results demonstrate that water quality is the most preferred variable among all the river attributes in the study area. For example, in Zhangye, Gaotai, Ejinaqi, Minle, and Sunan the respondents were willing to pay 90.6, 160.44, 377.15, 65.40, and 139.21 Yuan per year, respectively, for a one-grade improvement in current water quality. Our findings also show that all the major counties of the basin concern more about water quality representing the relative importance of river water and express the maximum WTP for its improvement, while all major counties also share a low WTP for improvements in conditions of the leisure and entertainment. The differences in socioeconomic characteristics and ecological status of the respondents partially explain the disparity in utility from IRBM. In conclusion, the results based on only specific sub-basin of river basin may over or underestimate the welfare estimate.

Attitudes and Preferences of Local Visitors Toward Ecotourism Sites in Bahrain

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Socioeconomic factors and risk for hospitalisation due to asthma in children in the municipalities of Mato Grosso State, Brazil.

This ecological study used data accumulated between 2001 and 2012 hospital admissions of children under five years of age with asthma in 141 municipalities in the Mato Grosso. Hospital data were extracted from the SIH/SUS system, and hospitalisation rates were estimated using the Bayesian inference method. SaTScan software was used for the calculation of the relative risk (RR). Differences in socioeconomic characteristics among municipalities with high and low hospitalization rates were evaluated by nonparametric Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test. This test indicates that municipalities with better socioeconomic characteristics have lower hospitalization rates. The analysis of the linear models in the two study periods indicated that the decreasing trend in the number of admissions was 3-fold higher in the 2005-2012 period compared with the 2001-2004 period. In addition, a decrease of 76% in the hospitalisation incidence rate was observed during the 12-year study period; this decrease was more evident from 2005 onward. The municipalities identified as having increased risk of hospitalisation of children with asthma were located in areas subjected to intense burning practices and with low municipal development indices.

Difference in Preferences or Multiple Preference Orderings? Comparing Choices of Environmental Bureaucrats, Recreational Anglers, and the Public

Do Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bureaucrats represent the general public or are they more in line with an interest group? We study preferences for environmental policy using a choice experiment (CE) on three populations; the general public, Swedish EPA bureaucrats, and recreational anglers. We also test for existence of multiple preference orderings: Half of the respondents were asked to choose the alternatives that best corresponded with their opinion, and the other half was asked to take the role of a policy-maker and make recommendations for environmental policy. The SEPA bureaucrats have the highest marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) to improve environmental quality. Differences in MWTP are robust and not due to differences in socio-economic characteristics across the populations. We only found weak evidence of multiple preference orderings.

How Does the Achievement Gap Between Immigrant and Native-Born Pupils Progress From Primary to Secondary Education?

This paper documents the change in educational achievement differences between native and foreign background students between the ages of 10 and 15, as they progress from primary to secondary education. We examine three cohorts of students in a number of Western European and traditional English-speaking immigration countries using combinations of PIRLS, TIMSS and PISA survey data. While the performance of students with mixed parents is not markedly different from native students’, foreign background children — both first- and second-generation — exhibit a large achievement gap at age 10 in continental Europe, even when accounting for observable differences in socio-economic characteristics. The gap tends to narrow down by age 15 in reading, but no catching up is observed in mathematics. By contrast, we do not find significant differences between the academic achievements of immigrant children and their native-born peers in traditional immigration countries.

Vulnerability of socio—ecological systems: A conceptual Framework

The analysis of vulnerability of socio-ecological systems to threats of different types such as extreme climate events or change in land use draws attention to the factors and processes that determine whether the ecological, social and integrated socio-ecological systems are likely to experience harm due to exposure to the threat. During the last years there has been an increasing attention to the analysis of the vulnerability of socio-ecological systems when facing the lost or degradation of ecosystem services. However, despite the existence of conceptual frameworks and empirical applications to evaluate vulnerability of socio-ecological systems some open questions and challenges still remain. How to conceptually differentiate key concepts such as sensitivity, exposition, vulnerability and threat? How to consider the differences in socio-economic characteristics of the beneficiaries and in their capacity to adapt to new conditions of the ecological system? How to link ecological vulnerability with the social system analysis to obtain an integrated risk assessment of the socio-ecological system? This paper presents a conceptual framework for vulnerability assessment of socio-ecological systems that addresses the mentioned open questions based on a review of both theoretical and empirical literature related to vulnerability and socio-ecological systems. The paper identifies the attributes and indicators of the dimensions of vulnerability for understanding both the social vulnerability and ecological vulnerability separately and then jointly, in interaction with each other. The framework offers a way to communicate with practitioners and policy makers on identifying and improving the factors that reduce vulnerability. It can thus serve as a tool for targeting the implementation of policies and practices aimed at reducing vulnerability.

A latent class model of residential choice behaviour and ethnic segregation preferences

The nature of ethnic residential clustering involves diverse population segments which through their location decisions influence the spatial patterns of ethnic settlements. While residential location is in part determined by outside constraints, choice plays a role too, making the study of preferences an important research topic. Along with differences in socio-economic characteristics, literature often emphasizes the role of unobserved (behavioural) elements in the formation of preferences for ethnic neighbourhood composition. This paper tests the potential of latent class choice models to examine both observed and unobserved heterogeneity in residential choices across ethnic groups. The empirical example is estimated on stated preferences data from Lugano, Switzerland. The results indicate different ethnic attributes as key choice drivers for households belonging to three latent classes, where the origin of households is the best predictor of class membership. Swiss citizens are mainly concerned about high shares of foreigners, advantaged foreigners favour their co-nationals, while disadvantaged foreigners hold both of such preferences.

Family structure and family relationship from the child well-being perspective: Findings from comparative analysis

Relationships within the family are important for the development of children's well-being, as well as for their evaluations of their family and their overall life satisfaction. Nevertheless, little is known about differences in family relationships, family subjective well-being (SWB) and overall SWB of children from different groups, especially those who are living in diverse family structures. The purpose of this study is to explore differences in family relationships, family SWB and overall SWB between children living in three different living arrangements – a two-parent family, a single-parent family and a separated family. The study used data from the second wave of data collection of the Children's Worlds project, a large international study of children's well-being. 20,343 children aged 10–12 from 10 countries constitute the final sample of the current sample. Several agreement, satisfaction and time use questions were applied to measure the children's family relationships and family SWB. Two psychometric scales were used to explore the children's overall SWB. In addition, differences in socio-economic characteristics were also explored. Children living with both parents were found to evaluate their family relationships and family SWB higher than children living in a single parent family and in separated families. Similar results were also found in respect to overall SWB. Not many differences were found between the last two groups, namely these children are quite similar in their perceptions and evaluations of their families and their overall SWB. However, children living in separated families tend to be less satisfied with the people they live with and their family life. This trend was found in all participant countries, although it was less prevalent in Israel and Algeria. The discussion offers several possible explanations to the findings, and emphasizes that the source of the differences may be complex and may include macro and micro explanations.

Household opportunity costs of protecting and developing forest lands in Son La and Hoa Binh Provinces, Vietnam

Vietnam has pilot-tested a payment for forest environmental services (PFES) program in an effort to restore and protect forest areas, some of which have been severely degraded by the excessive cutting of trees by small-scale farmers planting annual crops on steep, sloping lands. The pilot program implemented in southern Vietnam seems to be successful, yet the program in northern Vietnam has not produced the desired rates of planting and maintaining forest areas. The reasons for these mixed results include differences in socio-economic characteristics and also the production and marketing opportunities available to rural households in the project areas. To gain insight regarding program participation, we examine the household-level opportunity costs of planting and ­maintaining small plots of forest trees in northern Vietnam. We find that small-scale farmers in Hoa Binh Province, with limited financial resources, prefer the annual revenue stream provided by crops such as maize and cassava, rather than waiting for 7 years to obtain revenue from a forest planting. Farmers in Son La Province, with limited access to markets, prefer annual crops because they are not able to sell bamboo shoots and other forest products harvested from their small plots. In both provinces, the payments offered for planting and maintaining forest trees are smaller than the opportunity costs of planting and harvesting annual crops. Thus, most households likely would choose not to participate in the PFES program, at current payment rates, if given the opportunity to decline.

Single Parenthood, Parental Involvement and Students’ Educational Outcomes in Hong Kong

Analyzing data from the Programme for International Student Assessment Hong Kong 2009 and 2012 (n = 7,669), we examined the differences in socioeconomic characteristics of fathers and mothers and levels of parental involvement between two-parent, single-mother, and single-father families in Hong Kong. We found that parents from single-mother and single-father families fare differently in terms of sociodemographic background and parental involvement at home. We also investigated the differences in students’ academic performance among these families. Past studies failed to find any significant effect of single parenthood on students’ academic performance in Hong Kong. We found negative effects of single fatherhood, but not single motherhood, on educational outcomes. The disadvantages of single fatherhood are partially explained by the poorer sociodemographic background and lower levels of parental involvement.

Structural versus Ethnic Dimensions of Housing Segregation

Racial residential segregation is still very high in many American cities. Some portion of segregation is attributable to socioeconomic differences across racial lines; some portion is caused by purely racial factors, such as preferences about the racial composition of one’s neighborhood or discrimination in the housing market. Social scientists have had great difficulty disaggregating segregation into a portion that can be explained by interracial differences in socioeconomic characteristics (what we call structural factors) versus a portion attributable to racial and ethnic factors. What would such a measure look like? In this paper, we draw on a new source of data to develop an innovative structural segregation measure that shows the amount of segregation that would remain if we could assign households to housing units based only on non-racial socioeconomic characteristics. This inquiry provides vital building blocks for the broader enterprise of understanding and remedying housing segregation.