Suchergebnisse

Fertility in the Netherlands has never dipped to the extremely low levels observed in some other European countries. The Netherlands has always maintained a total fertility rate (TFR, average number of children per woman) above 1.7. In 2009, the TFR was 1.88. The absence of direct family policies and the fact that the Netherlands is a highly secular society both make the country's relatively high fertility, in a European context, appear as a paradox. The Dutch government provides substantial welfare benefits, but, given concerns about high population density, no specific policies have been implemented to raise fertility. Dutch society is characterized by a strong value preference for fathers to be the primary breadwinners and mothers to care for children at home. As a result, the Netherlands stands out as having the world's highest fraction of women in the labor force who are part-time workers. Women tend to work in occupations that allow part-time work and higher work- family reconciliation, resulting in what has been termed unequal work for unequal pay. The state has had a paternalistic role—supporting mothers to work part time and providing child allowances and, until recently, free higherlevel education and generous benefits. The Netherlands shows that religion is not necessarily a prerequisite for fertility and that worklife reconciliation and individual control of fertility can sustain moderate fertility levels. The recent financial crisis, however, has called the sustainability of this system into question and has signaled the end of many generous state policies, combined with increased calls for women to become less reliant on their husbands and more economically independent.

The division of gender roles in the household and societal level gender (in)equality have been situated as one of the most powerful factors underlying fertility behaviour. Despite continued theoretical attention to this issue by demographers, empirical research integrating gender roles and equity in relation to fertility remains surprisingly sparse. This paper first provides a brief review of previous research that has examined gender roles and fertility followed by a comparison of six prominent gender equality indices: Gender-related Development Index (GDI), Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM), Gender Gap Index (GGI), Gender Equality Index (GEI), the European Union Gender Equality Index (EU-GEI) and the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI). The paper then tests how five of these indices impact fertility intentions and behaviour using a series of multilevel (random-coefficient) logistic regression models, applying the European Social Survey (2004/5). The GDI, with its emphasis on human development, adjusted for gender, has the strongest and significant effect on fertility intentions. The EU-GEI, which focuses on the universal caregiver model, uncovers that more equity significantly lowers fertility intentions, but only for women. The remaining indicators show no significant impact. The paper concludes with a reflection and suggestions for future research.

Discusses the impact of diagnosis related groupings on hospital organisation, the shortcomings of DRG guidelines, and the unintended consequences of DRGs. (JLN)

The school-to-work transition is a crucial life stage for young people, and research has often shown that this stage has important effects on their entire life courses. In recent years, young people willing to enter the labour market have been challenged by increasing uncertainty and comparatively high unemployment. These labour market trends have been attributed to several structural changes, including globalisation, rise in international competition, technological change and the recent economic crisis. At the same time, the structure of labour supply has changed. Tertiary education in EU Member States has substantially expanded and the educational attainment of recent female graduates is now at parity or even exceeds that of their male counterparts. However, research has also demonstrated that even with considerable gains in education, women continue to have unequal labour market outcomes. Isolating gender differences in the transition from school to work and examining why these differences may emerge, has been largely ignored until now. Our report uses directly comparable data across the EU to examine whether there is a gendered transition from school to work, which can provide evidence to allow nations to reform their social welfare systems in a more tailored way by learning from each other and identifying policies and institutional systems that work the best. For our empirical analyses, we draw on the EU Labour Force Survey 2009 ad hoc module 2009 'Entry of Young People into the Labour Market', which focuses on individuals aged 15–34 years living in 27 EU Member States plus Iceland and Norway.

Social marketing campaigns use marketing techniques to influence human behavior for the greater social good. In the conservation sector, social marketing campaigns have been used to influence behavior for the benefit of biodiversity as well as society. However, there are few evaluations of their effectiveness. We devised an approach for evaluating the influences of social marketing campaigns on human behavior and conservation outcomes. We used general elimination methodology, a theory‐driven qualitative evaluation method, to assess the long‐term impacts of a 1998 Rare Pride campaign on the island of Bonaire that was designed to increase the population of the Lora (Amazona barbadensis), a threatened parrot. We interviewed stakeholder groups to determine their perceptions of the drivers of the changes in the Lora population over time. We used these data to develop an overall theory of change to explain changes in the Lora population by looking at the overlap in hypotheses within and between stakeholder groups. We then triangulated that theory of change with evidence from government reports, peer‐reviewed literature, and newspapers. The increase in the Lora population was largely attributed to a decrease in illegal poaching of Loras and an associated decrease in local demand for pet Loras. Decreases in poaching and demand were likely driven by a combination of law enforcement, social marketing (including the Rare campaign), and environmental education in schools. General elimination methodology helped show how multiple interventions influenced a conservation outcome over time. There is a need for evidence‐based evaluations of social marketing interventions to ensure that limited resources are spent wisely.

This symposium provides an overview of the policy issues created by the emergence of a broad assortment of biomedical technologies. (JLN)

The co-occurrence of HIV infection, chemical dependency, and mental illness challenges federal and state governments to develop flexible and coordinated health policy and financing for public health services. State agencies play a critical role in the organization and support of these services at the local level. With emerging stress upon state government budgets and concomitant increasing need for publicly funded services, state agency coordination may be an important policy safety net to assure services for populations at the margins of health systems. Despite this important potential role, nothing is known about the degree to which state HIV, substance abuse, and mental health agencies coordinate policies and/or programs in response to these co-morbid conditions. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to establish a conservative and initial understanding of state HIV, substance abuse, and mental health agency coordination of policy and program in response to the co-occurrence of HIV, chemical dependency, and mental illness. METHOD: Estimation of coordination was accomplished through the comparison of three surveys conducted among state substance abuse directors (1998), state AIDS directors (1999), and state mental health directors (2000). Data from 38 states were reviewed. RESULTS: The most frequently reported state agency activities included coordinating funding, engaging in integrative planning activities, and conducting staff cross-training. When compared for association with state characteristics, coordination among state agencies was found to be associated with Early Intervention Services (EIS) designation, higher rates of AIDS generally, higher rates of AIDS among African Americans, and higher rates of AIDS among Hispanic populations. Given the limitations of comparing three disparate surveys, we determined the estimate of interagency coordination to be conservative and preliminary. CONCLUSION: While this study was useful as an initial step toward identifying state interagency policy and program coordination in ...

AbstractThe aim of this study was to locate all ferruginous discharges within the Welsh coalfield areas and to assess their impact upon receiving watercourses. The project was undertaken in two stages. In the first stage, visual assessments were carried out on an area of river bed affected by iron hydroxide deposition. Chemical samples of the discharges and the receiving watercourse were analysed for a suite of physico‐chemical determinands. Ninety discharges were located impacting upon 59.4 km of river, and an area of 22 ha was affected by iron hydroxide deposits.A ranking method, incorporating the physical/chemical determinands, was developed to assess the comparative impact which discharges were having on receiving watercourses. A total of 33 of the top ranked discharges‐ (20 to classified watercourses and 13 to unclassified watercourses) having the highest environmental impact were selected; chemical, biological and fisheries impact assessments were then carried out on these discharges in the second stage of the project. The sites were then ranked on the basis of biological and fisheries impact. A list of the highest impacted sites was produced, and some of these were further investigated for remediation options and associated costs.