Lost Income Research Articles

Prospective evaluation of the impact of stress, anxiety, and depression on household income among young women with early breast cancer from the Young and Strong trial

BackgroundYoung women with breast cancer tend to report lower quality of life and higher levels of stress than older women with breast cancer, and this may have implications for other psychosocial factors including finances. We sought to determine if stress, anxiety, and depression at diagnosis were associated with changes in household income over 12-months in young women with breast cancer in the United States.MethodsThis study was a prospective, longitudinal cohort study comprised of women enrolled in the Young and Strong trial. Of the 467 women aged 18–45 newly diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer enrolled in the Young and Strong trial from 2012 to 2013, 356 (76%) answered income questions. Change in household income from baseline to 12 months was assessed and women were categorized as having lost, gained, maintained the same household income <$100,000, or maintained household income ≥$100,000. Patient-reported stress, anxiety, and depression were assessed close to diagnosis at trial enrollment. Adjusted multinomial logistic regression models were used to compare women who lost, gained, or maintained household income ≥$100,000 to women who maintained the same household income <$100,000.ResultsAlthough most women maintained household income ≥$100,000 (37.1%) or the same household income <$100,000 (32.3%), 15.4% lost household income and 15.2% gained household income. Stress, anxiety, and depression were not associated with gaining or losing household income compared to women maintaining household incomes <$100,000. Women with household incomes <$50,000 had a higher risk of losing household income compared to women with household incomes ≥$50,000. Women who maintained household incomes ≥$100,000 were less likely to report financial or insurance problems. Among women who lost household income, 56% reported financial problems and 20% reported insurance problems at 12 months.ConclusionsBaseline stress, anxiety, and depression were not associated with household income changes for young women with breast cancer. However, lower baseline household income was associated with losing household income. Some young survivors encounter financial and insurance problems in the first year after diagnosis, and further support for these women should be considered.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, NCT01647607; date registered: July 23, 2012.

Cost Comparison of Suture Anchor Modified Broström Repair and Augmentation of the Modified Broström with FiberTape Device

Category:Ankle; SportsIntroduction/Purpose:Augmentation of the Broström procedure with FiberTape device has been described for the treatment of chronic ankle instability. However, it has yet to be determined if the cost of the implant is negated by the benefits to the patient. The purpose of this study was to perform a comprehensive cost analysis by comparing the cost of surgical procedure, physical therapy visits, time off work, and any costs related to revision surgery between the Broström reconstruction with suture anchors alone versus augmentation with a FiberTape device.Methods:166 patients undergoing lateral ankle ligament repair were analyzed retrospectively. Patients underwent either a modified Broström ligament repair with two suture anchors or Broström ligament repair with FiberTape augmentation. All patients followed the same post-operative protocol for early weight bearing and initiation of physical therapy once the wound was healed. Timing of return to work and the total number of visits of physical therapy before discharge were recorded. Implant costs, facility charges and professional fees were obtained from billing records. Lost income for missed days of work was based on the Pennsylvania Bureau of Labor Statistics. Complications requiring return to the operating room were recorded. Patients were followed out to one year.Results:Aggregate cost in the modified Broström group was $2,219 more expensive than when augmenting with FiberTape ($20,970 vs. $18,751) despite an increased implant cost of $900. This difference was the result of a greater number of therapy visits and days out of work in the modified Broström group versus the augmentation group (14.9 vs 12.4) as well as a significantly higher amount of days out of work in the modified Broström group versus augmentation (63.3 vs. 53.8 days respectively). No statistically significant difference was found for operation time between groups, and failure rates were similar; 2.0% (1/49) for FiberTape and 3.4% (4/117) for modified Broström.Conclusion:The aim of this study was to explore the cost comparison of the modified Broström procedure for chronic ankle instability versus the FiberTape augmentation. Despite an upfront increase in implant costs, the average cost per procedure was lower for the augmentation group. The majority of cost savings occurred in decreases in the number of physical therapy visits and faster return to work times. The results of this study suggest that the use of FiberTape to augment modified Broström repair may have a financial benefit and cost savings to patients and the healthcare system.

THE IMPACT OF POOR SANITATION ON TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: A GLOBAL REVIEW

Aim: The objective of this paper is to review the impact of poor sanitation on global tourism development. Methodology and Results: The majority of the data for this study was sourced from World Development Indicators (WDI) dataset for more than 200 countries in 2014 from the World Bank. A regression analysis was applied to analyze the impact of access to improved sanitation on tourism development by using some indicators such as the number of tourist arrivals, the proportion of the population using improved sanitation facilities, and the proportion of the population using improved water facilities. The study found that the relationship between the proportion of the population using improved sanitation facilities and the number of tourist arrivals is significant. Poor sanitation has been shown to have huge negative impacts on public health and the economy. In terms of the economic impacts, the lack of access to improved sanitation causes economic losses related to the direct costs of treating sanitation-related diseases and the indirect cost of lost income through reduced productivity. Conclusion, significance, and impact study: Access to basic sanitation facilities is regarded as one of the aspects that should be considered to support the tourism industry, particularly in developing countries. This study suggests that providing sanitation is the best investment for promoting tourism. Decision-makers should act now, and in a concerted way, to provide adequate sanitation services and at the same time sustaining tourism growth as an essential aspect of a country’s economy.

Covid-19, Stay-at-Home Orders and Employment: Evidence from CPS Data

In this paper, we examine the short-term consequences of COVID-19 and evaluate the impacts of stay-at-home orders on employment and wages in the United States. Guided by a pre-analysis plan, we document that COVID-19 increased the unemployment rate, decreased hours of work and labor force participation, especially for younger workers, non-white, not married and less-educated workers. We built four indexes (exposure to disease, proximity to coworkers, work remotely and critical workers) to study the impact of COVID-19. We find that workers that can work remotely are significantly less likely to have their labor market outcomes affected, while workers working in proximity to coworkers are more affected.The unemployment effects are significantly larger for states that implemented stay-at-home orders. Our estimates suggest that, as of early May, these policies increased unemployment by nearly 4 percentage points, but reduced COVID-19 cases by 186,600– 311,000, and deaths by 17,851–23,325. We apply our estimates to compute lost income ($18.6–$21.4 billion), reduced government income tax revenues ($3.4–$5.5 billion), increased unemployment insurance benefit payments ($5–$5.8 billion) and reduced hospital costs ($0.7–$1.2 billion). Despite the jobs lost, age adjusted value of statistical life suggests that stay-at-home orders are cost effective.

Informal caring for back pain: overlooked costs of back pain and projections to 2030.

This study models the economic costs of informal caring for people with back pain, using a microsimulation model, Care&WorkMOD, from 2015 to 2030. Care&WorkMOD was based on 3 national Australian Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (2003, 2009, 2012) data sets for individuals aged 15 to 64 years. Estimated national income loss due to caring for people with back pain was AU$258 million in 2015, increasing to $398 million in 2030 (54% increase). Lost income tax revenue to the Australian government due to informal care of people with back pain was estimated to be AU$78 million in 2015, increasing to AU$118 million in 2030 (50% increase), and additional welfare payments were estimated to rise from $132 million in 2015 to AU$180 in 2030 (36% increase). Larger growth in lost income, compared with the increase in welfare payments, means that there would be an increasing income gap between those out of the labour force providing informal care and noncarers who are in the labour force, leading to increased inequality. Informal carers are defined as providers of informal, unpaid assistance to someone with a health condition, for at least 6 months. Informal carers of people with back pain who are out of the labour force incur substantial economic costs. Furthermore, back pain is a large economic burden on national governments. Policies addressing back pain prevention and treatment, and supporting carers, may offset government welfare expenditure, while improving the socioeconomic well-being of carers and patients.

Welfare, work, and single mothers: The Great Recession and income packaging strategies

The public social safety net in the U.S. for single mothers and their children, including cash assistance and in-kind benefits or vouchers, is largely tied to work—both from individual earnings and from child support intended to supplement public support. How does the safety net perform in periods of severe work instability, such as during the unemployment crisis of the 2008–2010 Great Recession? This paper uses a unique panel dataset from Wisconsin to compare total formal income for a cohort of first-time single mothers in 2002 with a cohort in 2007. Income for both cohorts is constructed for the year after birth—including earnings from the formal labor market, public benefits, and child support—and five years after birth. We hypothesize that total formal income will grow over those five years as mothers accrue experience in the labor market. However, with the labor market crisis of the Great Recession, we expect public benefits to expand as earnings decrease, but not enough to offset the loss of earnings and child support when comparing total formal income differences across the two cohorts, resulting in a lower total income package for mothers in the Great Recession cohort. Using multivariate regression to adjust for demographic covariates, we find that while there is significantly less income from earnings and child support among the Great Recession cohort, the total formal income for the Great Recession cohort is slightly but significantly greater than the control cohort at time two. This suggests that the safety net during the Great Recession provided a buffer relative to lost income, likely as a result of critical policy changes making public benefits more generous and more accessible during the recession. High poverty rates among both cohorts of mothers, however, highlight the importance of the safety net even in stable labor market conditions, and suggests the need for greater benefit expansion.

Intellectual disability and autism: socioeconomic impacts of informal caring, projected to 2030.

Intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) influence the interactions of a person with their environment and generate economic and socioeconomic costs for the person, their family and society. To estimate costs of lost workforce participation due to informal caring for people with intellectual disability or autism spectrum disorders by estimating lost income to individuals, lost taxation payments to federal government and increased welfare payments. We used a microsimulation model based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (population surveys of people aged 15-64), and projected costs of caring from 2015 in 5-year intervals to 2030. The model estimated that informal carers of people with intellectual disability and/or ASD in Australia had aggregated lost income of AU$310 million, lost taxation of AU$100 million and increased welfare payments of AU$204 million in 2015. These are projected to increase to AU$432 million, AU$129 million and AU$254 million for income, taxation, and welfare respectively by 2030. The income gap of carers for people with intellectual disability and/or ASD is estimated to increase by 2030, meaning more financial stress for carers. Informal carers of people with intellectual disability and/or ASD experience significant loss of income, leading to increased welfare payments and reduced taxation revenue for governments; these are all projected to increase. Strategic policies supporting informal carers wishing to return to work could improve the financial and psychological impact of having a family member with intellectual disability and/or ASD. None.

Non-Fatal Injuries and Injury Treatment in the West Coast Dungeness Crab Fishery

ABSTRACTObjectives: Non-fatal injuries in the high risk US Dungeness crab fishery have been under-documented, despite their potential for lost work time and income, long-term disability, and early unwanted retirement. The Fishermen Led Injury Prevention Program (FLIPP) characterized injuries in this fishery, in order to identify work hazards and inform injury control measures.Methods: The FLIPP injury survey was completed by 426 fishermen in 23 Washington, Oregon, and California fishing ports prior to the 2015–2016 Dungeness crab season; 413 (97%) provided injury information for this analysis. Participants indicated whether they had been injured in the previous 12 months, described the injury, any treatments received, and whether the injury limited their ability to work.Results: Participants were mostly male (98%), more than half (56.6%) worked as deckhands, and reported considerable fishing experience (median = 14 years, interquartile range 5–27). Eighty-nine fishermen (21.5%) reported an injury incident in the past year, of which 49 (55.1%) were limiting. The 89 incidents yielded 102 injuries, of which nearly two-thirds were sprains/strains (23, 22.5%), surface wounds/bruises (17, 15.0%), cuts (18, 17.6%), or punctures (11, 10.8%). More severe injuries, including eight fractures, were rare. The majority of injuries received either no treatment (27, 26.5%) or first aid (35, 34.3%); clinical care was less common (22, 21.6%), and emergency care rare (3, 2.9%).Conclusion: One in five Dungeness crab fishermen reported an injury incident in the previous year. Most injuries were not severe and did not result in clinical care, but approximately half were work-limiting. Control measures must account for the remote and resource-limited workplace in commercial fishing.

The Effect of Political Connections: Model Analysis and Quantitative Simulation

ABSTRACT Based on a two-task principal-agent theoretical models, we model the input of building and maintaining political connections as non-productive activities. We measure the degree of change in the external environment. And the level of moral hazard on political connection managers is measured by the degree of incongruity between a politically connected manager’s income and investor interest. Our analysis using a quantitative simulation shows that, in the face of more external environmental change, managers can offset their own lost income by engaging in a high level of moral hazard. Political connections not only increase managers’ sensitivity to changes in the external environment but also alleviate the negative impact on their income. Moreover, investor revenue is not sensitive to changes in the external environment but is sensitive to managers’ moral hazards. In addition, the greater the changes in external environment and the greater the managers’ moral hazards, the lower the value of total social welfare. Hence, political connections have a negative impact on total social welfare.

Predictors of financial toxicity among head and neck cancer patients: A prospective cohort study.

e18361 Background: Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer (HNC) is associated with significant costs and treatment morbidity. The impact of treatment on financial well-being has not been investigated. Methods: Patients with HNC treated at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada between 2014 and 2018 were enrolled in a longitudinal study from treatment up to 24 months of follow up. Participants completed questionnaires for demographics, out-of-pocket cost during treatment and at 3, 6, 12, 24 months, and the Financial Toxicity Index (FTI) at 12 and 24 months. The FTI is a 14 item, Likert response scale, with summary score out of 14, and higher scores indicating greater toxicity. Preliminary reliability, validity, and responsiveness for the FTI are very good and ongoing. Uni- and multi-variable analyses (UVA, MVA) were performed to identify predictors for FTI score. Results: Among 363 patients enrolled, average age was 61, 76% male, 81% Caucasian, 72% married, 84% living with others, 53% at least college educated, 57% currently unemployed and 59% had stage IV disease. Median pre-treatment household income was $85K, median lost household income was $15K over 12 months following treatment. At least some difficulty paying for food (14%), housing (17%), or medications (11%) was experienced; 13% had to borrow money and 5% had to relocate housing due to financial pressures. Predictors of greater FTI scores on MVA were younger age (p &lt; 0.001), living alone (p = 0.009), and lower baseline household income (p &lt; 0.001). In subgroup analysis of patients with available information, lost household income (p &lt; 0.001) but not out of pocket costs (p = 0.58) was associated with higher FTI score. Conclusions: Financial toxicity is not uncommon in patients with HNC. Younger age, lower baseline income, living alone, and loss of household income are associated with financial toxicity. This should be a priority population for research into improved supportive care and return to work strategies.

Impact of health behavior change on health utility (HU) and financial toxicity in head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors.

11561 Background: Health behavior changes including tobacco cessation and increasing physical activity (PA) are important aspects of cancer survivorship. Understanding how these behaviours impact on HU and financial toxicity will help when evaluating survivorship programs. We evaluated the impact of tobacco cessation and PA on HU, function and financial toxicity among HNC patients (pts). Methods: HNC pts from Princess Margaret Cancer Centre completed questionnaires at baseline (diagnosis) and 12 months between 2014-2018 evaluating tobacco use, PA with the Godin questionnaire, cancer related monthly out of pocket costs (OOPC), HU using HU Index Mark 3, function using Lawton Brody Scale (LBS) and lost annual income. Multivariable linear regression analyses evaluated the impact of health behaviour change on OOPC, HU, LBS and lost income. Results: Among 296 pts, mean age 61, 76% male; 29% smoked at diagnosis, 60% quit 1 year after; 26% met PA guidelines at diagnosis, 52% continued to meet guidelines at 1 year. 19% of those not meeting PA guidelines at diagnosis, met them at 1 year. Among all, mean HU [SEM] was 0.84 [0.01] (baseline), 0.80 [0.01] (12 months); mean monthly OOPC [SEM] were $171 [27] (12 months); mean annual lost individual income was $25897 [2945]. Among smokers at diagnosis, those continuing to smoke at 1 year lost a mean of $21272 (95% CI [$2783-39761] P= 0.03) more in individual annual income compared to pts who quit, adjusted for baseline income and education. Current smokers who quit smoking at 1 year had an adjusted mean increase in HU of 0.15 ([0.00-0.30] P= 0.05) greater than pts continuing to smoke. Pts who continued meeting PA guidelines at 1 year had an adjusted mean increase in HU scores of 0.11 ([0.02-0.20], P= 0.02) compared to those reducing PA levels after diagnosis. Changes in PA and tobacco were not associated with change in function or OOPC; improving to meet PA guidelines after diagnosis was not associated with HU or lost income ( P&gt; 0.05). Conclusions: Quitting smoking and maintaining PA levels after diagnosis were associated with improvements in HU scores; quitting smoking reduced lost income. Cancer survivors should be made aware of the potential economic impact of behaviour change.

Social capital and resilience to drought among smallholding farmers in Sri Lanka

Pressure of freshwater resources has intensified in recent decades, stressing agricultural communities worldwide. Research is needed to advance our understanding of the factors that support resilience. Past research suggests that social capital positively predicts health and well-being; yet, we know surprisingly little about the relationship between social capital and resilience to environmental stress. Some scholars have cautioned that tight-knit social relationships can also constrain behavior and undermine flexibility, which could undermine adaptive responses to environmental stress. In this analysis, we use survey data from 225 smallholding rice farmers in Sri Lanka to examine the relationship between individual-level measures of cognitive and structural social capital measured before a drought-affected season, and livelihood outcomes (rice yields and income loss) measured after the season. We also examined if membership in less powerful groups (landless, female, and poor farmers) moderated the relationship between social capital and livelihood outcomes. Higher levels of perceived social cohesion (a measure of cognitive social capital) were associated with poorer yields for both female and landless farmers; yet, the yields of male and landowning farmers were unrelated to perceived social cohesion. Likewise, landless farmers with higher levels of community participation (a form of structural social capital) experienced a marginally higher rate of lost income due to the drought. These data suggest that the relationship between social capital and resilience operates differently for different members of the community. Importantly, some community members may face a difficult tradeoff between agricultural productivity and maintaining social relationships.

Editorial News

Open access and open science Scientists live in interesting times. Some colleagues have argued that a considerable proportion of scientific articles is simply research waste. It is proposed that we should produce less but better research that provides unequivocal answers to societal needs. At the same time, funding agencies and users of scientific information are very vocal in requiring scientific research to be accessible to all levels of society. The Open Science movement has taken this one step further with the Plan S initiative, which pushes for all scientific research funded by public grants to be published in "Gold" (or 100%) open access journals. While we support the principle of accessibility – as evidenced by the high percentage of unlocked articles we publish and that all our content is open access after two years – this new era of Open Science poses several challenges for a non-commercial, niche journal like the Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. Simply put, without significant support from alternative sources, open access journals need to publish at a high rate to offset lost income from subscriptions. Journals like PLOS One or BMJ Open publish many thousand articles per year. With the current speed of publications, it may be questioned whether we too should adopt a similar policy and simply publish all submitted research of good quality. In this contribution, we outline our guiding principles for the future of the journal. Strong focus on scientific quality and innovative research With the huge scientific production of every day in mind, Scand J Work Environ Health wants to make a difference by providing its readership with guidance on new topics and innovative methods. In recent years we have published on emerging topics, for example health effects of precarious employment (1), and regularly revisited hot topics such as shift work and cardiovascular diseases (2). We strive to publish exemplary papers on analytical methods that may guide researchers how to adopt these innovative methods in their own studies, such as trajectory analysis (3) and latent class growth analysis (4). In essence, papers of good quality can be published in many journals, but Scand J Work Environ Health aims to attract those original articles that progress scientific understanding on how we can make the workplace a healthier environment. Thus we apply a rigorous peer-review system and have an acceptance rate of less than 20%. Broad profile in methods, focused profile in content For a specialized journal like Scand J Work Environ Health, we try to strike a good balance between innovative methods and important subject matter. Innovative methods will attract our attention, specifically when a study demonstrates how this new method contributes to existing evidence in the literature on risk factors or effectiveness of interventions. A prime example is our current interest in statistical methods for causal interference in observational studies (5, 6). With regard to important topics that also catch our eye, we envisage the journal as primarily one with roots in occupational epidemiology, with the occasional excursion into other type of studies that are of relevance to occupational health. Applying this editorial policy, we hope to create a community of dedicated readers and writers with a keen interest in promoting the health and well-being of the workforce. We have strengthened our editorial team in order to promote Scand J Work Environ Health as a leading journal in occupational epidemiology. We acknowledge that we are standing on the shoulders of our predecessors. We would like to extend our gratitude for the great contribution of Eira Viikari-Juntura, who served the journal as Deputy Editor-in-Chief for the past 15 years. Her role has been essential in achieving the journal’s ambition to publish scientific papers that really matter. The new editorial team is committed to continuing this legacy, publishing excellent studies that address pertinent questions in occupational health.

Nonreimbursed Costs Incurred by Living Kidney Donors: A Case Study From Ontario, Canada.

Living donors may incur out-of-pocket costs during the donation process. While many jurisdictions have programs to reimburse living kidney donors for expenses, few programs have been evaluated. The Program for Reimbursing Expenses of Living Organ Donors was launched in the province of Ontario, Canada in 2008 and reimburses travel, parking, accommodation, meals, and loss of income; each category has a limit and the maximum total reimbursement is $5500 CAD. We conducted a case study to compare donors' incurred costs (out-of-pocket and lost income) with amounts reimbursed by Program for Reimbursing Expenses of Living Organ Donors. Donors with complete or partial cost data from a large prospective cohort study were linked to Ontario's reimbursement program to determine the gap between incurred and reimbursed costs (n = 159). The mean gap between costs incurred and costs reimbursed to the donors was $1313 CAD for out-of-pocket costs and $1802 CAD for lost income, representing a mean reimbursement gap of $3115 CAD. Nondirected donors had the highest mean loss for out-of-pocket costs ($2691 CAD) and kidney paired donors had the highest mean loss for lost income ($4084 CAD). There were no significant differences in the mean gap across exploratory subgroups. Reimbursement programs minimize some of the financial loss for living kidney donors. Opportunities remain to remove the financial burden of living kidney donors.

Renaissance of Industrial Hemp: A Miracle Crop for a Multitude of Products

The US, which historically has been a major producer of hemp, has recently reintroduced industrial hemp production. The idea is to provide agriculture and farming communities with new economic opportunities (2018 Farm Bill) to replace lost income from formerly more profitable cash crops such as tobacco. Industrial hemp is a scalable crop that could provide significant economic and environmental benefits; however, the true valorization of industrial hemp will hinge on significant innovation and the development of high-value applications. Utilization of the whole hemp plant may be the key to attaining economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Further, strong community outreach and education is required to overcome the stigma attached with industrial hemp due to its morphological and genetic similarities to its psychoactive-rich (> 0.3% tetrahydrocannabinols (THC)) analogue. This editorial identifies critical research, educational, and community outreach platforms to develop a robust US industrial hemp program, with a goal to enable the renaissance of this miracle crop. Collaboration of the forest sector, universities, and industries is urged for the establishment of a center or consortium that fosters the future advances amongst more productive hemp cultivars, local farming practices, and bioproducts development for economic outlets for this miracle crop.

Socio-economic impacts of the landing obligation of the European Union Common Fisheries Policy on Galician (NW Spain) small-scale fisheries

This paper analyses the impacts of the new LO policy on small-scale fishing fleet under the TAC regulation in Galicia, namely focused on Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus), European hake (Merluccius merluccius) and Rays (Rajidae). The paper shows that, as in much of the North Atlantic small-scale fisheries, the volume of discards of these species is relatively small, at 0–5% of the total volume of catches. However, while the volume of discards may increase as quotas allocated to a fleet are exhausted, discards by the small-scale fleet are managed by a combination of effort and minimum size. The main reason given by fishers is that small-scale fishing is highly selective and has a discard ratio significantly lower than that of industrial fishing.Regarding the impacts of the landing obligation (LO), this paper shows that 88% of the Galician small-scale fishers interviewed who harvest species (Atlantic mackerel, European hake and ray) under the European Union TAC regulation. Indeed, 60% of the fishers indicated that the implementation of the LO would mean they would leave small-scale fishing. The main incentive to avoiding discards lies in changing the system of TACs and quotas (based on the principle of relative stability of the EU), promoting small-scale fishing and increasing de “de minimis” exceptions. The fact that many small-scale fishers are not willing to accept the LO highlights the lack of information and dialogue on the part of authorities regarding the impact of the LO on small-scale fishing.Regarding the economic and social impact of the LO on Galician small-scale fisheries, the economic loss for the fleet which harvest species under the TAC regulation is estimated to be 58,753,632 EUR per year. In macroeconomic terms, the direct economic loss will lead to lost income taxes plus the cost of unemployment payments to affected fishers. In microeconomic terms, given the high dependence on fishing revenues of coastal communities, the household incomes of around 3000 small-scale fishers (nearly 11,000 people taking into account family members) would be negatively affected. The effects on other economic branches supplying goods and services to small-scale fisheries are excluded from this estimate. This impact would further aggravate the social and economic crisis of the Galician small-scale fishing sector, which has lost 17% of its fishing vessels and 20% direct employment in the last decade.

Running the Risk of an Injury in the NFL: Short-Run and Career Consequences

Similar to other workers in industrial settings NFL running backs can choose to provide additional work effort with possible negative health consequences. We find that the most informative measure for running backs is yards gained after contact, which not only increases total rushing yards but also increases injuries that can cause subsequent lost income due to future games missed. We econometrically examine the decisions running backs reveal in trading off injury risk against total yards gained and salary in the short run and how the tradeoff appears in the longer run where career length considerations come into play. Our estimates reveal subtle nonlinearities and interpersonal heterogeneity in risky effort and the associated short and long run injury risk and economic payoffs.

Running the Risk of an Injury in the NFL: Short-Run and Career Consequences

Similar to other workers in industrial settings NFL running backs can choose to provide additional work effort with possible negative health consequences. We find that the most informative measure for running backs is yards gained after contact, which not only increases total rushing yards but also increases injuries that can cause subsequent lost income due to future games missed. We econometrically examine the decisions running backs reveal in trading off injury risk against total yards gained and salary in the short run and how the tradeoff appears in the longer run where career length considerations come into play. Our estimates reveal subtle nonlinearities and interpersonal heterogeneity in risky effort and the associated short and long run injury risk and economic payoffs.

Economic costs of informal care for people with chronic diseases in the community: Lost income, extra welfare payments, and reduced taxes in Australia in 2015-2030.

We estimated the economic costs of informal care in the community from 2015 to 2030, using an Australian microsimulation model, Care&WorkMOD. The model was based on data from three Surveys of Disability, Ageing, and Carers (SDACs) for the Australian population aged 15-64years old. Estimated national income lost was AU$3.58 billion in 2015, increasing to $5.33 billion in 2030 (49% increase). Lost tax payments were estimated at AU$0.99 billion in 2015, increasing to AU$1.44 billion in 2030 (45% increase), and additional welfare payments were expected to rise from $1.45 billion in 2015 to AU$1.94 in 2030 (34% increase). There are substantial economic costs both to informal carers and the government due to carers being out of the labour-force to provide informal care for people with chronic diseases. Health and social policies supporting carers to remain in the labour force may allow governments to make substantial savings, while improving the economic situation of carers.

Middle Class Decline? The Growth of Professional-Managers in the Neoliberal Era

ABSTRACTThis study examines changes in the U.S. class structure under neoliberalism. Applying a Marxian analytic framework to U.S. Census data from 1970 to 2010, we find that the professional middle class grew to 32% of the workforce and experienced steady earnings growth. The working class declined in size and earnings, the petty bourgeoisie remained stable but lost income, whereas the ruling class advanced significantly on both fronts. This overall pattern was more pronounced for whites, Asians, and women than for blacks, Hispanics, and men, confirming some but upending other expectations about the social ramifications of neoliberal policy.