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This paper extends our understanding of employment and gendered rural ageing by examining the latent benefits of paid work for mid-life women in rural Ireland. Existing social gerontology literature deals extensively with manifest financial reasons to work, consequences of gendered pay and pension inequalities, work-related health concerns and the negative impacts to an extended working life for women. However, there is much less focus on the latent non-financial positive contributions that work provides for the older woman, especially within a rural context. Findings from this study show how mid-life women, even if in lower-paid, precarious work or in poorer health may choose to continue working into older age. Paid work provides not only financial autonomy, but also temporal structure, life purpose, personal agency, social connectivity and a self-identity that most women are reluctant to relinquish to retirement. Meaningful work plays a critical role in the ageing experience of older rural women. A qualitative study of 25 women aged 45–65 in Connemara, Ireland was undertaken from a lifecourse perspective and analysed using constructivist grounded theory to allow rich, novel narrative to emerge. Narrative from seven, who best represent all participants, are utilised in this paper. Conclusions suggest that the latent benefits of paid work are at least as, if not more important than financial gain for rural mid-life women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Recent research demonstrates that economic interventions may positively effect HIV risk among adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) in sub-Saharan Africa. Some evidence reveals potential associations between financial decision-making and bargaining power in sexual relationships. However, this evidence is mixed, nuanced, and limited. This paper explores how AGYW in Zambia understand financial agency and its effect on intimate relationships. Methods: In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 females aged 15–24 years residing in Kalingalinga, a low income, high-density residential area in Lusaka. Data were analysed using thematic content analysis. Results: Participants spoke of the ability to earn and spend money as reality for some and aspirational for many others, intrinsic to cultural and religious caveats influencing perceptions of agency for women. The transfer of financial independence to sexual agency within relationships was viewed as a mechanism for HIV risk reduction; however, male sexual privilege was an obstacle irrespective of financial decision-making. Conclusions: Programmes aiming to enhance financial agency for AGYW have the potential to reduce HIV sexual risk. Yet, to be most effective, integration with gender-transformative programmes is needed to address norms of male dominance that keep AGYW in positions of vulnerability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the relation between women's education relative to their spouse and their autonomy. Using a large-scale nationally representative Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS), we find that around 20% of married women have education more than their spouses. Women with more education than their spouses are younger, have fewer children, and earn a higher share of household incomes as compared to those with equal or lesser education than their spouses. The multivariate regression indicates that relative spousal education is positively related to decision making autonomy and physical mobility, but it is negatively associated with emotional autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the net effect of women's autonomy on their health seeking behavior in Ethiopia. We hypothesize that women with higher autonomy are more likely to seek health care during pregnancy and delivery than those with lower autonomy. The paper also examines whether the autonomy-health utilization relationship is influenced by individual (education, work status, religion) and, household (wealth and rural-urban residence) level factors, all of which are important for both autonomy and health-care utilization. Results indicate that women's autonomy remains significant even after adjusting for other individual and household variables. Besides autonomy, our results highlight other individual and household level influences on the health seeking behaviors of women in Ethiopia. Results also demonstrate the need to look beyond individual level factors when examining the health seeking behaviors of women in Ethiopia. The statistical significance of some individual-level measures, such as education means it cannot be used as proxy for women's autonomy. This calls for policy makers not only to empower women, but also provide them with better formal education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the light of personnel shortage, the health care sector is facing the challenge to combine increasing employees' as well as patients' needs. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between working-time autonomy and health-related (fatigue, psychosomatic complaints and work ability), as well as occupational outcomes (job satisfaction and turnover intention) in a large sample of health care employees. Method: Based on data of the BauA-Working Time survey, a sample of n = 1,093 employees working in the health care sector was analysed. Outcomes were assessed by the German Fatigue Scale, the Work Ability-Index and single-item measurements. Besides descriptive analyses, latent profile analysis (LPA) was used to determine clusters of employees based on working-time autonomy. Subsequently, regression analyses have been conducted to examine the association between autonomy clusters with health-related and occupational outcomes, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and employment status. Results: LPA revealed that a three-cluster model was most suitable: high autonomy (cluster 1), medium autonomy (cluster 2) and low autonomy (cluster 3). The extracted profiles of working-time autonomy differed significantly in terms of sociodemographic and occupational characteristics, but not in terms of average working hours per week or monthly household income. The multivariate regression analysis revealed that being in the low-autonomy cluster was associated with more psychosomatic health complaints (IRR: 1.427, p = 0.008), lower work ability (OR 0.339, p < 0.001), as well as less job satisfaction (OR 0.216, p < 0.001). Discussion: Overall, the analyses indicate that it is crucial to prospectively consider working-time autonomy as an important factor of satisfaction, well-being and turnover intention in health care employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One can be independent, or one can be subject to decisions made by others. This paper argues that this difference, embodied in the institutional distinction between the decision-making procedures ‘market’ and ‘hierarchy’, affects individual wellbeing beyond outcomes. Taking self-employment as an important case of independence, it is shown that the self-employed derive higher satisfaction from work than those employed in organizations, irrespective of income gained or hours worked. This is evidence for procedural utility: people value not only outcomes, but also the processes leading to outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT This paper, which is based on an extensive analysis of the literature, gives a brief overview of the main ways in which solidarity has been employed in bioethical writings in the last two decades. As the vagueness of the term has been one of the main targets of critique, we propose a new approach to defining solidarity, identifying it primarily as a practice enacted at the interpersonal, communal, and contractual/legal levels. Our three-tier model of solidarity can also help to explain the way in which crises of solidarity can occur, notably when formal solidaristic arrangements continue to exist despite 'lower tiers' of solidarity practices at inter-personal and communal levels having 'broken away'. We hope that this contribution to the growing debate on the potential for the value of solidarity to help tackle issues in bioethics and beyond, will stimulate further discussion involving both conceptual and empirically informed perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The study examines the role of co-residing family members in married women's decision to take up non-farm work. • Living in a joint family lowers women's non-farm employment in rural India by around 12% points. • Less autonomy rather than higher family income or elderly care is the main obstacle to join non-farm work. • Adverse impact is higher for women with less education, from higher social status and from Northern India. • Accessibility to jobs and availability of childcare reduce the adverse impact of joint family on women's work. Abstract This paper investigates if residing in a joint family affects non-farm employment for married women in rural India. Our estimates based on a longitudinal survey of over 27,000 women conducted in 2005 and 2012, and using the conditional logistic regression and instrumental variable approach suggest that living in a joint family lowers married women's participation non-farm work by around 12% points. The adverse impact is higher for younger women, for those from families with higher social status, and for those residing in Northern India. We present evidence to suggest that women with higher education are not constrained from cultural and traditional norms since education raises women's decision-making power in a joint family. An increased education level is likely to raise women's earning capacity as well as the quality of jobs which may help in lowering family pressure against work. Public policies that encourage higher education, improve job accessibility along with affordable childcare, will raise non-farm employment, which has increasingly been the main source of new jobs, for women living in a rural India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses temporal patterns in social assistance receipt in Sweden in the 2000s by looking at which circumstances facilitate versus reduce the possibilities of a person ceasing to be a recipient of social assistance. The analysis is guided by the following questions: What conditions lead people to terminate periods of social assistance receipt? Which factors are central to exits with different subsequent income patterns? How do these explain the different situations of recipients prior to termination? We focus particularly on income maintenance prior to spells of social assistance. We use event history data on monthly social assistance take-up covering the total adult Swedish population for the years 2002–2004. We adopt a gamma mixture model to control for unobserved heterogeneity. The results suggest that previous experience of both employment and social assistance receipt are important determinants for all types of exits from social assistance recipiency. A negative duration dependence is found also when unobserved heterogeneity is controlled for. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current global economic crisis is forcing governments to consider a variety of methods to generate funds for infrastructure. In the United States, smoking-related illness and an obesity epidemic are forcing public health institutions to consider a variety of methods to influence health behaviors of entire target groups. In this paper, the author uses a public health nursing model, the Public Health Code of Ethics (), the , and other relevant ethical theory to weigh and balance the arguments for and against the use of sin taxes. A position advocating the limited use of sin taxes is supported as a reasonable stance for the public health professional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a larger ethnographic study of Bidayuh women who are a group of minority indigenous women in the Malaysian stat of Sarawak. The paper discusses women's entry into paid work and life-course squeezes. As the women earned a mere 39 per cent of their husbands' monthly wages even though they had the same years of schooling if not more than their husbands, the women's views on work and marriage are examined. The paper also explores the feminist question as to whether women's employment increases their personal autonomy and independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores work motivation of autistic adults through the lens of Self-Determination Theory (SDT). Twelve autistic employees (ages 28–47; 3 females) participated in semi-structured qualitative interviews about their work experience. Analysis combined inductive and deductive approaches, identifying motivational themes emerging from the interviews, and analyzing them according to SDT concepts. Two major themes emerged: (1) work motivation factors positioned on the self-determination continuum: income and self-reliance; a daily routine; social/familial internalized norms; meaning and contribution; and job interest; and (2) satisfaction of psychological needs at work, postulated by SDT: competence, social-relatedness, and autonomy and structure. Findings are discussed in relation to current literature, and practical applications are suggested for meeting the motivational needs of autistic employees and promoting employment stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Magnolia Mother's Trust Project seeks to spotlight the impact of consumer sovereignty inherent in cash transfers to low-income single mothers. The project offered a guaranteed income benefit of $12,000 for one year to 110 Black single mothers in Jackson, Mississippi. Participants were within 200% of the poverty threshold. The aim of this investigation is to describe the project and report preliminary findings of outcomes related to community connectedness, health, and family wellness for Magnolia Mother's Trust participants. This report highlights the differences in preliminary outcomes between Magnolia Mothers and similarly situated women who did not receive the cash supplement. Implications for policy and further investigation are discussed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Women are the central pillar of social development and the main axis of family health. Success, survival, and promotion of society depend on the health of women in society. Since Health Promotion lifestyle and psychological well-being are important determinants of health, this study was conducted to determine the Health Promotion lifestyle and psychological well-being in women attending the health centers of Arak City in 2019. Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, among women who attended health centers in Arak City, 221 women who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study by continuous sampling and the form of demographic information, health promoting lifestyle profile-Ii (HPLP-II), and Ryff Psychological well-being Questionnaire was completed. Data were described using descriptive statistics of frequency, frequency percentage, mean, standard deviation, and data analysis by analysis of variance, independent t-test, and regression using SPSS software v. 19. Ethical Considerations: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Research Deputy of Iran University of Medical Sciences (Code: IR.IUMS.REC.1398.609). Results: The mean health-promoting lifestyle in the study units was 135.96; the mean physical activity components were 16.31; The mean nutrition was 26.41, with the lowest and highest scores, respectively. The mean psychological well-being in the study units was 72.29. The mean components of purpose in life were 10.76, and the mean personal growth was 13.19, with the lowest and highest scores, respectively. Age, chronic diseases, employment, number of children, and alcohol consumption had a significant negative relationship with a health-promoting lifestyle, and a woman’s and her husband’s education had a significant positive relationship with a health-promoting lifestyle (P<0.05). Overall demographic variables predict as much as 13% of health-promoting lifestyles. Age, number of children, and chronic physical and psychological diseases had a significant negative relationship with psychological well-being and economic status. A woman’s and her husband’s education had a significant positive relationship with psychological well-being. Overall, demographic variables predict as much as 10% of psychological well-being. Conclusion: Considering that health-promoting lifestyle and psychological well-being are two critical determinants of health, studying these two indicators and the factors affecting them can help Intervention planning to promote women’s physical and mental health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Previous studies mentioned four organizational structures for hospitals, which are budgetary, autonomous, corporate, and private. Nevertheless, healthcare decision-makers are still required to select the most organizational structure specific to their circumstances. The present study aims to provide a framework to prioritize and select the most suitable organizational structure using multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods in Iranian hospitals. Methods: First, a multicriteria decision-making model consisted of the respective criteria, and alternatives were developed. The pertinent criteria were identified through a systematic literature review. The coefficient weights of the identified criteria were then calculated using FUCOM-F. Finally, organizational structures were prioritized in accordance with the identified criteria using FMARCOS. Results: The findings reveal that income is the most significant criterion in selecting organizational structures for hospitals whereas the number of outpatient visits is the least important. Also, the private structure is the most appropriate, and budgetary style is the least suitable organizational structure for Iranian hospitals. Conclusion: Providing a framework in order to select the most appropriate organizational structure could help managers and policymakers of the healthcare sector in Iran and other countries, mainly similar developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, older adults' perspectives are informing aging in place and Age-Friendly Cities (AFC) research, policy, and practices. However, rarely are the voices of older people who are experiencing or have experienced homelessness included. Guided by the concepts of place and home, this qualitative study used semi-structured go-along interviews and thematic analysis to explore how seven older adults (aged 50+) with homeless histories created a sense of place, and the facilitators and barriers they encountered in their place-making process after being housed. The analysis revealed two main themes: home as safety; and sense of place as purpose. Although most expressed gratitude for the safety their housing provided, it was not enough to feel in place. Sense of place was created through engaging in meaningful activities that provided them with a sense of purpose. Sense of place as purpose was facilitated by three subthemes (self-determination, employment/education, and technology), and three barriers (discrimination, transportation, and income). Recommendations are provided which can inform the development of more inclusive housing design and programming, and foster AFC for all older adults, including people with homeless histories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestic violence exists in every country, irrespective of the culture, ethnicity, age, income, and education of the women. World Health Organization has estimated that approximately 35% of women worldwide had experienced sexual or physical violence. The present study has attempted to analyze the role of different socioeconomic indicators on the prevalence of domestic violence. In this regard, data of Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017–2018 has been used and logit models have been estimated. It has been found that women married below the age of 18; living in rural areas; have more children; whose mothers experienced violence; feared their husbands; with little or no autonomy in decision-making; had a bank account; married outside of the family; and had not inherited any land or property were significantly more vulnerable victims of domestic violence. It has been found that women's education, education of her husband, and exposure to media by creating awareness may protect women from domestic violence. Furthermore, working women are more likely to face domestic violence, but women who have started working before marriage are significantly less vulnerable victims of domestic violence. However, the age of women herself, the age of husband, age of household head and wealth of household, living in the nucleus or joint family, receiving any support from Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) have no significant role in determining the domestic violence in Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on self-determination theory, family stress theory, and the social determinants of health framework, the current study sought to evaluate direct and indirect relationships among socioeconomic status (maternal education and income), parenting stress, autonomy supportive parenting behavior, and children's positive outcomes (e.g., social competences, academic skills, and persistence) using a racially diverse sample from low-income backgrounds. Using data on 2233 children collected at birth (T1), age 5 (T2) and age 9 (T3) as part of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study, a structural equation model was tested in MPlus. Associations among main constructs were tested in a single structural model and mediation effects were subsequently evaluated using a bias-corrected bootstrap method. Autonomy supportive parenting was directly and positively associated with all three positive outcomes evaluated in children (e.g., social competences, academic skills, and persistence). Maternal education at child's birth was directly related to autonomy supportive parenting, and maternal income at birth was indirectly associated with autonomy supportive parenting through the mediating mechanism of maternal parenting stress. Autonomy supportive parenting was also found to mediate associations between parenting stress and children's social competences, academic skills, and persistence. Parenting education and intervention programs that focus on teaching parents how to avoid or manage stress and be autonomy supportive may benefit children's positive development. It is also important, however, for policy makers, educators, and practitioners who work with parents to recognize the impact of socioeconomic constraints that may impact parenting behaviors and choices. Highlights: Evaluates longitudinal parenting and positive child outcomes among fragile families. Income, education, and stress function as antecedents of maternal autonomy support. Maternal autonomy support is associated with child social and academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Female entertainment workers (FEWs) in Cambodia work in predominantly alcohol-based venues and therefore may face occupational risks. Studies have suggested that FEWs are pressured to consume alcohol while at the workplace, which may have adverse health outcomes. This study aims to explore the experiences of alcohol use among FEWs in Cambodia. Methods: Twenty-seven focus group discussions (FGDs) with FEWs were conducted across five sites in four provinces in Cambodia. FGD participants were FEWs who worked at entertainment venues, including karaoke TV bars, beer gardens, and massage parlors, as well as women who worked as on-call or street-based sex workers, and women across entertainment venues who were parenting. Results: The authors modified a conceptual model to create a framework based on the major themes identified within the FGDs on autonomy in alcohol use among FEWs. The framework and thematic components highlight the continuum of autonomy from pressured or coerced alcohol use to, economically or socially rational alcohol use to voluntary alcohol use. Factors that impacted alcohol use across the spectrum include experiencing an economic shock, needing to maintain a livelihood, experiencing psychological distress, having the desire to thrive in employment environment and drinking socially for personal enjoyment. Conclusion/Importance: Much of the motivation behind alcohol use is related to the need for economic security. For women who do not have other employment or income-generating options, individual behavior change programing is unlikely to be effective. Structural changes are needed to improve the health and safety of FEWs in Cambodia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Medical educators in the USA are interested in the ways medical students make career choices because shortages in key specialties, particularly primary care specialties, limit access to care. Although anticipated specialty income is a strong predictor of student interest, no studies have qualitatively explored the reasons why income is important to students. By better understanding students' perspectives on income and specialty choice, educators can help students make choices that fit their goals and better educate students about the specialties in which the need for expansion is greatest. Methods: In 2012, Year‐2 students at one USA medical school were invited to write an essay about how debt and anticipated income levels influence their career choices. A total of 132 essays (response rate: 67%) were qualitatively analysed using a hermeneutic phenomenology approach to conventional content analysis, in which themes emerge inductively from the data. Researchers employed peer debriefing, modified member checking, thick description, code–recode strategies, audit trails and reflexivity to ensure quality and rigour. Although this analysis initially focused on student perceptions of specialty income, prestige also emerged as an important related theme. Results: Three major findings emerged. Income is of varying importance to different students. Students value income because it provides freedom and flexibility, and power and security. Students recognise that high income confers social prestige. Students also define specialty prestige in other ways, including match competitiveness, perceived expertise, opportunities for advancement through fellowships, and power and autonomy. Conclusions: Medical students' perspectives of specialty income, specialty choice and prestige are more complex than previously reported. Medical educators should frame conversations about specialty choices in ways that incorporate varied perspectives on income and prestige. Health policymakers should recognise that income and prestige influence medical students' decisions in complex ways. These insights may inform strategies to counteract shortages in key specialties, including primary care specialties. Income, why do we love thee? Students report that high income influences their career decisions in many ways by providing freedom, flexibility, power, security, and social prestige. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two studies examined the association between income and meaning in life (MIL). Study 1 (N = 781) demonstrated that income and other measures of financial status are positively associated with MIL and other aspects of well-being. The association between income and MIL was partially explained by autonomy, competence, and perceptions of control. Study 2 (N = 123) examined people's forecasts of how financial status would affect their future well-being. Having a middle class or upper-middle class income in the future was expected to result in higher MIL, happiness, and need satisfaction than a life with a low income, showing that people perceive income as tied to meaning. These studies demonstrate how financial status can contribute to actual and expected MIL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated that social exclusion can lead to negative implications on an individual's health status. In response to the need to examine health disparities among the older adult populations, this study explores social exclusion issues faced by older Taiwanese adults as a predictive factor to healthcare. The 80-item Social Inclusion/Exclusion Scale was developed and validated with input from 327 older adults recruited from 40 social service agencies in Taiwan. Findings suggest that to improve the overall health status among older Taiwanese adults, healthcare reforms must aim to increase social inclusion levels through a better understanding of five factors at both the service provider and individual levels: 1) knowledge of service provisions, 2) depression, 3) individual autonomy, 4) types of care home, and 5) gender-sensitive practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the certified peer support specialist (CPSS) workforce matures, their roles evolve, leading to gaps in knowledge about their activities. This study aimed to address these gaps through a survey on CPSS activities, self-rated skills, job satisfaction, and financial well-being. The project team recruited a community advisory board of CPSSs to lead survey development. A survey link was e-mailed to all known CPSSs in the state of Michigan (N=1,128), yielding 394 respondents (35% response rate), of whom 319 were included in the analysis. The highest skill self-ratings included sharing recovery stories (rated very strong by 80%); the lowest included vocational support (rated very strong by 33%). More than 75% were satisfied with their workplace supportiveness; less than one-half were satisfied with their promotion opportunities. When asked if they could generate adequate funds to address a common financial shock, 115 of 301 respondents (38%) were "certain" they could not, suggesting financial vulnerability. These results support developing career ladder opportunities for CPSSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the experiences of marital violence within the context of microfinance participation among a sample of women living in poverty in Bangladesh. Status inconsistency theory suggests that the higher incomes and female independence that may occur with microfinance participation may threaten or destabilize marital norms in Bangladesh, and have implications in terms of increased violence. We use qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 30 women residing in a slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to assess the circumstances in which there may be an association between microfinance participation and marital violence and elucidate the context in which this interaction occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Income management, which reduces the control that benefit recipients have over social security income by quarantining a percentage for approved expenses, was introduced in both Australia and New Zealand in the late 2000s. In Australia, income management explicitly targeted Indigenous communities, being initiated as part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response in 2007, then later extended to other benefit recipients. In New Zealand, all 16- and 17-year-old benefit recipients and 18-year-old parents on a benefit became subject to income management in 2012 as a means to inhibit future ‘welfare dependency’ amongst young people. Despite the absence of an explicitly racialised framing in New Zealand, this article contends that both income management programmes represent a form of institutional racism, disproportionately affecting Indigenous peoples and significantly limiting Indigenous opportunities for self-determination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aims to give insight into the opinions of maternity care professionals and other stakeholders on the integration of midwife-led care and obstetrician-led care and on the facilitating and inhibiting factors for integrating maternity care.Methods: Qualitative study using interviews and focus groups from November 2012 to February 2013 in the Netherlands. Seventeen purposively selected stakeholder representatives participated in individual semi-structured interviews and 21 in focus groups. One face-to-face focus group included a combined group of midwives, obstetricians and a paediatrician involved in maternity care. Two online focus groups included a group of primary care midwives and a group of clinical midwives respectively. Thematic analysis was performed using Atlas.ti. Two researchers independently coded the interview and focus group transcripts by means of a mind map and themes and relations between them were described.Results: Three main themes were identified with regard to integrating maternity care: client-centred care, continuity of care and task shifting between professionals. Opinions differed regarding the optimal maternity care organisation model. Participants considered the current payment structure an inhibiting factor, whereas a new modified payment structure based on the actual amount of work performed was seen as a facilitating factor. Both midwives and obstetricians indicated that they were afraid to loose autonomy.Conclusions: An integrated maternity care system may improve client-centred care, provide continuity of care for women during labour and birth and include a shift of responsibilities between health care providers. However, differences of opinion among professionals and other stakeholders with regard to the optimal maternity care organisation model may complicate the implementation of integrated care. Important factors for a successful implementation of integrated maternity care are an appropriate payment structure and maintenance of the autonomy of professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 97, this article investigates how work characteristics (earnings and autonomy) shape young adults’ transition to first marriage separately for men and women. The results suggest that earnings are positively associated with marriage and that this association is as strong for women as men in their mid to late 20s. Additionally, occupational autonomy—having the control over one’s own work structure—facilitates entry into first marriage for women in their mid to late 20s but, for men, occupational autonomy is not associated with marriage at these ages. These results suggest that even as women’s earnings are increasingly important for marriage, other aspects of work are also important for stable family formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the philosophy of Yunus—founder of the Grameen Bank model and Nobel Prize laureate—microfinance has been globally upheld as a neoliberal panacea for addressing poverty and income disparities. Despite these advances, microfinance—as a key policy tool for increasing well-being, social mobility, and capital markets in the underserved communities of the Global South—has not yet been evaluated for its effects in empowering women with disabilities. I draw from disability studies, feminist studies, and social work to examine the ethnographic phenomenon of disabled women who, despite dire poverty, take the unexpected strategic step of collectively refusing to accept microfinance loans. I argue that the individualizing, market-oriented logic of microfinance comports standards of compulsory able-bodiedness that are contradicted by disability as a reality that is experienced through relational kinship ties in rural India. This suggests that approaches to social work in microfinance and disability should attend to cultural aspects of power that manifest through beliefs about gender, ability, and kin-based relationality, beliefs which may sit uneasily with western cultural norms of autonomy, empowerment, and individual agency purported by neoliberal development programs. Finally, this article sheds light on the current development models and social work interventions in the public sphere, which tend to be ill-suited to redress the conditions of impairment that affect disabled women, and invites us to reimagine the domestic sphere as a domain of emergent dependencies and agentive possibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the growing popularity of after-hours house calls (AHHCs) in Australia, no previous study had ever looked at satisfaction among the involved practitioners. The high number of overseas-trained doctors in Australia makes this a subject of international significance.Objective: To determine the levels of satisfaction and its significant associations among doctors in AHHCs.Methods: Design, Setting and Participants: A quantitative, questionnaire-based survey of all 300 doctors engaged in AHHCs through the National Home Doctor Service (NHDS), Australia's largest home-visit doctor service provider.Main Outcome Measure: Satisfaction was assessed using the modified, 10-item Warr-Cook-Wall tool.Results: A total of 168 valid responses (56.0% response rate) were received. Mean satisfaction scores for each of the 10 items ranged from 3.02 to 3.86, indicating 'moderate' to 'very satisfied' levels. Overall satisfaction was 85.9%, mostly related to 'freedom of work and independence', 'amount of responsibility' and 'income'. Doctors in existing legal unions are more satisfied than the single, separated or widowed ones on the 'amount of responsibility' [odds ratio (OR) = 6.50, P = 0.02, confidence interval (CI): 1.33-31.72], while those engaged for <24 hours/week are less satisfied on 'income' than full-time ones (OR = 0.30, P = 0.01, CI: 0.13-0.71). The 'adoption of protective measures', being 'aged >40', being 'male' and 'working in Brisbane, Adelaide or the Gold Coast' are other doctor variables associated with increased satisfaction.Conclusions: Satisfaction levels among AHHC GPs in Australia are comparable to the levels seen among their colleagues in regular-hour jobs, but there is still room for improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, two new theoretical perspectives on poverty in modern welfare societies have emerged: the perspective of ‘cumulative disadvantage’ and poverty individualisation. Both perspectives challenge traditional class-based poverty definitions. This article notes certain limitations that pertain to the relatively few empirical tests that have been performed to support these theories. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate that the results obtained depend largely on the type of poverty definition applied (income or deprivation), the actual data used (national or comparative) and the extent to which these data represent an observation period that is long enough to provide a reliable basis for testing the theories in question. The article concludes that because only few Danes experience long-term poverty and social exclusion, the combination of class and individual biography is important. In other words, structural conditions and, to a lesser degree, group risks drive individuals to the social margin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘unitary household’ lives on in policymakers’ assumptions about couples sharing their finances. Yet financial autonomy is seen as a key issue in gender relations, particularly for women. This article draws on evidence from semi-structured individual interviews with men and women in thirty low-/moderate-income couples in Britain. The interviews explored whether financial autonomy had any meaning to these individuals; and, if so, to what extent this was gendered in the sense of there being differences in men's and women's understanding of it. We develop a framework for the investigation of financial autonomy, involving several dimensions: achieving economic independence, having privacy in one's financial affairs and exercising agency in relation to household and/or personal spending. We argue that financial autonomy is a relevant issue for low-/moderate-income couples, and that women are more conscious of tensions between financial togetherness and autonomy due to their greater responsibility for managing togetherness and lower likelihood of achieving financial independence. Policymakers should therefore not discount the aspirations of women in particular for financial autonomy, even in low-/moderate-income couples where there remain significant obstacles to achieving this. Yet plans for welfare reform that rely on means testing and ignore intra-household dynamics in relation to family finances threaten to exacerbate these obstacles and reinforce a unitary family model. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Editorial. Offers observation on the question of paid organ donation for transplantation. Controversy surrounding the issue of payments for organs; How medical professionals regard autonomy; Categories for living kidney donors.

The article presents an analysis of different theories related to the cost of living for working women. The current theories include that of pin money, joint cost, temporary independence, permanent independence and family support. According to the pin-money theory, the wage of a woman should be able to cover just a part of her expenses. The temporary independence theory states that her wage must be enough to keep her alive during the time when she is working away from home. This theory carries a query with it that what about a girl who doesn't reside at home.