A gender story of social disengagement of young adults in Latin America

In the recent years, Latin America has seen a large number of young adults who are neither engaged in formal education nor work, commonly dubbed as "nini" ("ni" trabajan "ni" estudian). This study tests the role household structure plays on becoming a nini in 12 Latin American countries. We explore the gender dynamic of human capital stagnation and intergenerational mobility by focusing on early family formation for women and men aged 20-25 using censuses from the Integrated Public-Use Microdata Series (IPUMS-I). Countryspecific linear regression models reveal that the intersection of class and gender is a major determinant of labor force and educational disengagement in the region. Women from lower social origin who leave parental home to enter union and parenthood at younger ages are particularly disadvantaged. Moreover, among those who are active in the labor market, young mothers are less likely to experience upward intergenerational mobility in occupation compared to those who delay childbearing. This work highlights the importance of addressing economic and educational disengagement of early adulthood to foster economic growth and development in the region

The National Elder Economic Security Standard™ Index: Methodology Overview

The Elder Economic Security StandardTM Index (Elder Index) is a measure of the cost of living for older adults in today\u27s economy. The Elder Index helps answer important questions about what it really takes to financially support independent living in later life. For example, what is an adequate income for older adult households to age in place? How does it vary according to life circumstances: whether they are living alone or with a spouse, renting or owning a home? How do older adults’ living costs change as their health status changes? The Elder Index illustrates how living costs vary geographically (specifically, by county and by state), and based on the characteristics of households. Costs are calculated based on household size (one person age 65 or older, two persons age 65 or older), housing tenure (owner with no mortgage, renter, owner with a mortgage), and health status (excellent, good, poor). The expenses included in the Elder Index cover basic needs of elder households, including shelter, medical care, food, and transportation; the costs included reflect average market costs and do not take into account any needs-based subsidies. Elder Index values are calculated for a total of 18 different scenarios, and for all 3,144 counties and county-equivalents in the United States. The purpose of this report is to describe the rationale and assumptions used in designing the Elder Index. Methodological features of the Elder Index are also described, and illustrated using selected components of the 2016 Elder Economic Security StandardTM Index calculations

Living and Aging in Newton: Now and In the Future

This report describes collaborative efforts undertaken by the City of Newton Department of Senior Services, the Newton Council on Aging, The Senior Citizens Fund of Newton, Inc., and the Center for Social and Demographic Research on Aging, within the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston. Beginning in Fall 2013, these organizations partnered to conduct a needs assessment study to investigate the needs, interests, preferences, and opinions of the City’s older resident population, with respect to living and aging in Newton. The focus of this report is on two cohorts of Newton residents—those aged 50 to 59 (referred to as “Boomers”), and the cohort of individuals who are currently aged 60 and over (“Seniors”). During this assessment, multiple research methods were utilized to create a multidimensional overview of the City’s older residents that could be used to plan and implement current and future services for older adults in Newton. We began the process by examining public data from the U.S. Census Bureau to describe basic demographic characteristics, as well as economic traits, disability status, and living situations of older people living in the City. Early in the project we met with the Director of the City’s Department of Senior Services and members of the City’s Council on Aging to discuss and better understand their concerns about current and future aging-related needs of the City and their evaluation needs. We used information gathered at this meeting to develop the main research instrument—a resident survey, administered to a randomly selected sample of residents from both age cohorts. We also conducted two focus groups to obtain feedback from stakeholders who represent large ethnic minority groups (i.e., Chinese and Russian), regarding their issues and concerns about aging in Newton. Finally, we conducted a comparison of Senior Centers in five municipalities that are similar to Newton in order to assess how needs of older adults are met in other communities. Collectively, the contents of this report are intended to inform the Newton Department of Senior Services, other offices within the City that have a stake in the aging of Newton’s residents, and organizations that provide services to older people throughout the City. Additionally, those who advocate for older residents and community members at large will also find use for the information provided within this report

Psychological and social consequences among mothers suffering from perinatal loss: perspective from a low income country

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In developed countries, perinatal death is known to cause major emotional and social effects on mothers. However, little is known about these effects in low income countries which bear the brunt of perinatal mortality burden. This paper reports the impact of perinatal death on psychological status and social consequences among mothers in a rural area of Bangladesh.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 476 women including 122 women with perinatal deaths were assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS-B) at 6 weeks and 6 months postpartum, and followed up for negative social consequences at 6 months postpartum. Trained female interviewers carried out structured interviews at women's home.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Overall 43% (95% CI: 33.7-51.8%) of women with a perinatal loss at 6 weeks postpartum were depressed compared to 17% (95% CI: 13.7-21.9%) with healthy babies (p = < 0.001). Depression status were significantly associated with women reporting negative life changes such as worse relationships with their husband (adjusted OR = 3.89, 95% CI: 1.37-11.04) and feeling guilty (adjusted OR = 2.61, 95% CI: 1.22-5.63) following the results of their last pregnancy outcome after 6 months of childbirth.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study highlights the greatly increased vulnerability of women with perinatal death to experience negative psychological and social consequences. There is an urgent need to develop appropriate mental health care services for mothers with perinatal deaths in Bangladesh, including interventions to develop positive family support.</p

Lymphatic filariasis in the Democratic Republic of Congo; micro-stratification overlap mapping (MOM) as a prerequisite for control and surveillance

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a significant burden of lymphatic filariasis (LF) caused by the parasite <it>Wuchereria bancrofti</it>. A major impediment to the expansion of the LF elimination programme is the risk of serious adverse events (SAEs) associated with the use of ivermectin in areas co-endemic for onchocerciasis and loiasis. It is important to analyse these and other factors, such as soil transmitted helminths (STH) and malaria co-endemicity, which will impact on LF elimination.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We analysed maps of onchocerciasis community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTi) from the African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC); maps of predicted prevalence of <it>Loa loa</it>; planned STH control maps of albendazole (and mebendazole) from the Global Atlas of Helminth Infections (GAHI); and bed nets and insecticide treated nets (ITNs) distribution from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) as well as published historic data which were incorporated into overlay maps. We developed an approach we designate as micro-stratification overlap mapping (MOM) to identify areas that will assist the implementation of LF elimination in the DRC. The historic data on LF was found through an extensive review of the literature as no recently published information was available.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This paper identifies an approach that takes account of the various factors that will influence not only country strategies, but suggests that country plans will require a finer resolution mapping than usual, before implementation of LF activities can be efficiently deployed. This is because 1) distribution of ivermectin through APOC projects will already have had an impact of LF intensity and prevalence 2) DRC has been up scaling bed net distribution which will impact over time on transmission of <it>W. bancrofti </it>and 3) recently available predictive maps of <it>L. loa </it>allow higher risk areas to be identified, which allow LF implementation to be initiated with reduced risk where <it>L. loa </it>is considered non-endemic. We believe that using the proposed MOM approach is essential for planning the expanded distribution of drugs for LF programmes in countries co-endemic for filarial infections.</p

Reductions in abortion-related mortality following policy reform: evidence from Romania, South Africa and Bangladesh

Unsafe abortion is a significant contributor to worldwide maternal mortality; however, abortion law and policy liberalization could lead to drops in unsafe abortion and related deaths. This review provides an analysis of changes in abortion mortality in three countries where significant policy reform and related service delivery occurred. Drawing on peer-reviewed literature, population data and grey literature on programs and policies, this paper demonstrates the policy and program changes that led to declines in abortion-related mortality in Romania, South Africa and Bangladesh. In all three countries, abortion policy liberalization was followed by implementation of safe abortion services and other reproductive health interventions. South Africa and Bangladesh trained mid-level providers to offer safe abortion and menstrual regulation services, respectively, Romania improved contraceptive policies and services, and Bangladesh made advances in emergency obstetric care and family planning. The findings point to the importance of multi-faceted and complementary reproductive health reforms in successful implementation of abortion policy reform

Prevalence, associated factors and predictors of anxiety: a community survey in Selangor, Malaysia

Background: Anxiety is the most common mental health disorders in the general population. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anxiety, its associated factors and the predictors of anxiety among adults in the community of Selangor, Malaysia. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out in three districts in Selangor, Malaysia. The inclusion criteria of this study were Malaysian citizens, adults aged 18 years and above, and living in the selected living quarters based on the list provided by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOS). Participants completed a set of questionnaires, including the validated Malay version of Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD 7) to detect anxiety. Results: Of the 2512 participants who were approached, 1556 of them participated in the study (61.90 %). Based on the cut-off point of 8 and above in the GAD-7, the prevalence of anxiety was 8.2 %. Based on the initial multiple logistic regression analysis, the predictors of anxiety were depression, serious problems at work, domestic violence and high perceived stress. When reanalyzed again after removing depression, low self-esteem and high perceived stress, six predictors that were identified are cancer, serious problems at work, domestic violence, unhappy relationship with family, non-organizational religious activity and intrinsic religiosity. Conclusion: This study reports the prevalence of anxiety among adults in the community of Selangor, Malaysia and also the magnitude of the associations between various factors and anxiety

Child-centered food systems: reorienting food systems towards healthy diets for children

Current food systems are failing to guide children towards healthy diets. This paper presents a tool to identify the actions needed to reorient food systems to become more child-centred from a nutrition perspective. To connect the dots between children's lives, their food environments and food supply systems, the tool takes a child-centred, food systems approach. Comprising six methodological steps, the tool starts by measuring and understanding children's realities and then working back up into the system to identify how food environments and supply systems could make relevant foods more or less available, affordable, appealing and aspirational in the contexts of children's lives. The paper spells out the mix of methods needed to make this assessment, gives examples of the data and studies already available and type of insights they provide, and discusses the methodological challenges and gaps. It presents a worked example that shows how following these steps in sequence enables the identification of a package of actions that can act coherently to reorient food systems in the way most likely to have impact on child malnutrition

DANS Data Guide 9

The TIES-NL data, as part of the overall TIES Project (see also the TIES website), surveyed respondents aged 18-35 who are native-born children of Turkish and Moroccan immigrants (the second generation) and their peers without an immigration background (the ‘comparison group’) in two main Dutch cities, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The overall aim of the project is to collect valuable and comparable information on specific second-generation groups in 15 European cities, in order to measure their level of integration in many spheres (such as, but not limited to, education and the labour market) and the impact of context on integration. The survey comprises the following modules: education, labour market, partner, parents, housing and neighbourhood, social relations and political participation, gender roles and child care, identity, religion, income and psychosocial, personal relations. See also the file with the questionnaire for more details. Relevant data at neighbourhood and municipality level for Rotterdam and Amsterdam were collected from CBS Statline and added to the dataset. Note that the data is coded to fit the international questionnaire, in order to facilitate comparisons with the other TIES surveys