Family Assets Research Articles

The socio-economic burden of human African trypanosomiasis and the coping strategies of households in the South Western Kenya foci.

IntroductionHuman African Trypanosomiasis (HAT), a disease caused by protozoan parasites transmitted by tsetse flies, is an important neglected tropical disease endemic in remote regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Although the determination of the burden of HAT has been based on incidence, mortality and morbidity rates, the true burden of HAT goes beyond these metrics. This study sought to establish the socio-economic burden that households with HAT faced and the coping strategies they employed to deal with the increased burden.Materials and methodsA mixed methods approach was used and data were obtained through: review of hospital records; structured interviews (152); key informant interviews (11); case narratives (12) and focus group discussions (15) with participants drawn from sleeping sickness patients in the south western HAT foci in Kenya. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics while qualitative data was analysed based on emerging themes.ResultsSocio-economic impacts included, disruption of daily activities, food insecurity, neglect of homestead, poor academic performance/school drop-outs and death. Delayed diagnosis of HAT caused 93% of the affected households to experience an increase in financial expenditure (ranging from US$ 60–170) in seeking treatment. Out of these, 81.5% experienced difficulties in raising money for treatment resorting to various ways of raising it. The coping strategies employed to deal with the increased financial expenditure included: sale of agricultural produce (64%); seeking assistance from family and friends (54%); sale/lease of family assets (22%); seeking credit (22%) and use of personal savings (17%).Conclusion and recommendationCoping strategies outlined in this study impacted negatively on the affected households leading to further food insecurity and impoverishment. Calculation of the true burden of disease needs to go beyond incidence, mortality and morbidity rates to capture socio-economic variables entailed in seeking treatment and coping strategies of HAT affected households.

Fortalezas Familiares Y Consumo De Alcohol En Hombres Y Mujeres Adolescentes

The present study aimed to analyze the differences in family assets in adolescents, men and women, by level of alcohol consumption. For this, a non-probabilistic sample of 454 high school students was selected, with a mean age of 15.9 years old (SD = 1.07); of which 49.1% were men and 50.9% were women. Three dimensions of the Parental Practice Scale (Andrade & Betancourt, 2008) were used to assess family assets, which assesses the support and supervision of both parents; in addition, the scale house rules of Sánchez-Xicotencatl (2015) was used. To measure alcohol consumption, four indicators were used to evaluate the behavior’s presence, the age of onset, as well as frequency and quantity (Andrade & Betancourt, 2008). The results showed that 57% of men and 53.8% of women reported that they had consumed alcohol. Regarding the differences in family assets by the categories of the alcohol consumption indicator, the findings showed significant differences house rules (in both men and women), and in the men’s case differences were found in maternal supervision and in women, differences were found in the support-supervision of the father. The results allow us to have elements of the role of the assets evaluated in the alcohol consumption in adolescent population, as well as the differential effect by the sex of the adolescents.

The Effects of Occupation on Household Assets Allocation and Risk Preference

Based on China Household Finance Survey data, this paper uses Probit model and OLS multiple regression to analyze the effects of occupation on the household assets allocation and risk preference. It turns out that professionals located in the financial sector are more risk-loving than other industries. While the occupation has no significant impact on the proportion of holdings of equity assets. Moreover, the regional economic advantage, family assets, household income, investor’s preference and education level all have positive effects on household assets allocation.

Migration, Small Farming and Food Security in the Caribbean: Jamaica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines

AbstractLong‐term and short‐term (seasonal) migrations from Caribbean countries have been strategies for enhancing the livelihoods and assets of individuals and families for many decades. The greatest challenges to food security are felt by the populations below the poverty level, most of whom are rural dwellers. Taking two Caribbean countries – Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, this article assesses whether in rural, characteristically small‐farming areas, the financial and social remittances resulting from migration are used to improve food security, through either supporting agricultural production or providing money to purchase food. The findings show the contrast between Jamaica and St. Vincent. Whereas migration generally benefits small‐scale farming and domestic food production, increasing food accessibility in Jamaica, migration has been variously used by the rural poor in St. Vincent to replace farming. Food security in St. Vincent is heavily dependent on purchasing food and, in this regard, migrant remittances play an important role.

Analysis of Rural Households’ Consumptive Loan Demand and the Influencing Factors

This study is about rural households’ demand of living consumptive loan in Shandong province. After carrying out follow-up survey for 6 consecutive years, the results show that the household consumptive loan demand is vigorous, and it has obvious regional differences, which is inversely proportional to the level of local economic development; the farmer's age, the size of family, income, assets of family, social resources they all have significant impacts on consumer loan demand. Paying attention to the rural consumptive credit and developing it are proposed based on above.

Understanding the strategies employed to cope with increased numbers of AIDS-orphaned children in families in rural settings: a case of Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to understand the strategies employed by families that adopt Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)-orphaned children (Adoptive families) for coping with and mitigating the impact of AIDS in Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania. High numbers of AIDS-orphaned children aged below 18 years in Mbeya Region have led to increasing the burden of families caring for them. Understanding the coping strategies and impact mitigation activities employed by adoptive families is important in order to develop programmes to help them.MethodsThis study employed a qualitative method for data collection (one-on-one in-depth interviews). The respondents included 12 male and 8 female heads of families that provide essential care for AIDS-orphaned children in Mbeya Rural District in Tanzania. The framework approach was used to analyse the data that were collected from 15 July to 15 August 2010.ResultsThe study findings revealed that adoptive families faced several challenges including financial constraints due to increased needs for basic essentials such as health care expenses, school fees and food. Further impacts on adoptive families included shortage of work opportunities and limited time to address these challenges. To mitigate these challenges, adoptive families employed a range of coping strategies including selling family assets and renting out parts of cultivable land for extra cash. Task reallocation which involved the AIDS-orphaned children entering the labour force was also employed as a strategy to mitigate challenges and involved de-enrolling of children from schools so they could take part in income-generating activities in order to earn supplementary family income. The creation of additional income-generating activities such as poultry farming were other coping mechanisms employed, and these received support from both non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governmental organisations, including the Isangati Agricultural Development Organization (local NGO) and the local government respectively.ConclusionsThe current study identified challenges that adoptive families as well as the AIDS-orphaned children themselves faced in Mbeya Rural District, Tanzania. Recognition of these issues highlights the need for targeted interventions to address the underlying social determinants of human immunodeficiency virus or HIV and AIDS in affected populations in order to prevent further imposition of social, cultural and economic disadvantages on families that provide care for AIDS-orphaned children and the children themselves. These findings may prove useful in provoking discussions that may lead to HIV/AIDS prevention and the development of broader mitigation strategies to alleviate the impact of this scourge on families and communities in rural Tanzania, and in similar settings across the world.

Indigenous Ecuadorian children: Parental education, parental wealth and children's cognitive ability level

In three rural Ecuadorian schools from different regions (central highlands in the Andes, hinterland of Quito, and Amazonian lowlands) N=161 pupils aged 9–14 with about 86% Amerindian background were tested for cognitive ability. Fluid intelligence was measured using culture-reduced Raven's SPM, while crystallized intelligence was measured using school-near tasks from PIRLS-Reading and TIMSS-Mathematics. Parental education, parental wealth (family assets), number of books in the home, parenting style, discipline in school, and height (relative to age and sex) were also measured. Average IQ using British FLynn-corrected 1979 SPM norms was equal to 71, with the figure being lower in the central highlands (IQ=65) than in the hinterland of Quito and the Amazonian lowlands (IQ=75). Raw performance only weakly increased with age (r=.11 to .18) indicating limited cognitive development and resulting in lower normed IQs at higher ages (r=−.17 to −.22). Individual differences in cognitive ability were better explained by parental education (βEd= .53 to .54) than by parental wealth (βWe=.14 to .15). Height per-age-and-sex had an effect of βHe=.13 to .14. Number of books, discipline and authoritative parenting also had positive impacts. Explanations for the low average performance and for differences between regions are discussed.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSETS AND LAW‐ABIDINGNESS AMONG URBAN ADOLESCENTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR POSITIVE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

In this study, we argue that researchers should look to prevention efforts that capitalize on youth’s potential for positive development and law‐abidingness in order to develop interventions that facilitate their successful transition to young adulthood. We draw from the positive youth development framework to assess the association between individual, family, and community assets and law‐abidingness among a sample of adolescents living in Chicago, Illinois, neighborhoods. Data come from the first wave of the Program on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 1,258). We focus on cohorts 12 and 15, since developmental assets have a significant impact on adolescents during these ages. After controlling for a range of individual and demographic variables, we find that greater levels of positive family communication were associated with greater odds of law‐abidingness in our multilevel logistic regression models. The findings of this study are discussed in the context of a sociological perspective on positive youth development.

Healthcare benefits linked with Below Poverty Line registration in India: Observations from Maharashtra Anaemia Study (MAS)

A 2015 Lancet paper by Patel et al. on healthcare access in India comprehensively discussed national health programmes where some benefits are linked with the country’s Below Poverty Line (BPL) registration scheme. BPL registration aims to support poor families by providing free/subsidised healthcare. Technical issues in obtaining BPL registration by poor families have been previously reported in the Indian literature; however there are no data on family assets of BPL registrants. Here, we provide evidence of family-level assets among BPL registration holders (and non-BPL households) using original research data from the Maharashtra Anaemia Study (MAS). Social and health data from 287 pregnant women and 891 adolescent girls (representing 1178 family households) across 34 villages in Maharashtra state, India, were analysed. Several assets were shown to be similarly distributed between BPL and non-BPL households; a large proportion of families who would probably be eligible were not registered, whereas BPL-registered families often had significant assets that should not make them eligible. This is likely to be the first published evidence where asset distribution such as agricultural land, housing structures and livestock are compared between BPL and non-BPL households in a rural population. These findings may help planning BPL administration to allocate health benefits equitably, which is an integral part of national health programmes.

Healthcare benefits linked with Below Poverty Line registration in India: Observations from Maharashtra Anaemia Study (MAS).

A 2015 Lancet paper by Patel et al. on healthcare access in India comprehensively discussed national health programmes where some benefits are linked with the country's Below Poverty Line (BPL) registration scheme. BPL registration aims to support poor families by providing free/subsidised healthcare. Technical issues in obtaining BPL registration by poor families have been previously reported in the Indian literature; however there are no data on family assets of BPL registrants. Here, we provide evidence of family-level assets among BPL registration holders (and non-BPL households) using original research data from the Maharashtra Anaemia Study (MAS). Social and health data from 287 pregnant women and 891 adolescent girls (representing 1178 family households) across 34 villages in Maharashtra state, India, were analysed. Several assets were shown to be similarly distributed between BPL and non-BPL households; a large proportion of families who would probably be eligible were not registered, whereas BPL-registered families often had significant assets that should not make them eligible. This is likely to be the first published evidence where asset distribution such as agricultural land, housing structures and livestock are compared between BPL and non-BPL households in a rural population. These findings may help planning BPL administration to allocate health benefits equitably, which is an integral part of national health programmes.

Association of Socio-Economic Status and Visual Impairment: A Population-Based Study in Iran.

To assess the role of socio-economic inequality in visual impairment (VI) in Varamin district, Iran. Using multistage cluster sampling method, 60 clusters (each with 50 subjects) were recruited and underwent clinical eye examinations. Socio-economic status (SES) was identified based on education, occupation, family assets and housing conditions that were measured at the participants' households using a semi-structured questionnaire and a two-step cluster analysis model. In addition, principal component analysis and the concentration index were used to identify the gap between high and low SES groups. Participants were categorized in high (522, 24.4%), moderate (974, 43.1%) and low (763, 33.7%) socio-economic levels. In these levels, the prevalence of VI was 5.9% (95% CI: 3.3 to 8.6), 10.4% (95% CI: 8.4 to 12.4), and 12.6% (95% CI: 10.1 to 15.1), respectively. The prevalence of VI in people with low SES was significantly greater than those in high SES level. The proportions of avoidable causes were relatively high in all SES levels (more than 80%) with no significant difference between different levels. There is significant inequality in VI prevalence in Varamin district. Avoidable causes are high in all SES groups. Therefore, community-based modalities and preventive programs with a specific notice to poorer SES groups are recommended to improve eye health in this district.

Dimensions of Socioeconomic Status and Childhood Asthma Outcomes: Evidence for Distinct Behavioral and Biological Associations.

The objective of this study was to investigate 2 key dimensions of socioeconomic status (SES)-prestige and resources-and their associations with immune, behavioral, and clinical outcomes in childhood asthma. Children ages 9 to 17 years with a physician's diagnosis of asthma (N = 150), and one of their parents participated in this study. Children and parents completed interviews and questionnaires about SES (prestige = parent education; resources = family assets), environmental exposures, and clinical asthma measures. Spirometry was conducted to assess children's pulmonary function, and blood was collected to measure cytokine production in response to nonspecific stimulation, allergen-specific stimulation, and microbial stimulation. Higher scores on both dimensions of childhood SES were associated with better clinical outcomes in children (β's from |.18 to .27|, p values < .05). Higher prestige, but not resources, was associated with better home environment control behaviors and less exposure to smoke (β's from |.21 to .22|, p values < .05). Higher resources, but not prestige, was associated with more favorable immune regulation, as manifest in smaller peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) TH1 and TH2 cytokine responses (β's from -.18 to -.19; p values < .05), and smaller proinflammatory cytokine responses (β = -.19; p < .05) after ex vivo stimulation. Higher resources also were associated with more sensitivity to glucocorticoid inhibition of TH1 and TH2 cytokine production (β's from -.18 to -.22; p values < .05). These results suggest that prestige and resources in childhood family environments have different implications for behavioral and immunological processes relevant to childhood asthma. They also suggest that childhood SES relates to multiple aspects of immunologic regulation of relevance to the pathophysiology of asthma.

Governance in agribusiness organizations: challenges in the management of rural family firms

The rural production in Brazil has experienced a significant competitive impact with the stabilization of the economy promoted by the Real Plan in 1994. Indeed, the Brazilian agriculture has achieved efficiency gains in terms of technology, economies of scale and general modernization of the activity in the field. In this context, the professional management of rural production evolved. However, the governance process does not evolve in the same dimension, and the “governance risk” is still poorly addressed in the rural environment, which often limits the potential of operations. In this study, we sought to deepen the understanding of the factors that impact the implementation of governance practices in rural properties in Brazil. Based on a convenience and non-probability sample, this study seeks to understand the evolution of the governance process on farms and its correlation with the management practices. This study found a correlation between the existence of some formal management processes (for example, strategic planning and more robust accounting systems) and advances in the governance mechanisms and processes, such as the establishment of a board of directors, clearer rules regarding the separation between corporate and family assets and more transparency in income statements. This study also found a lack of clarity in the separation of return on capital (dividend) and compensation for work (compensation for services provided) for partners, heirs and other family members. In summary, we concluded that there is the adoption of some governance mechanisms in the rural sector, but they are still poorly developed among rural producers, hence the need to stimulate them.

Association of socioeconomic status with psychiatric problems and violent behaviours in a nationally representative sample of Iranian children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-IV study

ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and psychiatric problems and violent behaviours in a nationally representative sample of Iranian children and...

IDENTIFIKASI MOTIVASI WIRAUSAHA PEREMPUAN PEDESAAN DENGAN HADIRNYA MITRA PEMBANGUN BERDASARKAN PENDEKATAN TEORI HARAPAN

Entrepreneurship is an alternative to improve the ability of the local economy. Development in rural areas,which are dominated by agronomic activities and the roles of men as the bread winner of the family income.In order to respond the increasing needs of life, women had the opportunity to engage in business that can increase the family income. Based on the expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964), this case study examining how the women entrepreneurs in rural respond to the presence of students whom follow the activityof community development as a builder. The aims of this study is to find out the expectancy, instrumentality and valence according to the rural women entrepreneurs. This study uses a case study with the informant are the women entrepreneurs who become as business partners of the community development activities the student of STIE Prasetya Mulya. The specific finding in this research distinguished between individual and social aspect. In terms of individuals, they want to increase income, skill in basic accounting, anticipate the scarcity of rawmaterials and capital stimulus. In terms of social, they are not economically dependent on their parents, flexible hour, have a production house, and add to the family assets.

The Long-Term Consequences of Family Class Origins in Urban China

The Chinese government redistributed houses, land and wealth across families and assigned an inheritable class identity (chengfen) to each family in early 1950s. The government then implemented class-based discriminatory policies against the rich and middle class until 1978. This paper shows that individuals born after 1951 with rich class origins have significantly higher income and family assets per capita than those from the poor class in 2002. Moreover, those who were born after 1960 from rich class gained more years of education than others except for the descendants of the revolutionary class, after the abolition of the discrimination policy. Overall, the study provides evidence that intergenerational transmission of wealth status and education are not necessary flowing through the inheritance of physical capital. The paper further demonstrates that individuals with revolutionary background do not have lower economic outcome or educational attainment than those from the rich, suggesting that a new elite group emerges in contemporary China.

The Long-Term Consequences of Family Class Origins in Urban China

I study the long-term impact of class identity (chengfen) on individuals’ income and households’ wealth in urban China using Chinese Household Income Project (CHIP) data. Chinese government launched movements to make income and consumption in cities substantially homogeneous and assigned an inheritable class identity to each family in the 1950s. The government then implemented class-based discriminatory policies against the rich and middle class until 1978. I show that the policy is effective in reducing the political and educational opportunities of people with rich or middle class background, however, it does not break the law of intergenerational transmission of wealth status: individuals with poor class origins still have significantly lower income and family assets per capita than those from the rich class. The only exception is for those individuals with revolutionary background and Chinese Community Party (CCP) members from the poor class. Their income is not significantly different from those with rich class background.

Analysis of the Factors Influencing Bogor Senior High School Student Choice in Choosing Bogor Agricultural University (Indonesia) For Further Study

This research investigates the factors influencing Bogor senior high school students' choice of Bogor Agricultural University for further study. Choice of higher education institution is difficult for senior high school students and requires the consideration of many factors. Students in choosing a college are influenced by social factors, personal, psychological, family, friends, teachers, the economics of situation, motivation, campus facilities and reputation of the college as well as interest. This research uses descriptive analysis and multinomial logistic regression from 380 students. The sampling method used in this study is non-probability sampling with purposive sampling. The study population is grouped into three groups based on ranking of high school (high, medium, low). Samples were students majoring in science conducted by purposive sampling (2 classes for each school). The results show that the most significant influential factors in student choice of institution are field of study offered and the higher education institute's ranking. Nuclear family members are the main source of information but the choice of field and institution is generally the student's own. The results of the multinomial logistic regression indicate that the factors that have significant influence in the choice are gender, family assets, parents’ of education, potential work opportunities, sources of information and desired field of study. These results will enable IPB to more effectively influence the preference of high school students so that they are more inclined to attend the university. This study also provides an example of the way the methodology can inform a higher education institute’s recruitment program so it is better tailored to the target consumers. Keywords : University, Senior High School Students, Bogor Agricultural University.

Association of Socio-economic Status with Injuries in Children Andadolescents:the CASPIAN-IV Study

Background:Childhood and adolescence injuries are still frequently occuring in developing countries. This study aims to assess the association of socio-economic status (SES) with injuriesin Iranian children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: This multicentricsurvey was part of a national surveillance program, which was conducted in 2011-2012 amongst 14,880 students aged6-18 years. Participants were randomly selected from urban and rural areas of 30 provinces in Iran. Socio- economic status (SES) of participants was categorized to “low”, “middle” ,and “high” by using principle component analysis method by considering parental job and education as well as family assets. Prevalence, types and places of injuries were based on the questionnaire of the World Health Organization- Global School-based student Health Survey (WHO-GSHS).Multivariate modelwas used for comparison of variables between SES groups. Results: Overall, 13486 out of 14880 invited students (response rate: 90.6%) participated in this study.Their mean (SD) age was12.47 (3.36) years.Boys and urban residents constituted the majority of participants (50.8% and 75.6%, respectively). Compared with low SES group, odds of sport injury was higher in students with middle (OR=1.44; 95%CI: 0.92-2.26) and highSES (OR=1.96; 95%CI: 1.27-3.01). Compared to participants withlow SES,odds of home injuries was significantly lower in high SES group (OR=0.78; 95%CI: 0.64-0.95). Conclusion: This study revealedconsiderable differences in injuries of children and adolescents according to their SES, with higher prevalence of home injuries in low SES families and higher prevalence of sport injuries in middle and high SES levels. When implementing injury prevention programs, such differences should be taken into account.

Financing village enterprises in rural Bangladesh

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that determine non-farm enterprise revenue and to empirically test the association between access to credit, credit source and firm performance among poor entrepreneurs in rural Bangladesh.Design/methodology/approachUsing a Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and World Bank survey from over 1,700 households in rural Bangladesh, a panel data model is used to control for unobserved heterogeneity among households and explore the determinants of non-farm revenue.FindingsThe findings suggest that village infrastructure and household labor assets have a positive impact on enterprise development. The findings reveal that the use of rural credit as a production input is important in augmenting revenue for the non-farm enterprise, but there are differential effects by credit source.Research limitations/implicationsBecause the study uses data from a quasi-experimental survey design, unobserved effects that can bias the results must be controlled for. Also, as credit program impacts can be location-specific, caution in generalizing the results of this study must be exercised.Practical implicationsThis study provides evidence on the positive effects of microcredit, family assets and family social capital on economic outcomes and microenterprise growth for poor entrepreneurial households. If enterprise growth is important for development, greater understanding of the determinants of microenterprise performance and the role of credit in the success of microfirms is beneficial for policymakers and the institutions that finance small-scale production.Social implicationsIf it is agreed that entrepreneurship is important in promoting development, self-sufficiency and positive economic outcomes (Yunus, 2007), then credit program design should focus on both the credit needs of the poor and the dynamics inherent in enterprise development for this group of entrepreneurs.Originality/valueThis paper expands the limited literature on the determinants of microenterprise growth and the role of credit in microenterprise development by tracing a positive link between village infrastructure, family demographics and access to credit. The identification of the factors that determine non-farm enterprise revenue is important for policymakers because enterprise growth is perceived as essential for economic development.