An Evidence-Based Approach To Digital Inclusion for Health

This report is the first deliverable of the ?Digital Inclusion and Social Knowledge Media for Health: Frameworks and Roadmaps? project. It discusses the concept of social and digital exclusion and suggests that a focus on the digital mediation of social processes may provide more purchase for public service providers. This focus leads to the consideration of the way in which digital services might support a range of health-related factors which are both directly and indirectly linked to specific health outcomes. The report discusses some examples in the light of a consideration of the specific (and spatial) health needs and priorities of Solihull Care Trust. The report concludes with suggestions for directions for future research and development

Time Use in Rural Areas: A Case Study in Turkey

This study aims to analyze rural household work and leisure time and how it is allocated among various activities and by socio-economic characteristics of individuals. The analysis is based on a survey carried out in two central Anatolian villages. Three time use questionnaires are administered between May-October 2003 during two different days of the week, an ordinary weekday and the day of the local bazaar. 138 household members from these two villages have participated in the survey. It is found that on the average, the villagers spend over half of their nonsleeping time on non-economic activities including personal development. The remaining time spent on agricultural and non-agricultural economic activities is about the same. Males on the average spend more time on all activities than females except for personal development. The results show that, time use patterns change during different days of the week and months of the year. It is also found that, there is a high correlation between time use patterns and socio-economic characteristics of the households. In general there are statistically significant differences in the average time devoted to activities by education and age groups. Finally, significant differences are observed in the time use patterns rather than magnitudes by gender. As expected, differentiation in men’s and women’s roles is observed in agricultural activities.Time Use surveys, rural households, agricultural activities

RESEARCH UPDATES

Examining Relationships Between Prices and Consumption For Selected Meat Cuts and Convenience Items Using Electronic Scanner Data, by Michael A. Hudson; Economic Impacts of Price Volatility in the Egg Industry, by Henry Kinnucan; Present and Potential Uses of Scanner-Derived Information For Managerial Decision-Making in Food Retailing, by Oral Capps Jr.; Consumer Preference for Locally Produced Fruits and Vegetables, by David B. Eastwood, Robert H. Orr, John R. Brooker; The Effectiveness of Promotional Programs for Florida Tomatoes, by Robert L. Degner; Strategic Planning by Mid-Atlantic Food Distributors, by H. Reed Muller, Ulrich C. Toensmeyer, Jarvis L. Cain; Impacts of Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors on Household Expenditure for Disaggregate Fish and Shellfish in the United States, by Hsiang-Tai Cheng, Oral Capps Jr.; An Assessment of Delaware Consumers' Perception of Retail Package Sizes for Meat, Poultry and Bulk Purchases, by R. Dean Shippy, Ulrich C. Toensmeyer; Using Micro Computers to Facilitate the Management of Independant Supermarkets, by Angelo E. Di Antonio, Ulrich C. Toensmeyer; Comparison of Food Stamp Program Participation and Nonparticipation By Elderly Households: An Exploratory Study, by Glen H. Mitchell, Renny J. Myers; Opportunities for Order and Delivery Consolidation, by Harry F. Krueckeberg; Factors Affecting Adoption of the Uniform Communication Standard In Major Wholesale Grocery Markets, by Walter B. EppsResearch and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

The Dynamics and Persistence of Poverty: Evidence from Italy

This article studies the dynamics and persistence of poverty in Italy during the nineties, using the ECHP, 1994-2001. Various definitions of poverty are analyzed in parallel, income poverty, subjective poverty and a multidimensional index of life-style deprivation. For each poverty definition, the hazard rates of leaving poverty and re-entering into it are estimated and combined to compute a measure of poverty persistence that takes account of individuals’ repeated spells in poverty. The estimates provide a picture of high poverty turnover for the majority of the Italian population, which is true for any of the alternative definitions of poverty considered. Thus movements in and out of poverty cannot be simply related to spurious transitions due to measurement errors in household income. Multivariate exit and re-entry rate regressions are then estimated jointly to allow for correlated unobserved heterogeneity. The results highlight the role of demographic characteristics, the insufficiencies of the existing social security system and, above all, the weaknesses of the Italian labor market in generating persistent poverty for certain subgroups of the population.Poverty dynamics, poverty persistence, repeated spells, duration models, Italy.

Poverty correlates and indicator-based targeting in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union

The authors compare poverty in three Eastern European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland) with poverty in three countries of the former Soviet Union (Estonia, Kyrgyz Republic, and Russia). They find striking differences between the post-Soviet and Eastern European experiences with poverty and targeting. Among patterns detected: a)Poverty in Eastern Europe is significantly lower than in former Soviet Union countries. b) Rural poverty is greater than urban poverty. c) In Eastern Europe there is a strong correlation between poverty incidence and the number of children in a household; in the former Soviet Union countries this is less pronounced, except in Russia. d) There is a gender and age dimension to poverty in some countries. In single-person households, especially of elder women, the poverty rate is very high (except in Poland) and poverty is more severe. The same is true in pensioner households (except in Poland). In Poland the pension system has adequate reach. e) Poverty rates are highest among people who have lost their connection with the labor market and live on social transfers (other than pensions) or other nonearned income. But through sheer mass, the largest group of poor people is the working poor -- especially workers with little education (primary education or less) or outdated vocational or technical education. Only those with special skills or university education escape poverty in great numbers, thanks to the demand for their skills from the newly emerging private sector. f) The poverty gap is remarkably uniform in Eastern European countries, especially Hungary and Poland, suggesting that social safety nets have prevented the emergence of deep pockets of poverty. This is much less true in the former Soviet Union, where those with the highest poverty rate also have the largest poverty gap. In the short to medium term, creating employment in the informal sector will generate a larger payoff than creating jobs in the formal (still to be privatized) sectors, so programs to help (prospective) entrepreneurs should take center stage in poverty alleviation programs.Public Health Promotion,Services&Transfers to Poor,Poverty ReductionStrategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Poverty Assessment,Environmental Economics&Policies,Safety Nets and Transfers,Rural Poverty Reduction,Services&Transfers to Poor

The Dynamics and Persistence of Poverty: Evidence from Italy

This article studies the dynamics and persistence of poverty in Italy during the nineties (1994-2001). Two definitions of poverty are analyzed: income poverty and a multidimensional index of life-style deprivation. For both definitions, poverty exit and re-entry rates are estimated and combined to compute measures of poverty persistence over multiple spells. A picture of high poverty turnover emerges according to either definition. Multi-spell hazard rate models have been estimated to assess the relative importance of several demographic and labor market characteristics in shaping poverty persistence at the individual level. The results highlight the weaknesses of the Italian labor market, the insufficiencies of the existing social security system and the deep territorial dualism in generating persistent poverty for certain groups of the population. We have stressed the ability of the two definitions to provide a generally consistent characterization of the poverty persistence risks faced by various population subgroups, but also the additional insights to be gained by analyzing the two definitions in parallel in a longitudinal context.Income poverty; multidimensional deprivation; poverty persistence; hazard-rate models; multiple spells

Task 6: Comparative data and indicators, Year 1, 2012: European comparative data on Europe 2020 & Housing Conditions

The Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED) aims to maintain a pan-European academic network in the disability field by engaging the expertise of existing networks, disability re-search centres and individual experts in Europe, and external advisors in partnership with European organisations representing disabled people and older people. The Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED), established following a tender procedure in December 2007, and is funded by the European Commission. The philosophy and aims focus on research that supports implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)1 and the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 towards the goal of full participation and equal opportunities for all disabled people. The work programme for 2012 builds on the results of the previous 4 years of the Network’s existence, by carrying out the following tasks, and linking to the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020: Task 1: Network management Task 2: Collecting and analysing data (mapping tool) Task 3: Legal framework and instruments Task 4: Accessibility Task 5: National strategies and social policies Task 6: Comparative data and indicators The objectives of Task 6 are: To access and prepare the required datasets for analysis (EU-SILC, LFS, EHIS, EQLS, etc.); To provide comparative data against a selection of quantitative indicators; To publish the selected indicators on the ANED website. The present report is part of Task 6 and aims to elaborate comparative data and indicators

The Elderly Poor in the EU’s New Member States. ENEPRI Research Reports No. 60, November 2008

To what extent is the financial position of the elderly in the NMS more vulnerable than that of the old member states (or the EU-15), due to a rather unfavourable starting point and the possible impact of pension reforms? This is the main issue of the current research report. It tries to delineate the vulnerability of the income position of elderly people in the NMS, in relation to the demographic, socio-economic and institutional context of these countries. More specifically, the report focuses on: - the current level of income of the elderly in the NMS, and the degree of relative poverty; - the way this position is related to the educational and labour market status of the elderly in the NMS, their retirement behaviour, institutional arrangements (notably the pension system), and demographic developments; - specific problems regarding the income position of possibly ‘marginal’ elderly groups in the NMS (such as single elderly female pensioners)

Politics of pension sharing in urban South Africa

Analysing the practice of pension sharing, this article looks at social and cultural dimensions of ageing in an urban African residential area, Cape Town's Khayelitsha. First, the paper discusses pension sharing as a futureoriented security strategy. Many older Africans in Khayelitsha believe that if they do not share their pensions with their kin, they do not have much chance of being helped in times of need. Pension sharing as an instrumental act is rooted in the perceived underdevelopment of the state social security system on the one hand, and in the very character of African kinship and the ¯uidity of today's urban domestic units on the other. Partly triggered by poverty and mass unemployment, African pensioners are under severe normative pressure to share their grants within their families. Taking into account African notions of old age and of personhood, and considering the widespread devaluation of older Africans in social constructions, pension sharing provides older Africans with an (easily available) means by which they can earn (self-)respect. Further, state policies indirectly enhance the normative pressure on pensioners to share their old-age pensions. On a symbolic plane the practice may be construed as a political model that conceptualises duty as the inner bond of the social world. In conclusion, it is propounded that the concept of (intergenerational) reciprocity is inadequate to account for pension sharing or practical provision of old-age care