Single Households Research Articles

Multilevel Analysis on the Spatial Distribution of Low-income Elderly Single Households in Seoul

Multilevel Analysis on the Spatial Distribution of Low-income Elderly Single Households in Seoul

노인 단독가구의 사회자본이 인지적·기능적 건강에 미치는 영향

This study explored the effects of social capital and living environment on the cognitive and functional health of elderly single households. This study used secondary data collected in June 2021. That data included elderly single household members living across the country, and a total of 557 elderly were used in the final analysis. As a result of the study, the level of social capital affected the cognitive and functional health of elderly single households. The age-friendly living environment had a direct effect on the cognitive health level of elderly single households, but was not directly related to functional health. Social capital and residential environment were found to have an interactive effect on cognitive and functional health in elderly single household. Based on the results of this study, there is a need to focus policy attention on an age-friendly environment and ways to form social capital.

Determinants of individual income in EU countries: implications for social policy targeting.

The introduction of the Income Index constructed by authors as well as the identification of demographic, socio-economic and occupation-related factors influencing the income of individuals in EU countries is the main contribution of the paper. The Income Index makes it possible to analyze data of individuals from all EU countries. The multiple hierarchical regression of EU-SILC microdata provides the factors that influence individuals' income. Outcomes show through which factors can be intervened in social policy settings to reduce income inequality. Factors significantly affecting the Income Index are the household composition, occupation sector (typically agriculture and accommodation and services are related to low incomes) and the degree of urbanization (rural areas with the lowest incomes of individuals). Findings confirm ongoing discussions about the specific position of single parent households in the labour market and their need for social support.

The Prevalence of Emotional Exhaustion in Professional and Semiprofessional Coaches

The present study examined levels of emotional exhaustion, a key symptom of burnout, in Swedish professional and semiprofessional sport coaches in comparison to the normative values specified in the Maslach Burnout Inventory manual, and to the clinical cutoffs developed by Kleijweg, Verbraak, and Van Dijk. The sample contained 318 Swedish coaches (Mage = 42.7 years, 12% female) working at least 50% full time away from both team (60%) and individual (40%) sports. Our study shows that, in general, coaches in this sample experience lower average levels of exhaustion than normative samples both regarding the Maslach Burnout Inventory and clinical cutoffs. Two groups of coaches did, however, stand out. Coaches living in single households as well as coaches working part time had higher risk of severe levels of emotional exhaustion. These results place coach exhaustion levels in relation to other occupations and highlight that in this sample, the coaching profession does not stand out as more emotionally exhausting than other occupations.

Changes in food purchase, consumption and handling during COVID-19 pandemic among single person households.

As a new type of consumer subject in the market that was formerly dominated by multiple person families, single households are driving the change in the buying structure. Food purchase activities have undergone significant changes since the outbreak of the COVID-19. The objective of this study was to assess and compare variations in food consumption, purchase and handling during the COVID-19 pandemic between single person households (SPH) and multiple person households. A cross-sectional study conducted among 211 individuals in communities in Harris and Waller Counties, Texas. Sociodemographic, food purchase, food consumption and food handling activities during the COVID-19 pandemic were assessed with a validated COVID-19 Nutrition questionnaire. Non-Hispanic Black participants constituted 42.6%, and 28.4% were Hispanics. Participants were made up of mostly aged 18-24 years (39.3%), 47.9% single household composition, 30.4% in full time employment, and 29.1% partook in food assistance programs. A large proportion of them had never used grocery pickup services, online grocery shopping and a farmers' market. During the COVID-19 pandemic, majority of the participants used more of large supermarkets, restaurant/fast food, and online grocery but food consumption seemed to remain the same for the majority of participants. For beverages, majority of participants consumed more water, less soda, and no alcohol. There was a significant association between single person household and higher restaurant/fast foods purchase. Many of the participants reported weight gain and less physical activity during the pandemic. Restaurant meal purchases was more prevalent in single-person families. The results from the study have the potential to contribute to how public policy officials, food service, and health authorities forecast how different categories of consumers will react in pandemics and may be used to inform area-specific alleviation strategies to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and future events.

Changing marital transitions and homeownership among young households

This paper shows that the evolving likelihood of marriage and divorce is an important factor that helps account for the changes in homeownership rates among young single households and married couples from 1970 to the mid 1990s. To investigate potential mechanisms behind these observed changes, I develop and estimate a life-cycle model that incorporates housing decisions and age-dependent shocks associated with marriage and divorce. The findings indicate that the declined likelihood of marriage, along with increased returns on non-housing assets, helps generate the observed rise in homeownership among singles aged 25-44 years. Conversely, the increased likelihood of divorce, in addition to higher house prices and labor market volatility, contributes to the decrease in homeownership among young couples.

A 5-year review of prevalence, temporal trends and characteristics of individuals experiencing moderate and severe food insecurity in 34 high income countries

BackgroundDue to the relatively low numbers of households in high income countries experiencing food insecurity most studies conflate the levels of severity, which masks between- and within-country differences. This study aims to describe the characteristics of individuals living in high income countries who were moderately or severely food insecure and investigates temporal trends in prevalence. It assesses these characteristics in comparison to those who were food secure.MethodsThis is a secondary analysis of data collected by the FAO Voices of the Hungry between 2014–2018. The data were collected during the annual Gallup World Polls of nationally representative samples using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale. Data from 34 highly developed, wealthy countries were analysed. The age, gender, income, education, area of residence and household structure of individuals experiencing moderate/severe food insecurity (FI), and severe FI, were compared using ANOVA, Welch’s F, Pearson’s Chi-square, and Linear-by-Linear Association, dependent on the variable of interest. Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group countries according to their prevalence of moderate/severe FI, and severe FI.ResultsOverall, 6.5% of the weighted sample were moderately/severely food insecure (M-SFI), while 1.6% were severely food insecure. M-SFI individuals were present in all 34 countries, in all years and across all education levels and income quintiles. The proportion of individuals experiencing moderate/severe FI varied between years and countries. Fifteen countries showed a significant downward temporal trend in prevalence of moderate/severe FI (p < 0.001), while three countries demonstrated an increasing temporal trend driven by increasing prevalence in those aged 65 years or less (p < 0.001). Comparing individuals experiencing moderate versus severe FI showed over-representation of males, single adult households and lower household income in the severe FI group.ConclusionsIndividuals across all income, education and age categories living in high income countries are experiencing moderate/severe food insecurity, but with higher prevalence in those experiencing more disadvantage. Over the study period some countries experienced escalating while others demonstrated decreasing moderate/severe FI trends. This comparison of countries with similar economic and human development indices highlights an opportunity to investigate subtle variations in social, economic and education policy that could have profound impacts on food insecurity.

Livelihood challenges of single female household heads in the Rohingya and host communities in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundFollowing the mass influx of Rohingya refugees into Cox’s Bazaar, Bangladesh in 2017, makeshift settlement camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf have been overburdened, leading to livelihood challenges for both Rohingya and host communities. The humanitarian crisis has had adverse effects on vulnerable populations, which include older people, persons with disabilities, adolescents, and single female household heads. Using a subset of a larger dataset on households with most vulnerable groups in both communities, we analysed the effect of the pandemic and lockdown on the livelihood of single female household (HH) heads.MethodsA cross-sectional household roster survey was designed to collect data from households with most vulnerable groups (MVGs) of host and Rohingya communities from December 2020 to March 2021; 11 host community villages and 10 Rohingya camps purposively selected as per the affiliated intervention of the project. The paper analysed quantitative and qualitative data from the sub-group of single female household heads without any income/low income. Participants were surveyed for their socio-demographic characteristics, COVID-19 experiences and knowledge, food security situation, social experiences and mental health using PHQ-2 test for depression.ResultsWe surveyed 432 single female HH heads. Support during the pandemic was reported to be low, with less than 50% of HHs reporting relief meeting their needs; only 36% and 15% of these HHs received rations in camps and host communities respectively. Loan facilities were mostly unavailable and there were reported insufficiencies in food consumption. Over 50% of respondents tested positive on the PHQ-2, a scale used to screen for depression. Further analyses indicates that having a chronic health issue (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.33–3.66) was positively associated with the PHQ-2 score for Rohingya single females. For host single females, having an ill member in the HH (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02–2.08) and the inability to save before the pandemic (OR 1.57 95% CI 1.11–2.23) increased the odds of screening positive for depression.ConclusionOur study findings revealed insufficiencies with economic opportunities and food security for single female-headed households, as well as a high rate of positive screening for depression amongst this population. These findings call for a more in-depth understanding of the needs of this group.

Temporal, seasonal, and spatial patterns in fall-related mortality in Japan: Analysis of national vital statistics from 1975 to 2019

BackgroundFalls are a significant public health issue in aging societies. This study aimed to examine the temporal, seasonal, and spatial patterns in fall-related mortality in Japan, and to investigate the potential factors associated with fall-related mortality. MethodsThe number of unintentional fall-related deaths from 1979 to 2019 were obtained from Japanese vital statistics and crude and direct age-standardized mortality rates (DSR) were calculated. We also calculated the standardized mortality ratio (SMR) to determine seasonal and prefectural differences. In addition, spatial regression was conducted to examine the potential factors associated with fall-related mortality. ResultsThe DSR among those over 65 years old showed a decreasing trend from 1979, but remained unchanged from 1990 to 2019. Based on the spatial regression model, the factors significantly associated with SMRs were the proportion of the aged population (Coefficient: 0.049), the number of hospitals (0.118), the number of clinics (1.169), the number of hospital beds (-0.060), and the number of physiotherapists (-0.069) for men; and the proportion of aged single households (-0.060), the number of hospitals (0.132), the number of clinics (1.498), the number of hospital beds (-0.051), and the number of physicians (-0.308) for women. ConclusionsFall-related mortality among Japanese elderly people has remained unchanged in recent years. In addition, seasonal and spatial patterns were also observed, and it was found that demographic data and healthcare resources in the prefectures affected fall-related mortality rates. Appropriate prevention measures of fall-related deaths should be considered according to the region-specific characteristics and issues.

Interpersonal Discrimination, Neighborhood Inequities, and Children's Body Mass Index: A Descriptive, Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Psychosocial stressors have been implicated in childhood obesity, but the role of racism-related stressors is less clear. This study explored associations between neighborhood inequities, discrimination/harassment, and child body mass index (BMI). Parents of children aged 5-9 years from diverse racial/ethnic backgrounds (n = 1307), completed surveys of their child's exposure to discrimination/harassment. Census tract data derived from addresses were used to construct an index of concentration at the extremes, a measure of neighborhood social polarization. Child's height and weight were obtained from medical records. Multiple regression and hierarchical models examined child's BMI and racism at the individual and census tract levels. Children residing in the most Black-homogenous census tracts had 8.2 percentage units higher BMI percentile (95% confidence interval, 1.5-14.9) compared with white-homogenous tracts (P = .03). Household income and home values were lower, poverty rates higher, and single parent households more common among Black-homogeneous census tracts. Almost 30% of children experienced discrimination/harassment in the past year, which was associated with a 5.28-unit higher BMI percentile (95% confidence interval, 1.72-8.84; P = .004). Discrimination and racial/economic segregation were correlated with higher child BMI. Longitudinal studies are needed to understand whether these factors may be related to weight gain trajectories and future health.

18 Exploring Caregiver Perspectives on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Application to Early Intervention for Young Autistic Children

Abstract Background Caregivers of young autistic children face high levels of stress. With increasing focus on caregiver-mediated early intervention, which requires that caregivers learn and implement skills to address their child’s developmental needs, the stress experienced by caregivers may impact their participation. Currently available mental health interventions, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), target caregiver stress but are not well-studied in caregivers with young autistic children and who are participating in early intervention. Objectives To identify caregivers’ perspectives on: i) the benefits and disadvantages of participating in ACT, and ii) the potential application of ACT to those caregivers whose children are participating in early intervention. Design/Methods This qualitative study utilized reflexive thematic analysis with a constructivist approach to explore caregivers’ perceptions of ACT. Demographic information was collected and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 8 caregivers from Ontario, Canada. Interviews were coded and themes generated from the codes. Themes were revised based on feedback from the research team and member-checking. Results Participants included mothers from single or dual-parent households with 1-2 autistic children or adults diagnosed before age 5 years who had taken an in-person or virtual ACT workshop between 2012-2020. In exploring the benefits and disadvantages of ACT, the theme changing caregiver’s perspective on prioritizing self highlights the shift in our participants’ focus to their own needs through accepting and managing their emotions and stress, aligning their actions with their chosen values, and moving towards acceptance of their child. Participants acknowledged feeling supported through establishing a community of other caregivers with whom they could share experiences and process emotions in a psychologically safe environment. Despite practical barriers to accessing ACT, participants noted their experiences in learning ACT were facilitated by their shared philosophies, use of imagery and hands-on activities to reinforce complicated concepts, and participation in a group designed to train ACT facilitators. Participants also shared their views on applying ACT to early intervention, providing their recommendations about accessibility, workshop timing and features, and community support. Considerations prior to participating in ACT included addressing gaps in messaging around the importance of caregiver mental health and wellness and a caregiver’s readiness to seek wellness support. Participants also maintained the importance of highlighting a child’s strengths and acceptance of the child. Conclusion Themes from this study highlight the internal process whereby caregivers begin shifting their focus on their own mental health needs, as well as the relational aspects of the group that contribute to the feeling of support. Though ACT participants had varying personal experiences with early intervention, their insights into integrating ACT along with early intervention provide a starting point in developing a truly family-centred intervention that honours the reciprocal relationship between child and caregiver.

Uniform taxation of electricity: incentives for flexibility and cost redistribution among household categories

Recent European developments have shown a rapid adoption of residential solar PV with increased self-consumption and self-sufficiency levels. A major driver for their economic viability is the electricity tax exemption for the consumption of self-produced electricity. This leads to large residential PV capacities and potentially overburdened distribution grids. Moreover, the tax exemption favoring wealthier households capable of making capital-intensive investments in solar panels has prompted debates regarding energy equity and the suitable taxation level for self-consumption. This study investigates the implementation of uniform electricity taxes on all consumption, irrespective of the origin of the production, by means of a case study of 155,000 hypothetical Danish prosumers. The results show that the new taxation policy redistributes costs dependent on household consumption and their PV usage. As more consumption is taxed, the tax level can be reduced by 38%, leading to 61% of all households seeing net savings of up to 23% off their yearly tax bill. High-occupancy houses save an average of 116 €/year at the expense of single households living in large dwellings who pay 55 €/year more. Implementing a uniform electricity tax in combination with a reduced overall tax level can (a) maintain overall tax revenues and (b) increase the interaction of batteries with the grid while reducing behind-the-meter operations. In the end, the implicit cross-subsidy is removed by taxing self-consumption uniformly, leading to a cost redistribution supporting occupant-dense households and encouraging the grid-side flexibility of prosumers. This policy measure improves economic efficiency and greater use of technology with positive system-wide impacts while redistributing tax contributions by alleviating the regressive tax design.

1인 가구 청년의 독립생활을 통한 성장 경험

Recently, single-person households have surged across all age groups, including young adults, and there is a strong need from a social welfare perspective to understand the implications of this type of independent living in terms of human growth. Thus, this study would explore the growth experience of single young households through independent lives in depth. To gather data, this study interviewed 12 young individuals, meeting the study’s criteria, for a total of 26 hours, two sessions per each person. The study employed thematic analysis and constant comparative methods to reconstruct the participants’ experiences and perspectives. As a result, the meanings of growth experience through the independent living of single young households were identified along with five upper categories: ‘Leaving the original family and growing up in confusion,’ ‘Worries accumulated soon while enjoying freedom,’ ‘Taking a life path without minding others,’ ‘Worthy values learned while living alone,’ ‘Desiring a better world that embraces young independence,’ and the central theme of ‘Living as an adult firming up, weaving the world with my hands after leaving the nest.’ Based on these findings, recommendations were provided to enhance the quality of life and support the growth of young adults residing independently in single-person households through social welfare policies and practices.

Mind the Gap: The Effects of Eliminating the Gender Pay Gap on Income and Poverty

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the effects of eliminating Gender Pay Gap on income and poverty. Drawing upon the European Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for Portugal, we use econometric tools to estimate the counterfactual earnings. The results obtained over the period under study (2014, 2017 and 2019) show that the average hourly income of women would increase by around 38%; the average annual income of households with women in the labor market would be around 22% higher; the poverty indicators would fall by 5% points; single female households and Madeira region would show a more significant decline in poverty.

Examining data imbalance in crowdsourced reports for improving flash flood situational awareness

The use of crowdsourced data has been finding practical use for enhancing situational awareness during disasters. While recent studies have shown promising results regarding the potential of crowdsourced data (such as user-generated flood reports) for flash flood mapping and situational awareness, little attention has been paid to data imbalance issues that could introduce biases in data and assessment. To address this gap, in this study, we examine biases present in crowdsourced reports to identify data imbalance with a goal of improving disaster situational awareness. Three biases are examined: sample bias, spatial bias, and demographic bias. To examine these biases, we analyzed reported flooding from 3-1-1 reports (which is a citizen hotline allowing the community to report problems such as flooding) and Waze reports (which is a GPS navigation app that allows drivers to report flooded roads) with respect to FEMA damage data collected in the aftermaths of Tropical Storm Imelda in Harris County, Texas, in 2019 and Hurricane Ida in New York City in 2021. First, sample bias is assessed by expanding the flood-related categories in 3-1-1 reports. Integrating other flooding related topics into the Global Moran's I and Local Indicator of Spatial Association (LISA) revealed more communities that were impacted by floods. To examine spatial bias, we perform the LISA and BI-LISA tests on the data sets—FEMA damage, 3-1-1 reports, and Waze reports—at the census tract level and census block group level. By looking at two geographical aggregations, we found that the larger spatial aggregations, census tracts, show less data imbalance in the results. Through a regression analysis, we found that 3-1-1 reports and Waze reports have data imbalance limitations in areas where minority populations and single parent households reside. The findings of this study advance understanding of data imbalance and biases in crowdsourced datasets that are growingly used for disaster situational awareness. Through addressing data imbalance issues, researchers and practitioners can proactively mitigate biases in crowdsourced data and prevent biased and inequitable decisions and actions.

Embodied carbon savings of co-living and implications for metrics

In light of the climate crisis and conflicting political ambitions in many countries to rapidly increase the number of dwellings, what housing strategies could reduce emissions? Co-living is one strategy sometimes highlighted but rarely implemented in mainstream construction practices. Using two Swedish case studies, the potential embodied carbon savings are explored for co-living designs. When comparing building designs, normalisation of impacts or energy use per floor area is unequivocally the norm. The present comparison between co-living and traditional apartment design indicates an embodied carbon savings at the building level of 10–20% depending on whether embodied carbon is normalised per gross or residential floor area. However, normalisation per capita (inhabitant) shows substantially higher savings of 21–36% depending on the case studied. The effect of different metrics is illustrated to quantify potential embodied carbon savings of non-mainstream building design solutions such as co-living. Even more substantial embodied carbon savings can be achieved by avoiding new construction through the ability of enabling a more efficient use of indoor space. The need for rethinking carbon and space metrics will help the building sector meet emission targets. Practice relevance Evidence is provided to show that design for co-living could be one way to offer a climate-efficient and qualitative housing alternative for single households in many countries. However, to visualise such potentials, developers are recommended to use additional metrics when evaluating how resource or climate-efficient are alternative designs. Traditional metrics such as kW h or kg CO2e/m2 of gross or heated floor area ought to be complemented by displaying resource use or embodied carbon per designed number of building user and per accessible floor area for each user. Up-to-date generic values are provided for the embodied carbon of different types of space. These can be used in early planning to display the consequences of the number of kitchens and bathrooms and their space occupation in client decisions and early architectural design.

Wealth and poverty in mining Africa: migration, settlement and occupational change in Tanzania during the global mineral boom, 2002–2012

ABSTRACT This article interrogates place, process and people’s quest for enhanced welfare during the 2002–2012 global mineral price boom in northwest Tanzania. Mass in-migration of miners, traders and service providers generated diversified residential settlements. Processes of occupational change and urbanization, catalyzed by acquisition of employment, land, housing and other possessions at six contrasting mining locations were compared from a geo-social perspective. Our surveyed gold and diamond mining sites represented different manifestations of the mining trajectory namely: (1) artisanal rushes, (2) mature artisanal and (3) industrial mining. The article investigates who benefitted locationally and who lost in residents’ scrambles to gain improved living standards. Survey data on 216 household heads’ occupations, educational backgrounds, consumption and investments were collected, followed by construction of a household welfare index, revealing modest welfare improvements relative to rural consumption norms for the majority of interviewed resident households. However, in line with Picketty’s theoretical insights, extreme material inequality surfaced on the welfare spectrum between the outlier affluent and poor quintile groups. Those with higher educational attainment enjoyed superior welfare and occupational status, coalescing towards middle class formation. At the opposite end, single female-headed households stood out as extremely disadvantaged, handicapped by high child dependency ratios and occupational immobility.

Megged, Amos (2019) Rituals and Sisterhoods: Single Women's Households in Mexico, 1560–1750, University Press of Colorado (Louisville, Colorado), xiv + 301 pp. £81.00 hbk, £27.00 pbk

Megged, Amos (2019) Rituals and Sisterhoods: Single Women's Households in Mexico, 1560–1750, University Press of Colorado (Louisville, Colorado), xiv + 301 pp. £81.00 hbk, £27.00 pbk

나노사회의 심리적 현상에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to provide the main characteristics of psychological phenomenain the nano society and to present the psychological nature of human existence in theunderstanding of single person households, individualization, isolation, and polarizationphenomena. As a literature research method, it was analyzed by focusing on previous domesticand foreign studies. The main research question was to examine what the core psychologicalphenomena of the nano society are and how far they affect them. As a result of this study, themain keyword of the psychological phenomenon of the nano society wasloneliness, and itwas found that chronic loneliness affects sleep deprivation, depression, stress, diseaseexacerbation, mental illness, and suicide. These results have academic significance in providingimplications for future research and suggest clinical insights.

Poverty, extreme poverty and homelessness in Spain: an analysis for the period 2010–2019

This work adopts different approaches to analyse situations of poverty and extreme poverty in Spain during the last decade, considering different monetary thresholds, measures of severe material deprivation and the combination of both. The determining factors of these situations and the patterns that act as a link between extreme poverty and homelessness are also examined. The results of the study show that for the most restrictive thresholds of 10 per cent and 20 per cent of the median equivalised disposable income the smallest variations during the series are observed, confirming that situations of such deep poverty are not influenced by the cycle since they do not respond to economic stimuli. The determinants of extreme poverty suggest that public policies should be target towards high-risk groups, such as single person households, households with children, younger individuals, individuals with a low educational attainment, and of foreign nationality. Finally, an interesting result is that the profile of individuals in situations of consistent poverty have the greatest similarities to the group of people experiencing homelessness.