Disability Costs and Equivalence Scales in the Older Population in Great Britain

We use a standard of living (SoL) approach to estimate older people's disability costs, using data on 8000 individuals from the U.K. Family Resources Survey. We extend previous research in two ways. First, by allowing for a more flexible relationship between SoL and income, the structure of the estimated disability cost and equivalence scale is not dictated by a restrictive functional form assumption. Second, we allow for the latent nature of disability and SoL, addressing measurement error in the disability and SoL indicators in surveys. We find that disability costs are strongly related to severity of disability, and vary with income in absolute and proportionate terms. Older people above the median disability level require an extra �99 per week (2007 prices) on average to reach the SoL of an otherwise similar person at the median. Costs faced by older people in the highest decile of disability average �180

Well-Being in Adolescence-An Association With Health-Related Behaviors: Findings From Understanding Society, the UK Household Longitudinal Study

The objective of this study was to investigate the demographic distribution of selected health-related behaviors and their relationship with different indicators of well-being. The data come from Wave 1 of the youth panel of Understanding Society household panel study. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) measured socio-emotional difficulties. Markers of happiness in different life domains were combined to assess levels of happiness. Generally, younger youth participated in more health-protective behaviors, while older youth reported more health-risk behaviors. Higher consumption of fruit and vegetables and greater participation in sport were associated with higher odds of high happiness. Healthier eating was associated with lower odds of socio-emotional difficulties, while increased fast food consumption was associated with higher odds of socio-emotional difficulties. Smoking, drinking, and decreased sport participation were all associated with socio-emotional difficulties. Health-protective behaviors were associated with happiness, while health-risk behaviors were associated with socio-emotional difficulties. © The Author(s) 2013

New mobilities across the lifecourse: A framework for analysing demographically-linked drivers of migration

Date of acceptance: 17/02/2015Taking the life course as the central concern, the authors set out a conceptual framework and define some key research questions for a programme of research that explores how the linked lives of mobile people are situated in time–space within the economic, social, and cultural structures of contemporary society. Drawing on methodologically innovative techniques, these perspectives can offer new insights into the changing nature and meanings of migration across the life course.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

High flux cold Rubidium atomic beam for strongly coupled Cavity QED

This paper presents a setup capable of producing a high-flux continuous beam of cold rubidium atoms for cavity QED experiments in the regime of strong coupling. A 2 $D^+$ MOT, loaded by rubidium getters in a dry film coated vapor cell, fed a secondary moving-molasses MOT (MM-MOT) at a rate of 1.5 x $10^{10}$ atoms/sec. The MM-MOT provided a continuous beam with tunable velocity. This beam was then directed through the waist of a 280 $\mu$m cavity resulting in a Rabi splitting of more than +/- 10 MHz. The presence of sufficient number of atoms in the cavity mode also enabled splitting in the polarization perpendicular to the input. The cavity was in the strong coupling regime, with parameters (g, $\kappa$, $\gamma$)/2$\pi$ equal to (7, 3, 6)/ 2$\pi$ MHz.Comment: Journal pape

Identity work and the `unemployed' worker: age, disability and the lived experience of the older unemployed

This article seeks to explore how older individuals negotiate and manage their self-identity in relation to work while situated without paid employment. After reviewing the current positions of the older unemployed in the UK, noting the substantial overlap between age and disability, we turn our attention to conceptualizing the lived experiences of individuals through exploring `identity work' as a means of understanding a non-working work identity. Based upon focus group interviews, our empirical analysis focuses on key dimensions of participants' identity practice and how they sought to manage the following social processes: imposed identities; crafting working identities; and contesting unfavourable working identities.The conclusion contextualizes the findings against a backdrop of increasing individualistic discourses underpinning approaches to employability, closes with the policy implications arising from this study, and makes suggestions for future research agendas. </jats:p

Effects of Obesity and Gastric Bypass Surgery on Nutrient Sensors, Endocrine Cells, and Mucosal Innervation of the Mouse Colon

Background: Nutrient-sensing receptors located on enteroendocrine (EEC) cells modulate appetite via detection of luminal contents. Colonic &lsquo;tasting&rsquo; of luminal contents may influence changes to appetite observed in obesity and after weight loss induced by bariatric surgery. We assessed the effects of obesity and gastric bypass-induced weight loss on expression of nutrient-sensing G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), EEC and enterochromaffin (EC) cells and mucosal innervation. Methods: qPCR and immunohistochemistry were used to study colonic tissue from (a) chow-fed/lean, (b) high-fat fed/obese, (c) Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB), and (d) calorie restriction-induced weight loss mice. Results: Expression of GPR41, GPR43, GPR40, GPR120, GPR84, GPR119, GPR93 and T1R3 was increased in obese mice. Obesity-induced overexpression of GPR41, 40, 84, and 119 further increased after RYGB whereas GPR120 and T1R3 decreased. RYGB increased TGR5 expression. L-cells, but not EC cells, were increased after RYGB. No differences in mucosal innervation by protein gene product (PGP) 9.5 and GLP-1R-positive nerve fibers were observed. Stimulation of colonic mucosa with GPR41, GPR40, GPR85, GPR119, and TGR5 agonists increased cell activation marker expression. Conclusions: Several nutrient-sensing receptors induced activation of colonic EEC. Profound adaptive changes to the expression of these receptors occur in response to diet and weight loss induced by RYGB or calorie restriction

A Longitudinal Analysis of Moving Desires, Expectations and Actual Moving Behaviour

Residential mobility theory proposes that moves are often preceded by the expression of moving desires and expectations. Much research has investigated how individuals form these premove thoughts, with a largely separate literature examining actual mobility. Although a growing number of studies link premove thoughts to subsequent moving behaviour, these often do not distinguish explicitly between different types and combinations of premove thoughts. Using 1998–2006 British Household Panel Survey data, this study investigates whether moving desires and expectations are empirically distinct premove thoughts. Using multinomial regression models we demonstrate that moving desires and expectations have different meanings, and are often held in combination: the factors associated with expecting to move differ depending upon whether the move is also desired (and vice versa). Next, using panel logistic regression models, we show that different desire–expectation combinations have different effects on the probability of subsequent moving behaviour. The study identified two important groups generally overlooked in the literature: those who expect undesired moves and those who desire to move without expecting this to happen.The definitive, peer reviewed and edited version of this article is published in Environment and Planning A, 2011, 43(11), pp. 2742-2760, doi:10.1068/a44105

Credit bureaus between risk-management, creditworthiness assessment and prudential supervision

"This text may be downloaded for personal research purposes only. Any additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copy or electronically, requires the consent of the author. If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author, the title, the working paper or other series, the year, and the publisher."This paper discusses the role and operations of consumer Credit Bureaus in the European Union in the context of the economic theories, policies and law within which they work. Across Europe there is no common practice of sharing the credit data of consumers which can be used for several purposes. Mostly, they are used by the lending industry as a practice of creditworthiness assessment or as a risk-management tool to underwrite borrowing decisions or price risk. However, the type, breath, and depth of information differ greatly from country to country. In some Member States, consumer data are part of a broader information centralisation system for the prudential supervision of banks and the financial system as a whole. Despite EU rules on credit to consumers for the creation of the internal market, the underlying consumer data infrastructure remains fragmented at national level, failing to achieve univocal, common, or defined policy objectives under a harmonised legal framework. Likewise, the establishment of the Banking Union and the prudential supervision of the Euro area demand standardisation and convergence of the data used to measure debt levels, arrears, and delinquencies. The many functions and usages of credit data suggest that the policy goals to be achieved should inform the legal and institutional framework of Credit Bureaus, as well as the design and use of the databases. This is also because fundamental rights and consumer protection concerns arise from the sharing of credit data and their expanding use

'Barter', 'deals', 'bribes' and 'threats': Exploring Sibling Interactions

This paper investigates forms of strategic interaction between siblings during childhood. We argue that these interactions, characterised by notions of reciprocity, equivalence and constructions of fairness, are worked out in relation to responsibility, power, knowledge and sibling status. Birth order and age are not experienced as fixed hierarchies as they can be subverted, contested, resisted and negotiated. To explore these issues, in-depth individual and group interviews were conducted with a sample of 90 children between the ages of 5 and 17, drawn from 30 families of mixed socio-economic backgrounds in central Scotland with three siblings within this age range

Joint international consensus statement for ending stigma of obesity

People with obesity commonly face a pervasive, resilient form of social stigma. They are often subject to discrimination in the workplace as well as in educational and healthcare settings. Research indicates that weight stigma can cause physical and psychological harm, and that affected individuals are less likely to receive adequate care. For these reasons, weight stigma damages health, undermines human and social rights, and is unacceptable in modern societies. To inform healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the public about this issue, a multidisciplinary group of international experts, including representatives of scientific organizations, reviewed available evidence on the causes and harms of weight stigma and, using a modified Delphi process, developed a joint consensus statement with recommendations to eliminate weight bias. Academic institutions, professional organizations, media, public-health authorities, and governments should encourage education about weight stigma to facilitate a new public narrative about obesity, coherent with modern scientific knowledge