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This article presents evidence of political, socioeconomic and generational polarization among the Chilean population between 1990 and 2017. Using data from the Public Opinion Survey of the CEP, the ideology of the individuals is estimated indirectly using the methodology developed by Poole (1998). The main findings are the following: (i) in 1993, adherents and opponents of the current government initiated a process of ideological distancing that was consolidated in mid-2008; (ii) the ideological distance between high and low socioeconomic levels began to increase from 2005 onwards; and finally, (iii) the generation born before 1955 began to distance itself ideologically from the one born after 1980, since 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health predict future inequalities in adult health. Subjective measures of socioeconomic status (SES) may contribute with an increased understanding of these inequalities. The aim of this study was to investigate socioeconomic health inequalities using both a subjective and an objective measure of SES among Swedish adolescents.Method: Cross-sectional HBSC-data from 2002 to 2014 was used with a total sample of 23,088 adolescents aged 11-15 years. Three measures of self-rated health (dependent variables) were assessed: multiple health complaints, life satisfaction and health perception. SES was measured objectively by the Family Affluence Scale (FAS) and subjectively by "perceived family wealth" (independent variables). The trend for health inequalities was investigated descriptively with independent t-tests and the relationship between independent and dependent variables was investigated with multiple logistic regression analysis. Gender, age and survey year was considered as possible confounders.Results: Subjective SES was more strongly related to health outcomes than the objective measure (FAS). Also, the relation between FAS and health was weakened and even reversed (for multiple health complaints) when subjective SES was tested simultaneously in regression models (FAS OR: 1.03, CI: 1.00;1.06 and subjective SES OR: 0.66, CI: 0.63;0.68).Conclusions: The level of socioeconomic inequalities in adolescent health varied depending on which measure that was used to define SES. When focusing on adolescents, the subjective appraisals of SES is important to consider because they seem to provide a stronger tool for identifying inequalities in health for this group. This finding is important for policy makers to consider given the persistence of health inequalities in Sweden and other high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) is the leading cause of infective endocarditis in several countries. Since socioeconomic status (SES) is known to influence the risk of infectious diseases in general, we aimed to investigate the association between SES and SAB, and risk of subsequent endocarditis in a nationwide adult population.Methods: All Danish residents were consecutively included at age ≥ 30 years during 1996-2010. We obtained information on SES (highest attained educational level), comorbidities, and microbiologically verified SAB by cross-linking nationwide registries. The incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of SAB and later endocarditis were investigated using Poisson regression models adjusted for sex, age and year (reference = highest SES).Results: Our study population comprised 3,394,936 individuals (median age = 43.2 years). Over a median follow-up of 15.9 years, 13,181 individuals acquired SAB. SES was inversely associated with SAB acquisition, which declined with increasing age, e.g. in individuals with lowest SES, IRRs were 3.78 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.89-4.95) in age 30-50 years, 1.87 (CI = 1.60-2.18) in age > 50-70 years and 1.31 (CI = 1.11-1.54) in age > 70 years (interaction-p < 0.0001). Adjustment for comorbidities attenuated the IRRs, but the pattern persisted. No association between SES and endocarditis risk among patients with SAB was observed.Conclusions: Decreasing SES was associated with an increased risk of SAB, particularly in younger adults. SES was not associated with risk of subsequent endocarditis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to create an Urban Dental Index (UDI) for Perth, Western Australia, adapting a method utilised by the World Health Organisation. Dental health indicators were derived from the 2011 census, standardised on a (0,1) interval, amalgamated using a geometric mean, and mapped to identify dental health inequity. The validity of the UDI was tested by comparison with oral cellulitis data. Dental health disparities were examined using a ratio of the mean of the highest to lowest decile and slope of the eight middle deciles. The robustness of the UDI was tested using indicator correlation, weighting, and systematic indicator removal. There were a high proportion of low UDI census areas outside the inner city. Adult public dental clinics were unevenly distributed across these low UDI areas. The UDI was significantly correlated with oral cellulitis data and had a moderate disparity ratio (1.69) and slope (0.23). All dental indicators were highly correlated, and UDIs calculated with weighted indicators and indicators removed were significantly correlated with the original UDI. These results indicate that the UDI is a robust tool which can be used by policy makers to target dental health initiatives to high-risk areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective of this population-based, large sample size study was to investigate the socioeconomic inequality of overweight and obesity among the elderly in Iran.Methods: Baseline data of 3000 persons aged ≥60 years who participated in the Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) program was analyzed. Overweight and obesity were defined as a body mass index (BMI) equal to or higher than 25 and 30, respectively. Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by an asset index, constructed using principal component analysis, income, education level, and employment status. The Concentration Index and the Lorenz curve were used to illustrate the levels of inequality for overweight and obesity by gender.Results: The frequencies among men and women were, respectively, 840 (57.7%) and 1131 (73.2%), P < 0.001, for overweight, and 211 (14.7%) and 511 (33.7%), P < 0.001, for obesity. There were direct associations between asset index quintiles and both overweight and obesity among both genders (Ps for trend <0.01) except for obesity among men (P for trend = 0.118). The overall Concentration Indices for overweight and obesity were 0.031 (95%CI = 0.016-0.046, P < 0.001) and 0.041 (95%CI = 0.004-0.078, p = 0.028), respectively.Conclusion: Findings support the direct relationship between SES and obesity among women as previously reported in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The family of KIDSCREEN instruments is the only one with trans-cultural adaptation and validation in Colombia. These validations have been performed from the classical test theory approach, which has evidenced satisfactory psychometric properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate psychometric properties of KIDSCREEN-27 children and parent-proxy versions, through Rasch analysis.Methods: The participants in the present study were two different sets of populations, 321 kids with a mean age of 12.3 (SD 2.6), 41 % 8 to 11 years old and 59 % 12 to 18 years old; and 1150 parent-proxy with an average age of 45.5 (SD 18.9). Psychometric properties were assessed using the partial credits model in the Rasch approach. Unidimensionality, fitting of person and item, response form, and differential item functioning (DIF) were measured.Results: The Infit MNSQ in child self-reported version that ranges between 0.71-1.76, and 0.69-1.31 in the parent-proxy version. Scores gathered on Likert forms of 5-response options, person separation was 2.08 for child self-reported version and 2.40 for parent-proxy; reliability was 0.81 and 0.85, respectively. Items reliability was 0.99 on both versions, with separations of 11.92 for child self-reported and 10.83 for parent-proxy. There was not DIF according to the variables sex and age but was present according to socioeconomic status.Conclusion: There was a good fit for items and individuals to the Rasch model. Item separation was adecuate, and person separation improved when the response form was re-codified to four options. The presence of DIF according to socioeconomic status implies a scale's bias in the measure of HRQoL of Colombian children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socioeconomic status is robustly associated with rates of death and disease. Psychophysiological stress processes are thought to account for a portion of this association.Purpose: Although positive and supportive relationships can buffer psychophysiological stress responses, no studies have examined whether the quality of a primary adult relationship-marriage-may buffer the negative association between socioeconomic status and stress-related disease processes.Methods: The current study examines the interaction between income and marital quality (supportive vs. ambivalent) on individuals' daily ambulatory blood pressure, a valid and reliable indicator of cardiovascular risk.Results: Results revealed that supportive marital relationships buffered the otherwise higher ambulatory diastolic blood pressure associated with low income.Conclusions: Results are consistent with the buffering hypothesis of social support and suggest that a supportive spouse may buffer stress-related autonomic processes linking low socioeconomic status to risk for cardiovascular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities are continually challenged to streamline their programs and investments to a progressive society. Both students and local businesses relay on universities to provide individual, social and economic impacts on the community. In this paper, an analysis of universities as a source of financial stability and investment within localities is discussed. Focus is placed on the implementation of economic practices between the Izmir University of Economics and the district of Izmir, Balcova. The study employs several descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression models to analyze a detailed survey of 168 local businesses. The results of this economic impact study shows that students, faculty, staff and university expenditures may have an increased positive effect on the local economy. Local businesses continue to find the university and its community as keys to their financial success. This impact on the local and city economy has a possibility of generating significantly greater returns in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the importance of public information environment in cancer control, it is theoretically and practically important to explore how people's media use to acquire health information influences their beliefs about cancer prevention. In the current research, we focus on the role of the Internet in shaping fatalistic beliefs about cancer prevention (cancer fatalism). To be more specific, we examine the effect of Internet use for health information on changes in cancer fatalism using a 2-wave nationally representative survey. We then investigate whether the effect of Internet use on cancer fatalism is moderated by education and health knowledge. Health-related Internet use reduced cancer fatalism only among those with average and lower than the average levels of education and health knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Purpose: A prominent explanation of why certain groups of people fear crime more than others focuses on physical and social vulnerability. Some researchers have argued that physical vulnerability characteristics (e.g., gender, age, health) are more important in determining one''s fear of crime while others have argued that social vulnerability characteristics (e.g., race and socioeconomic status) are more important. Methods: We test the independence of the physical and social vulnerability characteristics through a nationally representative sample of Americans. Using a multilevel path modeling approach, we examine whether the physical or the social vulnerability explanation is more powerful in its explanation, or whether a combination of both vulnerabilities explains fear of crime. Results: Results suggest that the two explanations are interdependent to some degree; with the direct effects of social vulnerability being most tied to physical indicators of vulnerability through indirect effects. To a lesser degree, the direct effects of physical vulnerability are also tied to fear of crime indirectly through indicators of social vulnerability. Conclusions: The implications of these results are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the present study, we use the modified orphanhood method to analyse mortality differences by socio-economic status in Italy. This technique permits the indirect estimation of adult mortality from survey-based information on parents' survival in developed populations and helps to overcome several limitations of conventional studies on mortality differences by social class. We estimate a time series of life tables by education and occupation and analyse the differences in life expectancy by socio-economic status along with their changes between 1980-84, 1985-89, and 1990-94. Whereas mortality differences between the highest social class and the other socio-economic status groups increased among men, they decreased among women. We speculate about the reasons for these sex-specific trends and evaluate the application of indirect estimation techniques to the populations of developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate social consensus and dissensus within and between nations in three important justifications for pay differences: family needs, performance on the job, and education/authority. Data are from 31 nations and 66,777 individual respondents analyzed using structural equation and multilevel regression methods with multiple imputation of missing data. In poor countries, but not in rich, most believe that family needs legitimate higher pay. Within countries-particularly English-speaking ones-low SES groups endorse family needs, but high SES groups reject them. Valuing performance and effort is widespread throughout the world and throughout all segments of society, high and low. Education and authority are widely valued, more in poor nations than in rich, with some demographic differences but few socioeconomic cleavages. There is conflict both within nations and between them as to whether need and education/authority justify unequal pay, but consensus that performance on the job does justify it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to test the hypothesis that urban concentration/dispersion characteristics exert an influence on the social and professional attainment levels reached by different immigrant groups in northern Portugal. I propose a theoretical and empirical methodology for analysing the impact that concentrated or dispersed neighbourhoods exert on immigrants' social and professional opportunities. The latter are assessed in terms of professional success, and a relationship is established between the professional levels reached by different immigrant groups and the territorial characteristics inherent to each group, as well as current concentration/dispersion patterns of land use. I also design an integrated information system to monitor the access of different population groups to professional opportunities, and to support municipal decisions in matters of immigrants' social, economic and cultural integration. Then I discuss how joint territorial planning policies, urbanization processes, ethnic features, the labour and housing markets and sociological assimilation networks have performed in Portugal's northern region in general, and the Porto metropolitan area in particular, both in launching local strategic economic development and in successfully integrating immigrants within the professional socio-economic fabric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The xenophobic violence of May 2008 is symptomatic of the politics of belonging and contestation for citizenship that has taken root in post-apartheid South Africa. The violent exclusion of foreigners is one of the central ways in which the new South African political community is being fashioned. This practice has been established first and foremost by the state, through the entrenchment of extra-legal and, in some cases, overtly illegal ways of dealing with foreign nationals. The establishment of an extra-legal order as a way of governing societies is what Agamben terms 'the state of exception'. The state of exception, it is argued, has emerged as the dominant paradigm through which non-nationals are dealt with by the South African state. This practice has been central in defining the South African political community and establishing the grounds for inclusion and exclusion in the nation. It is thus a central mechanism through which the politics of belonging is mediated in post-apartheid South Africa. At the same time, because this extra-legal order has established non-nationals as being outside the political community, they have emerged as targets upon which segments of the citizenry are able to act in order to assert their own political rights to belong. The xenophobic attacks are symptomatic of this process and need to be understood as manifestations of the state of exception in South Africa and the type of politics of belonging that this has given rise to. This article thus attempts to contribute to the understanding of the attacks as well as the broader socio-political context by which they have been shaped. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses research which was conducted in an effort to conduct an analysis of American Indian employment patterns in state and local governments in six U.S. states between 1991-2005. Presented is a discussion of the lack of research which has been conducted on American Indian employment patterns and which has led some researchers to suggest that American Indians are a forgotten minority. The social and economic benefits that American Indians find from being employed in management type government positions is examined. An overview of the socioeconomic status of the American Indian is offered.

Background: Iran has gone through sharp demographic changes in the past three decades. Presently, in Iran, there is a lack of health promotional activities targeting the elderly which can lead to a decrease in their quality of life and an increase in their disability rates. Those most vulnerable amongst the elderly are females, who have low education and low socioeconomic status. For them and others, few social services, accessible housing options and long-term care facilities exist. Methods: Data was gathered using population projections over an 80-year period (1975 - 2055), facilitated by spectrum software prepared by the USAID/Health Policy Initiative with data source derived from projections of the United Nations, World Population Prospects. Projections derived were on the expected population, the median age of the population, population pyramids, total fertility rates, life expectancy, and dependency ratio. Results: Projections showed that by the middle of this century approximately one fifth of the population will be over 60, with the median age of the population almost doubling from what it is today and the dependency ratio increasing steadily. Currently, the resources are not sufficient to address the special needs of an elderly population and are at risk for becoming even more strained over the 80 year span. Conclusion: Iran must begin to prepare itself for the impact that a massive ageing population will have in the ensuing years. Recommendations suggest developing policies supportive of accessible and affordable housing and care facilities, establishing community health programs that aid the elderly in continuing to live at home, and strengthening the availability of pension plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The massive migration of Puerto Ricans from traditional settlement hubs in the Northeast to emerging gateways like Central Florida raises a number of questions that are explored in this paper. First, which counties have experienced the largest growth in the Puerto Rican population between 2000 and 2006? Second, are Puerto Ricans living in Central Florida doing better in terms of wages and other social characteristics than Puerto Ricans living in other U.S. counties? Third, do county and individual-level variables explain the effect that living in Central Florida has on wages? Data from the 2000 Census and the 2006 American Community Survey show that Central Florida counties have experienced some of the highest growth in the Puerto Rican population, that Puerto Ricans living in Central Florida are not enjoying the highest wages, and that both county level factors and human capital variables explain the Central Florida wage disadvantage. Puerto Ricans receive higher wages in counties with larger Puerto Rican populations, with relatively low levels of concentrated disadvantage, and in counties with an abundance of good jobs in the financial and business sectors. In addition, Puerto Rican workers benefit economically from living in counties with relatively low levels of residential isolation from whites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the research that shows the negation of the link between the number of children and the lifespan of women. It notes the high energy consumption of lactation than childbirth and finds no relation with the number of children produced to the mortality of the mother. It considers the strong influence of social and economic status as risks for the mortality of women.

In this paper, we report on a study of 1510 undergraduates from five national universities in Taiwan, and we show that compared to ¿non-prestigious¿ universities, a larger proportion of students at prestigious universities come from middle and high socioeconomic classes and a smaller proportion experience financial insecurity These results are timely in the wake of Taiwan's expansion in the number of universities and of university students. At non-prestigious universities, a higher percentage of students experience economic constraints, spend several hours per week engaged in paid employment during their university studies, and have parents who did not go to college. These different characteristics of the student bodies at elite and non-elite institutions of higher education may create quite different university contexts, which may in turn affect students¿ college experiences, professional choices, and opportunities in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summer learning studies have been set up to investigate the evolution of initial group differences in academic achievement, for example, between low- and high-socioeconomic status (SES) children. Moreover, this approach has been used to demonstrate the absolute effect of going to school on children's learning. In the present study, we used multilevel piecewise linear growth modeling to analyze growth in mathematics skills throughout kindergarten and 1st grade. First, we added to the evidence of an absolute schooling effect by demonstrating that average learning rates were faster during both school years than during the intervening summer vacation. Second, mathematics achievement gaps between children from different socioeconomic, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds were found to remain stable during kindergarten and the summer vacation. During 1st grade, however, the ethnic and linguistic achievement gaps disappeared, whereas the SES achievement gap remained unchanged. Finally, we found no evidence for school-level variation in summer learning rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes inter- and intraregional redistribution in a centralized state using the citizen-candidate model. It focuses on conflicting interests among regions and among citizens of varying mobility. If discrimination with respect to place of residence and degree of mobility is possible, diversity of interests is high. Under the plurality rule and with sincere voting, the largest socioeconomic group of citizens supplies the winning candidate and discriminates against all other groups. However, if discrimination with respect to the degree of mobility is constrained, mobile citizens may gain power and interregional redistribution is reduced. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the present paper we analyze the posibility of implementing GIS. in the publicity domain. Locating the optimum areas to undertake a certain kind of publicity is conditioned by knowing a set of complex factors (geodemographic, socio-economical, educational characteristics, the infrastructure of the targeted space, etc.). A first stage is building a complex as possible a database reffering to the publicity campaign. Afterwards, based on some GIS functions we can try to develop identifying and grading algorithms for publicity areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immigrants' labour market situation has been in the focus of research in economics as well as in other sciences, and the labour market situation of immigrants and their children (i.e. first- and second-generation immigrants) is relatively well documented in many countries today. However, less attention has up to now been paid to the labour market and earnings situation among the grandchildren of immigrants, i.e. third-generation immigrants. Against this background, this paper studies intergenerational earnings mobility and the earnings position of three generations of immigrants in Sweden. The results indicate a regression towards the native earnings mean in immigrant earnings across the first two generations in the sense that immigrants earn more than natives in the first generation while there are small ethnic earnings in the second generation. Furthermore, immigrants earn less than natives in the third generation. Thus, the results suggest a downward trend in immigrants' relative earnings across generations. One conclusion of the study is that ethnic differences in earnings may occur beyond the second generation of immigrants and that the problem with integration of immigrants therefore may last for several generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In our paper we establish foreign direct investment (FDI) as a major determinant of media freedom. Global integration can strengthen the media sector financially, make it technologically enhanced and can also improve the economic environment as a whole. This, in turn, would work towards the enhancement of media freedom. The sample includes high, middle and low income economies. Using a panel of 115 countries over a period of 20 years, our results reveal that FDI is an absolute necessity for a free and efficient media. The results are robust to various alternate specifications and inclusion of additional control variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents data from a qualitative study of a youth savings account program. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 youth ages 14-19 between November 2004 and February 2005 who were participants in the Saving for Education, Entrepreneurship, and Downpayment (SEED) national demonstration project. Our findings focus on youths' perceptions of the psychological, behavioral, and social impacts of savings-program participation. Five of our hypothesized effects were found including: (1) fiscal prudence. (2) view of self, (3) future orientation, (4) sense of security, and (5) financial knowledge. Youth did not generally perceive that savings participation had impacts on: (1) family interactions, or (2) community involvement. Following the presentation of findings, our discussion centers on implications for theory building, research, and policy and program design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose. Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is effective, but only one-half of age-eligible adults adhere to national guidelines. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) groups are less likely to be screened. Methods. Baseline data from a prospective study were used to examine the associations among CRC screening, screening barriers, and SES. A convenience sample of adults (N = 291) aged 40 years and older was recruited from a federally qualified health center. Questionnaires were administered orally and include demographics, health, health behavior, and screening barriers. Results. In logistic regression having health insurance was associated with greater odds of screening. Bivariate analyses detected few differences in fecal occult blood test (FOBT) barriers, but several endoscopy barriers wer more common among the lowest SES groups. For example, fear of injury from endoscopy was more likely among low-income and uninsured participants. Discussion. The impact of SES on cancer screening is complex, but low-SES participants more often reported certain barriers than their higher-SES counterparts. This was more evident for endoscapy than for FOBT. Programs targeted at low-SES patients may need to focus on barriers that are not fully addressed in traditional promotion efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mate preferences shift according to contexts such as temporal duration of mateship sought and ecological prevalence of parasites. One important cross-cultural context that has not been explored is a country's socioeconomic development. Because individuals in less developed countries are generally less healthy and possess fewer resources than those in more developed countries, displays of health and resources in a prospective long-term partner were hypothesized to be valued more in populations in which they are rare than in populations in which they are more common. We also predicted negative correlations between development and preferences for similar religious background and a desire for children. We found strong support for the health hypothesis and modest support for the resource acquisition potential hypothesis. We also found an unpredicted positive correlation between development and importance ratings for love. Discussion addresses limitations of the current research and highlights directions for future cross-cultural research on mating psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A robust and very persistent association between indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) and the onset of life-threatening disease is a prominent concern of medical sociology. The persistence of the association over time and its generality across very different places suggests that no fixed set of intervening risk and protective factors can account for the connection. Instead, fundamental-cause theory views SES-related resources of knowledge, money, power prestige, and beneficial social connections as flexible resources that allow people to avoid risks and adopt protective strategies no matter what the risk and protective factors are in a given place or time. Recently, however, intelligence has been proposed as an alternative flexible resource that could fully account for the association between SES and health and thereby find its place as the epidemiologists' "elusive fundamental cause" (Gottfredson 2004). We examine the direct effects of intelligence test scores and adult SES in two data sets containing measures of intelligence, SES, and health. In analyses of prospective data from both the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study and the Health and Retirement Survey, we find little evidence of a direct effect of intelligence on health once adult education and income are held constant. In contrast, the significant effects of education and income on health change very little when intelligence is controlled. Although data limitations do not allow a definitive resolution of the issue, this evidence is inconsistent with the claim that intelligence is the elusive fundamental cause of health disparities, and instead supports the idea that the flexible resources people actively use to gain a health advantage are the SES-related resources of knowledge, money, power, prestige, and beneficial social connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the cultural ambivalence and social equality of Jewish American Immigrants regarding middle-class power. It also portrays the study regarding American Jewish history especially the socioeconomic position of middle class and its communal identity. A discussion on the Jews economic status, success, and attributes is also provided. The Jewish cultural values created a link between Jewishness and the Jew's economic success which improve their social status. According to some sociologist, the history of abuse, exclusions, and restrictions among the Jewish community forced them to acquire the economic stability they wanted.

We explore women's psychological well-being in late midlife in relation to childlessness and timing of entry into motherhood. Using two U.S. surveys, Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (1992) and National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) (Sweet, Bumpass, & Call, 1988), we assess the well-being of childless women in their 50s compared to mothers with early, delayed, or normatively timed first births. We focus on the cohorts born between 1928 and 1941, who experienced strong normative pressures during the baby boom with regard to marriage and child-bearing. We find few differences among childless women but lower well-being among early mothers, related to singlehood and poorer socioeconomic status. Unmarried mothers are significantly disadvantaged regardless of maternal timing, controlling for socioeconomic status. Current maternal demands are independently related to well-being and help to explain observed differences in family satisfaction. Overall, childlessness and off-time child-bearing are related to midlife well-being through their link with more proximate factors, particularly current marital status, health, and socioeconomic status. The institution of marriage had a power and inevitability in the fifties that it has never had since. You simply didn't ask yourself if you wanted marriage and children; the only relevant questions were when and how many? And the answers were, as soon as possible and as many as possible" (Harvey, 1993, p. 69). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. We aspired to reexamine the well-established assumption according to which low socioeconomic status, as a comprehensive concept, leads to prejudice and hostile attitudes toward minorities. Hence, we focused on examining the differential effect of each component of SES on one of the most important behavioral aspects of hostile attitudes—social distance. Just as importantly, we examined the assumption according to which threat perception mediates the influence of SES factors on those attitudes. Methods. In field research that took place in Israel in May 2003, attitudes of 383 participants toward three distinct minority groups were tested according to their ascription to four different “socioeconomic status” groups. Results. Contrary to most previous findings, we found that employment status and relative income have very little influence on social distance toward minorities. On the other hand, we found that level of education has a significant effect on social distance and that this effect is mostly mediated by the perception of cultural and economic threat. Conclusions. The subjective perception of threat was found to be a critical mediating “junction” in the evolutionary process of the influence of socioeconomic factors on hostile attitudes. Therefore, only specific SES components that influence the perception of threat have an effect on hostile attitudes toward minorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to untangle how the new vocabulary of the ‘social’ relates to the ‘American model’ of neoliberalization that was taken up by national elites across the West and many parts of the South in the 1980s and 1990s. It does so by focusing on one new field of policy (the social economy) in one jurisdiction (Québec) in order to uncover the different social economy projects being put forward, and to emphasize how these projects each had global linkages. In particular, the article will look at how the women's movement, social democratic intellectuals and centres of power within the state each related to distinct bodies of global thinking on the social economy. This in turn translated into three distinct means of relating the social economy to neoliberalism, ranging from seeking to countervail it, through to attempts to flank it, to attempts to roll it out further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last 30 years, trends such as service sector growth, welfare state expansion and rising female participation rates have promoted increasing heterogeneity within the occupational system. Accordingly, this article argues that the class map has to be redrawn in order to grasp these changes in the employment structure. For that purpose, it develops the bases of a new class schema that partly shifts its focus from hierarchical divisions to horizontal cleavages. The middle class is not conceptualized as a unitary grouping and the manual/non-manual divide is not used as a decisive class boundary. Instead, emphasis is put on differences in marketable skills and the work logic. The schema is expected to more accurately reflect the class location of unskilled service employees and to make visible the political divide within the salaried middle class. This expectation is empirically examined with survey data from Britain, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Findings for earnings and promotion prospects indicate that the schema successfully captures the hierarchical dimension in the class structure. Moreover, results for party support and union membership suggest that the schema grasps a salient horizontal cleavage between managers and sociocultural professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the socioeconomic changes that took place in Uzbekistan during the first decade of independence from Soviet rule in 1991. Primary social issues in the country after its independence; Ways by which freedom helped shape the country's social and economic policies; Relationship between geographical location and discursive posture and how this connection affects the socioeconomic status of the country.

Antunes JLF, Narvai PC, Nugent ZJ. Measuring inequalities in the distribution of dental caries. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2004; 32: 41–8. © Blackwell Munksgaard, 2004 – To evaluate different measurements of prevalence and inequality in the distribution of dental caries as to their partial collinearity, and ability in expressing associations with the supply of fluoridated tap water, indices of socioeconomic status and provision of dental services. The DMFT, the Significant Caries (SiC) Index, the proportions of children with high- (DMFT ≥ 4) and rampant- (DMFT ≥ 7) caries experience, caries-free children (DMFT = 0), the Gini coefficient and the Dental Health Inequality Index (DHII) were the dental outcomes appraised in a sample comprising 18 718 oral examination records for 11- and 12-year-old schoolchildren in 131 towns of the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Spatial data analysis assessed the association between aggregate figures of dental indices and several covariates. The DMFT, the SiC Index and the proportions of children with high- and rampant-caries experience presented strong linear associations (Pearson r near or higher than 0.95), and an analogous profile of correlation with indicators of socioeconomic status, dental services and access to fluoride tap water. The same was observed for the DHII, the Gini coefficient and the proportion of caries-free children. These observations involve the perception of variables in each set as interchangeable tools for ecological studies assessing factors influencing, respectively, prevalence levels and inequality in the distribution of dental disease. An improved characterization of the skewed distribution of caries experience demands the concurrent estimation of figures of prevalence and inequality in dental outcomes. This strategy may contribute to the design of socially appropriate programmes of oral health promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social structure and personality perspective provides a theoretical and analytical framework for understanding the persisting association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health outcomes. Current research suggests that health behaviors, stress, social ties, and attitudinal orientations are critical links between social structure and health status. These psychosocial factors are linked more strongly to health status than is medical care and are related systematically to SES. The social distributions of these factors represent the patterned response of social groups to the conditions imposed on them by social structure. Accordingly the elimination of inequalities in health status ultimately may require changes not only in psychosocial factors or health care delivery, but also in socioeconomic conditions. Research is needed that will identify the critical features of SES which determine health, delineate the mechanisms and processes whereby social stratification produces disease, and specify the psychological and interpersonal processes that can intensify or mitigate the effects of social structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a standardised admission ratio for measuring widening participation in British medical schools. How there is currently no system in place by which medical schools can measure their accountability to widen the acceptability of students for higher education; Reporting of students by ethnicity, socioeconomic class and gender; Reasons a quantitative index is needed; How data was collected for the study; Results which showed the difficulty for students from a lower social class to get into a medical school; Sex specific admission ratios which did not vary significantly by gender but did by socioeconomic factors; Massive inequalities in admissions by social class.