Close kin influences on fertility behavior

Family members are uniquely situated to influence the decision-making of their kin in nearly every facet of life. We examine the importance of social interactions in fertility outcomes by assessing family members’ scope of influence on their fellow kin’s fertility behavior. With the unique KASS genealogical dataset from eight countries in Europe, we study the effects of family members’ fertility outcomes on individual fertility to assess the presence and the extent of inter-generational transmission of fertility behaviors and siblings’ influences on fertility outcomes. We find only limited evidence of the inter-generational transmission of fertility behaviors, but a relatively important effect of siblings for individual fertility. Rather than parents, siblings’ influences appear to constitute the largest share of familial influences on fertility outcomes. We also find that among siblings, women’s fertility is more subject to the influences of their sisters. These findings indicate the relative importance of close kin influences on individual fertility and demonstrate the consequences of family structure for fertility change.Europe, family demography, family size, fertility, kinship, sisters

Tax Systems and Tax Reforms in South and East Asia: Overview of Tax Systems and main policy issues

South and East Asia are a particularly fast developing world economic areas, and are becoming increasingly more economically integrated. These countries, however, are not homogenous, and are lacking in any supra - national Authority. The total fiscal pressure of South and East Asian countries looks somewhat low when compared to that of countries with a similar per-capita income, pertaining to other economic world areas. However, a smooth Wagner law is confirmed by the data so that fiscal pressure is destined somewhat to increase as growth continues. With regards to similar experiences of developing and transition countries, indirect taxes prevail over direct ones. Low tax wedges on labor improve efficiency, by inducing both the supply and demand of labor. The heavy burden on consumption lessens equity and increases welfare losses. Any further uniform analysis of South and East Asian countries’ tax policy issues would be however quite fruitless. It is far better to consider tax policies issues which rise inside the whole area separately to those more specific to each cluster made up by similar countries. Intra-regional economic integration poses severe challenges to the tax structure in the Asian area. Three tax policy issues seem most problematic: the building of intra-countries’ agreements on reducing trade tariffs; the sequential revenue consequences of reduction in foreign trade taxes; the increasing tax competition for FDI. Intra-countries clusters’ tax policy issues differ from each other. In Japan and in S. Korea different choices have been made regarding the comprehensiveness of the PIT’s basis, whose burden as a consequence ends up being more fairly distributed in S. Korea. The two countries are facing the common problem of an ageing population and consequentially, social contributions, and eventually VAT are being raised. Malaysia’s direct taxes look higher than Thailand’s, but this is only because of the taxation of oil companies. Thailand has adopted VAT, while Malaysia has not changed its traditional sales tax. Both the countries are engaged in the recovery of revenue by improving tax administration. Both in China and in India income tax is small and poorly redistributing. Also, India has just moved from a schedular to a comprehensive tax basis. VAT is well established in China, while it is just arriving in India, as a consequence of a long waited but challenging reform, especially regarding the tax relationships among levels of government. Taxing power is now more centralized in China, but this needs to be corrected in order to avoid a lack of accountability on the part of the provinces.Tax Systems; Tax Reforms; South and East Asia

Exploring social norms around cohabitation: the lifecourse, individualization, and culture

BACKGROUND Explanations for the increase in cohabitation often rely on the concept of ideational change and shifting social norms. While researchers have investigated cohabitation and the role of social norms from a quantitative perspective, few studies have examined how people discuss the normative context of cohabitation, especially in cross-national comparison. OBJECTIVE This article introduces a Special Collection that uses focus group research to compare social norms relating to cohabitation and marriage in 8 countries in Europe. The Introduction explicates the concept of social norms, describes the focus group project, reflects on the method's advantages and limitations, and summarizes the theoretical and methodological contributions of the project. METHODS Collaborators conducted 7-8 focus groups in each country using a standardized questionnaire. They coded each discussion, analysed the results, and produced a country-specific chapter on a particular theme. They also collaborated on an overview paper that synthesized the overall findings of the project. RESULTS The articles provide insights into the meanings of partnership formation in each country. In addition, their findings contribute to three main theoretical themes: 1) lifecourses, sequencing, and intersections; 2) individualization, freedom and commitment; and 3) culture, religion, and the persistence of the past. CONCLUSIONS This Special Collection contributes to and challenges current explanations for family change by pointing out how social norms shape partnership behavior. The project informs quantitative research by emphasizing the need for nuances in interpretation. We urge researchers to recognize the multiple meanings of cohabitation within each context and across countries

Relative time and life course research

Mainstream life course studies often draw on a conventional understanding of time as a unidirectional clock-based entity, which proceeds in a uniform and linear manner. This paper argues that, in order to understand the social, relational and psychological processes of change and continuity that characterise life course processes, we need to adopt a more comprehensive and explicit conceptualisation of time – a conceptualisation that goes beyond an absolute (linear, chronological, uniform) definition – to incorporate the notion of relative time. Drawing on insights from narrative and biographical research, discussions of the temporal embeddedness of human agency and multidisciplinary research on time perceptions and time perspectives, we propose a definition of relative time based on three main characteristics: its multidirectional, elastic and telescopic nature. The paper promotes the integration of absolute and relative time in the study of life course processes, and the important role of prospective qualitative research in this respect, and outlines future avenues for research in this direction

Grupo Movere: Projeto de Dança para indivíduos com paralisia cerebral

Anais do 35º Seminário de Extensão Universitária da Região Sul - Área temática: SaúdeA incidência de casos com Paralisia Cerebral (PC) em países desenvolvidos é de aproximadamente 1,5 por mil nascimentos. Em países subdesenvolvidos essa incidência é maior, sendo 7 por mil nascimentos. As crianças com PC apresentam disfunções motoras que são frequentemente acompanhadas de distúrbios da sensação, percepção, cognição, comunicação e comportamento. O déficit de mobilidade apresentado por estas crianças leva a diminuição da participação na comunidade e reduz o contato com os pares em atividades e jogos/brincadeiras. Como consequência, o desenvolvimento cognitivo, motor e social é comprometido. Vários autores sugerem que a Dança pode ser uma estratégia terapêutica que vem ao encontro das necessidades das crianças com PC, envolvendo aspectos relacionados à atividade física, treinamento funcional, bem- estar psicológico e inclusão social. A dança parece promover a estimulação emocional, social, cognitiva e física. A prática da dança com enfoque terapêutico busca estimular a aquisição motora de forma lúdica e prazerosa, desenvolvendo habilidades, tanto em indivíduos típicos, como em indivíduos com alguma patologia e/ou disfunção. Diante disto e reconhecendo as necessidades das crianças com PC, o projeto foi desenvolvido para promover, através da vivência da Dança, benefícios psicomotores, cardiorrespiratórios, cognitivos, emocionais e socioculturais às crianças com Paralisia Cerebral matriculadas na Escola de Educação Especial do Centro de Reabilitação de Porto Alegre (CEREPAL). As aulas são realizadas com a frequência de uma vez por semana. A equipe é composta por acadêmicos dos cursos da Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre (UFCSPA). De acordo com uma avaliação realizada com os alunos do CEREPAL em agosto de 2016, ao final de 12 meses de projeto, houve contribuição para a construção e a manutenção da saúde física, mental e afetiva, bem como o desenvolvimento da autonomia e participação social das crianças com P