Effects of restrictions to Income Support on health of lone mothers in the UK: a natural experiment study

Background: In the UK, lone parents must seek work as a condition of receiving welfare benefits once their youngest child reaches a certain age. Since 2008, the lower age limit at which these Lone Parent Obligations (LPO) apply has been reduced in steps. We used data from a nationally representative, longitudinal, household panel study to analyse the health effects of increased welfare conditionality under LPO. Methods: From the Understanding Society survey, we used data for lone mothers who were newly exposed to LPO when the age cutoff was reduced from 7 to 5 years in 2012 (intervention group 1) and from 10 to 7 years in 2010 (intervention group 2), as well as lone mothers who remained unexposed (control group 1) or continuously exposed (control group 2) at those times. We did difference-in-difference analyses that controlled for differences in the fixed characteristics of participants in the intervention and control groups to estimate the effect of exposure to conditionality on the health of lone mothers. Our primary outcome was the difference in change over time between the intervention and control groups in scores on the Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-12). Findings: The mental health of lone mothers declined in the intervention groups compared with the control groups. For intervention group 1, scores on the MCS decreased by 1·39 (95% CI −1·29 to 4·08) compared with control group 1 and by 2·29 (0·00 to 4·57) compared with control group 2. For intervention group 2, MCS scores decreased by 2·45 (−0·57 to 5·48) compared with control group 1 and by 1·28 (−1·45 to 4·00) compared with control group 2. When pooling the two intervention groups, scores on the MCS decreased by 2·13 (0·10 to 4·17) compared with control group 1 and 2·21 (0·30 to 4·13) compared with control group 2. Interpretation: Stringent conditions for receiving welfare benefits are increasingly common in high-income countries. Our results suggest that requiring lone parents with school-age children toseek work as a condition of receiving welfare benefits adversely affects their mental health. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, Scottish Government Chief Scientist Office, and National Health Service Research Scotland

The social, legal, technical perspective of cyber stalking in India

This paper explores the social, technical and legal perspectives of cyberstalking in India. With the growth of the Internet, cyberstalking as a potential cybercrime has achieved many fold growths in India over the last decade. Factors such as, poor social perception towards the crime, cultural conflict and ignorance, subjective characteristics and habits of the victims, freedom and remoteness of Internet technologies and inadequacy of cyber legislation in preventing and penalising the crime have facilitated the rapid growth and proliferation of cyberstalking in India. In addition to low levels of awareness on the part of the victim and law enforcement authorities, anecdotal evidence suggests there is a fear of secondary victimisation, both in victims and their relatives. This has become a major cause for the majority of stalking crimes to remain unregistered. In case of India, there is clear dearth of research in relation to the social, legal and technical perspectives of cyberstalking. None of the Indian studies have provided conclusive findings on these three perspectives. This paper recommends further comprehensive studies into cyberstalking in India

Infinite alphabet passwords-a unified model for a class of authentication systems

In the paper we propose a formal model for class of authentication systems termed, “Infinite Alphabet Password Systems” (IAPs). We define such systems as those that use a character set for the construction of the authentication token that is theoretically infinite, only bound by practical implementation restrictions. We find that the IAP architecture can feasibly be adapted for use in many real world situations, and may be implemented using a number of system architectures and cryptographic protocols. A security analysis is conducted on an implementation of the model that utilizes images for its underlying alphabet. As a result of the analysis we find that IAPs can offer security benefits over traditional alphanumeric password schemes. In particular some of the significant problems concerning phishing, pharming, replay, dictionary and offline brute force attacks are mitigated

The public health effects of interventions similar to basic income: a scoping review

Universal, unconditional basic income is attracting increasing policy and academic interest. Income is a key health determinant, and a basic income could affect health through its effect on other determinants, such as employment. However, there is little evidence of its potential effects on public health, because no studies of interventions which meet the definition of basic income have been done. However, there is evidence from studies of interventions with similarities to basic income. Therefore, we aimed to identify these studies and to consider what can be learned from them about the potential effects of such interventions on health and socioeconomic outcomes. We did a systematic scoping review of basic income-like interventions, searching eight bibliographic and eight specialist databases from inception to July, 2019, with extensive hand searching. We included publications in English of quantitative and qualitative studies done in upper-middle-income or high-income countries, of universal, permanent, or subsistence-level interventions providing unconditional payments to individuals or families. We sought to identify the range of outcomes reported by relevant studies, and report health, education, employment, and social outcomes. We extracted and tabulated relevant data and narratively reported effects by intervention and outcome. We identified 27 studies of nine heterogeneous interventions, some universal and permanent, and many evaluated using randomised controlled trials or robust quasi-experimental methods. Evidence on health effects was mixed, with strong positive effects on some outcomes, such as birthweight and mental health, but no effect on others. Employment effects were inconsistent, although mostly small for men and larger for women with young children. There was evidence of spill-over effects in studies measuring effects on large populations. In conclusion, little evidence exists of large reductions in employment, and some evidence suggests positive effects on some other outcomes, including health outcomes. Evidence for macro-level effects is scarce. Quasi-experimental and dynamic modelling approaches are well placed to investigate such effects

Cyber stalking is a social evil: from the Indian women's perspective

We discuss the causes and impacts of selected cyber stalking cases against women in India as evidenced from the literature and conducted interviews. We find that the prevailing social and cultural value system and norms in India can prevent women from approaching police or registering legal complaints. The few studies to-date in the Indian context, indicate the high prevalence and serious impacts cyber stalking has on the victims’ psychological and physical state. Our work further confirms this. Moreover, interviewees describe secondary victimizations experienced via the actions of friends and relatives. We observe this to be a form of social punishment stemming from gender-related beliefs and attitudes that seem to be normative in India. These secondary victimizations described had far reaching, long term implications, exacerbating the already high levels of distress typically experienced during cases of cyber stalking

Modes of cyberstalking and cyberharassment: measuring the negative effects in the lives of victims in the UK

Cyberstalking may occur solely in the digital realm, or may form part of a wider campaign targeting individuals on and off-line. The impact cyberstalking has on victims may differ depending on the type. In this paper, we use Sheridan and Grant's (2007) classifications of, "Proximal with offline", "Online only" and "Cross-over" stalking types. These classifications are applied to responses gathered from 278 victims of cyberstalking and cyberharassment through the 2011-2014 ECHO survey. We analyse the responses to first classify the type of stalking experienced and then the reported number and types of effects in the life of the victims on a per-group basis. Using chi-square analysis, we identify that victims in the case of proximal and Cross-over stalking are significantly more likely to report negative changes to their work, relationships and financial lives and to report more negative changes in these areas than those experiencing online only. In addition, in the relationship category Cross-over cases provoke significantly more changes than proximal cases. This indicates that cases where the stalker moves from being an online presence to a proximal presence have an extreme impact and therefore should be treated with the utmost concern, both in terms of support and safeguarding strategies

Social exclusion and ICT: barriers and incentives to digital inclusion

In light of survey evidence suggesting that non-use of leT and indicators of social exclusion are strongly correlated, and a widespread belief that use of leT is essential to living in the 'Information Society', the emergence of 'digital exclusion' has been identified as a potentially serious problem by policy-makers and academics. However, few analyses to date have employed any statistical techniques more sophisticated than bivariate descriptives to explore the relationships between indicators of social exclusion, or any other demographic factors, and leT use. Many surveys have indicated that factors such as lack of interest are often cited as a reason for non-use, but little qualitative research has been conducted to explore motivations for leT use and reasons for non-use in more depth from the perspective of the groups in question. This research aimed to investigate the links between digital and social exclusion in Scotland using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. In the first phase of the research, logistic regression analysis was conducted on the dataset generated by the 200 1 wave of the Scottish Household Survey both in order to establish how closely related the two forms of exclusion are and to investigate which factors are most strongly related to leT use. The statistical analysis informed the development of a sampling frame for the second phase of the research, in which 29 qualitative interviews were conducted with socially excluded users and non-users of leT, with a view to investigating the barriers and incentives to leT use among such groups. The research found that, although factors which indicate social exclusion are related to non-use of leT, collectively they do not explain a high proportion of the variance in leT use. The qualitative interviews suggested that definitions of leT use based on a user/non-user model do not reflect the manner in which people use leT. They also indicated that more socially excluded people than surveys would suggest use leT. However, many do not self-defme as leT users. In tandem with the findings of the statistical analysis, this called into question the existence of a straightforward causal link between social and digital exclusion

Lone parents, health, wellbeing and welfare to work:a systematic review of qualitative studies

Abstract Background Lone parents and their children experience higher than average levels of adverse health and social outcomes, much of which are explained by high rates of poverty. Many high income countries have attempted to address high poverty rates by introducing employment requirements for lone parents in receipt of welfare benefits. However, there is evidence that employment may not reduce poverty or improve the health of lone parents and their children. Methods We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies reporting lone parents’ accounts of participation in welfare to work (WtW), to identify explanations and possible mechanisms for the impacts of WtW on health and wellbeing. Twenty one bibliographic databases were searched. Two reviewers independently screened references and assessed study quality. Studies from any high income country that met the criteria of focussing on lone parents, mandatory WtW interventions, and health or wellbeing were included. Thematic synthesis was used to investigate analytic themes between studies. Results Screening of the 4703 identified papers and quality assessment resulted in the inclusion of 16 qualitative studies of WtW in five high income countries, USA, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand, covering a variety of welfare regimes. Our synthesis found that WtW requirements often conflicted with child care responsibilities. Available employment was often poorly paid and precarious. Adverse health impacts, such as increased stress, fatigue, and depression were commonly reported, though employment and appropriate training was linked to increased self-worth for some. WtW appeared to influence health through the pathways of conflict and control, analytical themes which emerged during synthesis. WtW reduced control over the nature of employment and care of children. Access to social support allowed some lone parents to manage the conflict associated with employment, and to increase control over their circumstances, with potentially beneficial health impacts. Conclusion WtW can result in increased conflict and reduced control, which may lead to negative impacts on mental health. Availability of social support may mediate the negative health impacts of WtW

Making the most of natural experiments: What can studies of the withdrawal of public health interventions offer?

Many interventions that may have large impacts on health and health inequalities, such as social and public health policies and health system reforms, are not amenable to evaluation using randomised controlled trials. The United Kingdom Medical Research Council's guidance on the evaluation of natural experiments draws attention to the need for ingenuity to identify interventions which can be robustly studied as they occur, and without experimental manipulation. Studies of intervention withdrawal may usefully widen the range of interventions that can be evaluated, allowing some interventions and policies, such as those that have developed piecemeal over a long period, to be evaluated for the first time. In particular, sudden removal may allow a more robust assessment of an intervention's long-term impact by minimising ‘learning effects’. Interpreting changes that follow withdrawal as evidence of the impact of an intervention assumes that the effect is reversible and this assumption must be carefully justified. Otherwise, withdrawal-based studies suffer similar threats to validity as intervention studies. These threats should be addressed using recognised approaches, including appropriate choice of comparators, detailed understanding of the change processes at work, careful specification of research questions, and the use of falsification tests and other methods for strengthening causal attribution. Evaluating intervention withdrawal provides opportunities to answer important questions about effectiveness of population health interventions, and to study the social determinants of health. Researchers, policymakers and practitioners should be alert to the opportunities provided by the withdrawal of interventions, but also aware of the pitfalls

The Iowa Homemaker vol.39A, no.2

Three Tiers of Tradition, Mary Nell Caldwell, page 4 Home Ec Horoscope, Marilyn Bratten, page 6 So You Plan to Marry, Mrs. K. Gladys Clappison, page 7 My Beloved Daughter, page 8 To the Graduating Seniors, Dean Helen R. LeBaron, page 10 Reflections, Marcia Wilsie, page 10 Monogram Your Silver, page 11 Stitch a Bag to Send Abroad, page 12 What’s Going On, Jane Gibson, page 1