Child Poverty in the American States: The Impact of Welfare Reform,Economics, and Demographics

This article identifies the predictors of child poverty rates at the state level before and after the adoption and implementation of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. The analysis shows that the most important state‐level factors that influence child poverty rates are demographics, the health and viability of the state economy, and often the generosity, inclusiveness, and quality of state welfare programs. States with large numbers of black citizens, and those that score highest on infant mortality, teen births, births to unmarried women, children living with a parent without a high school degree, and children living with a single parent have the highest rates of child poverty. Child poverty rates are lowest in states that suffer less unemployment, and in wealthier states. States that score higher on per capita personal income, tax revenues, and taxable resources have lower child poverty rates. While specific “tough” welfare policies adopted by some states seem to have no impact on child poverty rates, we tested for the first time a sophisticated measure of the overall quality of state welfare programs. The analysis reveals that the global quality of a state's welfare programs is often an independent predictor of child poverty. States with the most generous, inclusive, and supportive welfare programs have done the best job of lowering and containing child poverty.     

Cash Transfers and the Well‐being of Older People in Brazil

This article provides a comprehensive assessment of the effects of social protection interventions on material and subjective elements of well‐being. Drawing on a longitudinal survey located in two relatively deprived parts of Brazil, it assesses the effects of pensions and other cash transfers on the well‐being of older people and their households. This analysis is located within a dynamic economic and public policy context. The article finds that pension benefits significantly increase per capita income and that this is strongly associated with overall levels of satisfaction with household well‐being. Levels of reported subjective well‐being do not fall as respondents age, and the survey finds high levels of optimism about future well‐being. The positive effects of pension benefits were supported by upgraded health services and by more specific policies such as access to credit on favourable terms. Overall, the authors conclude that a combination of economic growth and effective public policies significantly boosted the well‐being of most households in their survey, and that Brazil can be taken as a model of good practice for other middle‐income countries.     

Migration and left-behind parents and children of migrants in Cambodia: a look at household composition and the economic situation

ABSTRACT

This paper examines composition of households formed after the outmigration of a household member in rural Cambodian and correlates household types with indicators of economic condition. The paper focuses on households containing left-behind parents and the children of migrants. Excess mortality in the 1970s due to war suggests the association between migration and economic condition may be gendered. This could be exacerbated when migration leads to a skip-generation household containing a left-behind parent and a child of migrant without an own parent of the child present. Data come from the Cambodian Rural-Urban Migration Project (CRUMP), a project designed to study migration in rural Cambodia. Most households formed after a migration contain a left-behind parent of migrant. While about 22 per cent of these households contain a left-behind child of migrant, the per cent is over 60 per cent when the migrant is themselves a parent. The economic situation tends to be worst for left behind solo mothers (mothers of migrants who do not live with a spouse) and best for left-behind coupled parents of migrants. There is evidence that the combination of left-behind solo mothers living with children of migrants in a skip-generation situation is the most disadvantaged.     

Geographic information system‐based evaluation of spatial accessibility to maternal health facilities in Siaya County,Kenya

Maternal mortality is a major problem in middle‐income and low‐income countries, and the availability and accessibility of healthcare facilities offering safe delivery is important in averting maternal deaths. Siaya County, in Kenya, has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country—far more than the national average. This study aimed to evaluate geographic access to health facilities offering delivery services in Siaya County. A mixed‐methods approach incorporating geographic information system analysis and individual data from semi‐structured interviews was used to derive travel time maps to facilities using different travel scenarios: AccessMod5 and ArcGIS were used for these tasks. The derived maps were then linked to georeferenced household survey data in a multilevel logistic regression model in R to predict the probability of expectant women delivering in a health facility. Based on the derived travel times, 26 per cent (13,140) and 67 per cent (32,074) of the estimated 46,332 pregnant women could reach any facility within one and two hours, respectively, while walking with the percentage falling to seven per cent (3,415) and 20 per cent (8,845) when considering referral facilities. Motorised transport significantly increased coverage. The findings revealed that the predicted probability of a pregnant woman delivering in a health facility ranged between 0.14 and 0.86. Significant differences existed in access levels with transportation‐based interventions significantly increasing coverage. The derived maps can help health policy planners identify underserved areas and monitor future reductions in inequalities. This work has theoretical implications for conceptualising healthcare accessibility besides advancing the literature on mixed methodologies.     

Does Diversification Improve Livelihoods? Pastoral Households in Xinjiang,China

Diversification is routinely promoted to improve poor rural peoples’ livelihoods. However, policy recommendations for livelihood diversification based on evidence from crop‐cultivating sedentary rural societies may not work for mobile pastoral communities, where socio‐ecological conditions predetermine livestock herding as the preferred livelihood strategy. Using survey and semi‐structured interview data collected from 159 households in the Altay and Tianshan Mountains of Xinjiang, China, this study applies cluster analysis to identify six distinct groups based on livelihood strategies: pastoralists, agropastoralists, crop farmers, wage labourers, hired herders and mixed smallholders. Although pastoralism is the least diverse of these in terms of sources of income, it is significantly more diverse in ecological dimensions such as spatial movement, land use pattern and livestock portfolio. Patterns of livelihood diversification and their relationship with household incomes indicate that pastoralism, although preferred, is unattainable for 55 per cent of households given their meagre asset endowments and the pressure of government policies toward sedentarization. The results strongly suggest that livelihood diversification does not improve welfare for pastoral households. Future development interventions should promote policies that enable households to regain flexible access to pastures and should aim to correct the imbalance of opportunities that exists in northern Xinjiang.     

贵阳市道路拥堵状态时空分布规律研究——基于出租车GPS大数据

利用贵阳市出租车GPS数据,建立ArcGIS空间模型计算路段平均行程速度,以空间数据库和ArcGIS空间分析为技术支撑,分析道路拥堵状态的时空演化规律。结果表明：①路网平均行程速度的时间分布特征具有高度相似性,且工作日与休息日分布差异大;②工作日高峰时段拥堵区域分布主要以老城区为主。休息日总体上呈现离散分布趋势,且晚高峰时段交通状况比早高峰更拥堵;③工作日早高峰交通拥堵路段呈由中心核心区逐渐向外围扩散的趋势,晚高峰呈由外围向中心核心区聚拢趋势。休息日早高峰不明显,晚高峰呈现由外围区域向内聚拢趋势。基于上述时空演化规律,从城市功能分散、城市道路网、城市空间发展、城市公交系统等方面讨论了贵阳市城市道路交通优化调整对策。     

The role of honey hunting in supporting subsistence livelihoods in Sumbawa,Indonesia

Honey from the giant Asian honey bee (Apis dorsata) has been harvested by communities throughout Southeast Asia for centuries. In Indonesia, 80 per cent of the national supply of honey comes from Sumbawa; however, there is limited information regarding the sustainability and importance of honey hunting in supporting rural livelihoods. This study used semi‐structured interviews and questionnaires to examine honey hunting and forest honey production in Sumbawa. It evaluates the economic and cultural importance, opportunities, and constraints of honey hunting and prompts us to suggest that income generation from honey plays a critical role in supporting rural communities. Of respondents, 83 per cent reported that income from honey was essential and accounts for 68 per cent of cash income. Yet honey hunters were harvesting using destructive methods under dangerous conditions and are subject to unpredictable market prices and fluctuating yields. Unlike situations in other areas of Indonesia, no system of customary law was found to exist that defines ownership of honey trees and the right to harvest from them. Limited access to market information, high moisture content of honey, and limited training and extension services were identified as key constraints. Future research exploring the sustainability of harvesting practices and mechanisms for improving profitability of honey hunters would be valuable.     

国家精准扶贫政策对贫困农户脱贫增收的效果评价——基于双重差分模型的检验

基于重庆市武陵山区和秦巴山区贫困农户与非贫困农户的调研数据，运用双重差分模型检验精准扶贫政策对贫困农户收入增长的影响。结果表明，贫困农户在精准扶贫政策的支持下，家庭人均纯收入增长显著，与非贫困农户相比差距进一步缩小；家庭主要收入来源，由单一渠道向多渠道转变，人均种植业收入和人均养殖业收入增长最明显，二者贡献率合计达到61.87%；农户的年龄、家庭人口数量、老人小孩数量、耕地面积、耕作半径、是否发展特色产业等因素对贫困农户家庭人均纯收入影响显著。因此，发展特色产业，解决贫困农户的教育、医疗、住房和土地撂荒问题是保障贫困农户脱贫后稳定增收的关键。     

BIRTH CONTROL,PREGNANCY AND ABORTION AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN CHIANG MAI,THAILAND

The authors studied more than 1750 young urban Chiang Mai residents regarding pre-marital sex, contraception and reproductive health outcomes. Almost two-thirds of the males had had sexual intercourse, compared to one-third of the females. Withdrawal was the most popular method of birth control followed by condom use. There were more females (30.5 per cent) reporting that they had been pregnant than males (17.5 per cent) reporting that they had caused pregnancies. Two-thirds of the respondents who had experienced or caused pregnancy reported that it ended in abortion. Almost half of those who had experienced abortion had induced it themselves, usually using illegal abortifacients. One-third went to a private clinic or hospital illegally. Self-induced abortions were sometimes associated with complications that were treated with pharmacy medications or severe complications requiring hospital treatment. Adolescents in northern Thailand need improved sexual health services and programmes. To be effective though, attention should also be given to underlying cultural attitudes toward sexuality and young people, especially women.     

Does the Centre Hold? Testing Palma's Proposition (A Comment)

This Comment tests empirically the important proposition made by Palma in this journal (Development and Change, 2011) that deciles 5 to 9 of the income distribution across developing economies have been able to secure and defend a stable share (around 50 per cent) of the total available income, so that changes in income inequality are now a matter of struggle between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 40 per cent of the population, ranked by income. The author finds that the proposition does not hold: changes in top 10 per cent shares are matched by changes in the shares of both the other cohorts.     

Welfare Reform and Economic and Housing Capacity for Low-Income Households, 1997–1999

The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) marked the continued devolution of social policy to state and local government in addition to restructuring an ailing welfare system. Despite concerns that welfare recipients would find greater obstacles to economic stability as a result, declining welfare rolls have been accompanied by declining poverty rates over the past seven years. An important question is whether low‐income families have gained greater employment and housing capacity following welfare reform. Moreover, does capacity vary across states with different welfare policies? In addition, do families face greater economic vulnerability with respect to food scarcity and health care? This article uses the data from the 1997 and 1999 waves of the National Survey of America's Families to systematically assess differences in capacity and vulnerability among lower income families across different policy regimes. Using two measures of capacity for housing and employment, and quality of life, findings suggest that more stringent welfare rules are related to greater job and housing attainment but a reduced quality of life.     

Locational Disadvantage and Household Locational Decisions: Changing Contexts and Responses in the Cessnock District of New South Wales,Australia. 1964–1999

Following the rapid demise of local coalmining in the 1950s and early 1960s, the former coal towns of the Cessnock area have survived in their newfound dormitory role, with cheap serviced housing acting as a major constraint on out–migration and an incentive for in–migration for low–income householders, mainly engaged in external commuting or outside the workforce. Behavioural responses to widening local job deficits in the early 1960s were reported in this journal (Holmes, 1965). From household surveys and other sources, Holmes examined the interplay between individual, household and locality variables and presented a spectrum of projected future outcomes for localities, according to accessibility, size and service provision, either attached to the Newcastle–Maitland labour market as low–income outer suburbs or experiencing varying rates of decline while providing low–cost welfare housing. While these broad trends have continued over the last 35 years, significant variants, not predictable in 1965 have emerged, notably: the increased residential attractiveness of some small localities; the strengthening of welfare migration, notably from Sydney; the increase in non–workforce households; and, some evidence of emerging socio–economic polarisation in larger towns. In these respects, Cessnock localities can be viewed as a microcosm of wider trends in Australian society, trends which are most fully revealed in disadvantaged metropolitan peripheral localities.     

Predictors of Out-of-Home Placement in a Family Preservation Program: Are Welfare Recipients Particularly Vulnerable?

Participants in a statewide family preservation program were classified on the basis of income level and enrollment in public assistance. These variables, along with other economic, parent, and child risk factors, were used to predict the probability of out-of-home placements at the close of this intervention program. Results revealed that neither low income nor receiving public assistance was predictive of having a child removed from the home. Higher levels of child-centered risk and parent-centered risk were the only consistent predictors of placement outcomes. Additional analyses revealed that family characteristics (e.g., history of psychiatric care, prior child placements, and involvement with the legal system) also were typical of families experiencing out-of-home placements. This study challenges the stereotype of low-income or welfare families being at greater risk of having a child removed from their home. Findings are discussed in the context of recent welfare reform initiatives and implications for future family policy research.     

Traffic volume and highway permeability for a mammalian community in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

We examined whether highway traffic volume changed the rates of movement (habitat permeability) for ten mammalian species in the central Canadian Rocky Mountains. Winter track count data were collected on four highways of varying traffic volume: the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH) (14,000 annual average daily traffic [AADT]) and 1A Highway (3,000 AADT) in Banff National Park and the Highway 40 (5,000 AADT) and Smith Dorrien Trail in Kananaskis Country (2,000 AADT). Permeability represented the ratio of road crossing tracks/km to tracks/km on transects adjacent to roads. We compared permeability at the community level and for carnivore and ungulate guilds, using a Kruskal–Wallis H -test. Traffic volume significantly reduced habitat permeability for the community ( P  < 0.05). Pair-wise Kruskal–Wallis tests showed that habitat permeability was significantly reduced for carnivores at high traffic volume ( P  = 0.008) and for ungulates at very high traffic volume ( P  < 0.043). Cross-referencing with winter traffic counts, we found movement was impaired for carnivores when traffic ranged from 300 to 500 vehicles per day (VPD) and for ungulates between 500 and 5,000 VPD. Our results indicated that the TCH requires mitigation to restore habitat permeability for all species and yielded strong evidence that the Highway 40 is a priority for mitigation.     

THE DAY AFTER THE DISASTER: FORCED MIGRATION AND INCOME LOSS AFTER HURRICANES KATRINA AND RITA

A model of post‐disaster migration responses and income consequences poses that damage severity and individual resilience affect moving decisions. Forced moves are linked to little resilience relative to damage incurred and post‐move income reductions. The empirical analysis analyzes households affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Using American Community Survey data, unobserved heterogeneous income damages are framed as treatment, with the moving decision being the treatment decision. An endogenous switching regression addresses self‐selection issues. The results suggest that movers encountered double victimization: (1) they were forced to move and their income declined; (2) low‐income households were more severely affected than the average.     

The Impact of Social and Psychological Factors on Car accidents in Kuwait

The objective of study was to identify select demographic, driving habits, aggressive driving, road rage and risk factors associated with involvement in road traffic accidents (RTAs) among young Kuwaiti drivers. Logistic linear regression tests these factors according to the Modified Youth Risk Behavior scales. The total sample of this study was 1619 Kuwaiti drivers, aged 18–30 years. The source for the sample consisted of self‐reported young drivers who were selected from high schools and universities in the six governorates in Kuwait. For the purposes of this study, the author defined cases (N=984) as drivers who reported being involved in a car crash during their lifetime. Controls (N=635) were identified as those drivers who were never involved in a car crash during the same period. The sample was selected during an eight‐month period, from November 2004 to June 2005. Logistic linear regression results showed that driving habits, aggressive driving, and road rage situations would result in high rates in sensation, anxiety and anger, which leads to risky driving behavior (e.g. drivers forcing a car off the road, deliberate obstruction, running red lights, running stop signs, and tailgating), which leads to involvement in traffic accidents.     

Recent Change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population and Housing Geographies

The intercensal period (2006–2011) was a time of significant policy and population change in Indigenous affairs. The aim of this paper is to document the changing distribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population and housing geographies over that period. We use the Indigenous Region structure developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to show that Indigenous Australians grew at a rate that significantly outstrips the non‐Indigenous population with an increasing concentration of the Indigenous population on the urban eastern seaboard and particularly among older people. We present results that show that for certain measures, the housing situation of the Indigenous population in 2011 had improved relative to the Indigenous population in 2006. A smaller proportion of Indigenous households were estimated to live in an overcrowded dwelling compared with Indigenous households in 2006. There were also significant increases in the per cent of Indigenous households that owned or were purchasing their own home. Other results might be seen as less positive with community housing (a tenure type identified as having benefits in both qualitative and quantitative analysis) declining in importance. In net terms though, Indigenous households continue to experience a high degree of housing need. Compared with other households, they were 3.7 times as likely to live in an overcrowded dwelling.     

清代新疆冰岭道研究

"冰岭道"作为天山南北之间的重要交通道路,其在清代新疆历史中的作用不容忽视,然而关于这一问题的研究却相当缺乏,缘此,本文在对诸多史料梳理的基础上,系统地论述了该道的命名;道路的台站、住宿与交通工具等建设;道路的里程;道路在军事、屯田与贸易等方面的使用;以及道路在清代新疆历史中的地位问题。并考证出冰岭道在道光年间那彦成的新疆善后处理中并未封禁的史实。     

茶马古道保护规划的必要性与可行性

茶马古道作为连接内地与西藏的古代交通大动脉,历经唐、宋、元、明、清,其历史作用和现实意义不可低估.它在历史上不仅促进了茶马古道沿线高原城镇的发展,为汉、藏以及其他民族间的经济和文化交流做出了重要贡献,重要的是历代中央王朝通过“茶马互市”和“茶马古道”,更加巩固了西南边疆,维护了国家的统一.因此,对茶马古道采取保护规划工作,对其进行有效保护,刻不容缓.本文阐述了开展茶马古道保护规划工作对于茶马古道及其相关文化遗产保护的重要意义,并归纳开展这项工作具有的可行性.     

Migrant household homeownership outcomes in large Chinese cities - the sustained impact of hukou

Homeownership by migrant households in large Chinese cities is increasingly evident and sometimes blamed for driving up local housing prices. Hukou reform grants local hukou to migrants in small cities while it allows large cities to set up hukou entry barriers to control migration. This paper explores whether migrant households’ micro-level characteristics and macro-level urban policies relating to hukou reform have any impact on their housing tenure choices. Using data from a 2009 survey of migrant households in six large cities, this study adopts logistic regression models to examine factors influencing labor migrant households’ tenure decisions. We find that household income and head of household hukou type, contribution to pension fund, and enrollment in health insurance all positively predict homeownership. Migrant households are more likely to be found in cities with larger population size. We argue that city entry barriers create new forms of institutional haves and have-nots and new forms of inequality. The sustained impact of previous hukou types suggests inherited inequalities through intergenerational wealth transfer, which calls for targeted welfare policies to mediate.