Investing social security trusts funds in the stock market

Social security ; Stock market

The Gender Weight Gap: Sons, Daughters, and Maternal Weight

Although the effect of parents on their children has been the focus of much research on health and families, the influence of children on their parents has not been well studied. In this paper, I examine the effect of the sex composition of children on mothers' physical condition, as proxied by their weight. Using two independent datasets, I find that, many years after the birth of their children, women who have first-born daughters weigh on average 2-6 pounds less than women who have first-born sons. This weight gap emerges around the time that the first-born child is in his or her pre-teen years and is largest during the child's teen years. I find indirect evidence that this gender weight gap is associated with bargaining power shifts and with mothers' appearance-centered behaviors in the presence of daughters, but find no support for the hypothesis that mothers with sons weigh more because sons eat more than daughters and induce mothers to eat more. I also show that it is unlikely that underlying biological factors like a Trivers-Willard effect are significantly biasing these estimates. Although this weight gap may appear small, weight gains of this magnitude may contribute to increased risk of breast cancer. This study is the first to show that children can have real impacts on the physical condition of their parents and points to a novel channel through which policy makers may be able to influence health

The Gender Weight Gap: Sons, Daughters, and Maternal Weight

Although the effect of parents on their children has been the focus of much research on health and families, the influence of children on their parents has not been well studied. In this paper, I examine the effect of the sex composition of children on mothers' physical condition, as proxied by their weight. Using two independent datasets, I find that, many years after the birth of their children, women who have first-born daughters weigh on average 2-6 pounds less than women who have first-born sons. This weight gap emerges around the time that the first-born child is in his or her pre-teen years and is largest during the child's teen years. I find indirect evidence that this gender weight gap is associated with bargaining power shifts and with mothers' appearance-centered behaviors in the presence of daughters, but find no support for the hypothesis that mothers with sons weigh more because sons eat more than daughters and induce mothers to eat more. I also show that it is unlikely that underlying biological factors like a Trivers-Willard effect are significantly biasing these estimates. Although this weight gap may appear small, weight gains of this magnitude may contribute to increased risk of breast cancer. This study is the first to show that children can have real impacts on the physical condition of their parents and points to a novel channel through which policy makers may be able to influence health

The 2001 recession and the Chicago Fed National Index: identifying business cycle turning points

The initial release of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) in early 2001 pointed to the very real possibility that the U.S. economy was teetering on the brink of recession. This article quantifies the statistical ability of the CFNAI to act as an early warning indicator of economic recessions. In simulation experiments, the CFNAI performed virtually as well as the statistical model's ideal measure of the business cycle.Recessions ; Economic indicators ; Index numbers (Economics) ; Business cycles

Social comparisons and health: Can having richer friends and neighbors make you sick?

Do richer friends and neighbors improve your health through positive material effects, or do they make you feel worse through the negative effect of social comparison and relative deprivation? Using the newly available National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (NSHAP) data set that reports individuals' income positions within their self-defined social networks, this paper examines whether there is an association between relative position and health in the US. Because this study uses measures of individuals' positions within their self-defined social groups rather than researcher-imputed measures of relative position, I am able to more precisely examine linkages between individual relative position and health. I find a relationship between relative position and health status, and find indirect support for the biological mechanism underlying the relative deprivation model: lower relative position tends to be associated with those health conditions thought to be linked to physiological stress. I also find, however, that only extremes of relative position matter: very low relative position is associated with worse self-rated physical health and mobility, increased overall disease burden, and increased reporting of cardiovascular morbidity; very high relative position is associated with lower probabilities of reporting diabetes, ulcers, and hypertension. I observe few associations between health and either moderately high or moderately low positions. This analysis suggests that the mechanism underlying the relative deprivation model may only have significant effects for those at the very bottom or the very top.USA Relative deprivation Reference groups Relative income Income inequality

Do sons reduce parental mortality?

BACKGROUND: Although sons are thought to impose greater physiological costs on mothers than daughters, sons may be advantageous for parental survival in some social contexts. We examined the relationship between the sex composition of offspring and parental survival in contemporary China and Taiwan. Because of the importance of sons for the provision of support to elderly parents in these populations, we hypothesized that sons would have a beneficial effect on parental survival relative to daughters. METHODS: We used data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) and the Taiwan Longitudinal Study of Aging (TLSA). Our CLHLS sample consisted of 4132 individuals ages 65+ in 2002. Our TLSA sample comprised two cohorts: 3409 persons aged 60+ in 1989 and 2193 persons aged 50–66 in 1996.These cohorts were followed for 3, 18, and 11 years, respectively. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate the relationship between the sex composition of offspring and parental mortality. RESULTS: Based on 7 measures of sex composition, we find no protective effect of sons in either China or Taiwan. For example, in the 1989 Taiwan sample, the hazard ratio for maternal mortality associated with having an eldest son is 0.979 (95% CI (0.863, 1.111)). In Taiwan, daughters may have been more beneficial than sons in reducing mortality in recent years. CONCLUSION: We offer several explanations for these findings, including possible benefits associated with emotional and interpersonal forms of support provided by daughters and negative impacts of conflicts arising between parents and resident daughters-in-law

The growth and gaps of genetic data sharing policies in the United States

The 1996 Bermuda Principles launched a new era in data sharing, reflecting a growing belief that the rapid public dissemination of research data was crucial to scientific progress in genetics. A historical review of data sharing policies in the field of genetics and genomics reflects changing scientific norms and evolving views of genomic data, particularly related to human subjects’ protections and privacy concerns. The 2013 NIH Draft Genomic Data Sharing (GDS) Policy incorporates the most significant protections and guidelines to date. The GDS Policy, however, will face difficult challenges ahead as geneticists seek to balance the very real concerns of research participants and the scientific norms that propel research forward. This article provides a novel evaluation of genetic and GDS policies’ treatment of human subjects’ protections. The article examines not only the policies, but also some of the most pertinent scientific, legal, and regulatory developments that occurred alongside data sharing policies. This historical perspective highlights the challenges that future data sharing policies, including the recently disseminated NIH GDS Draft Policy, will encounter