Unemployment Insurance and Low-Educated Single Working Mothers Before and After Welfare Reform

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a nationally representative, longitudinal survey, this study examines changing levels of Unemployment Insurance (UI) eligibility and benefit receipt among working low-educated single mothers, 1990–2005. It also examines changing participation in cash welfare and the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Relative to single childless women, there has been no increase in UI benefit receipt among single mothers entering a spell of unemployment in the postreform period, even though single mothers have increased their relative rates of UI eligibility. Because of declining cash assistance receipt, UI became a more common income support than cash assistance for this population during the period 2001–2005. Furthermore, the probability of accessing FSP for low-educated single mothers entering a spell of unemployment increased in the years 2001–2005. As a result, the proportion of this population accessing benefits from one or more of these programs remained virtually unchanged across the study period.Welfare Reform, Unemployment Insurance, Low-educated Single Mothers

The Effect of Computer Usage in Internet Café on Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Use among Chinese Adolescents and Youth: A Longitudinal Study

We used longitudinal data to investigate the relationship between computer use in internet cafés and smoking/drinking behavior among Chinese adolescents and young adults. Data are from two waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (2004 and 2006). Fixed effects models were used to examine if changes in internet café use were associated with changes in cigarette smoking and drinking of alcohol. Male café users spent on average 17.3 hours in front of the computer/week. This was associated with an increase in the probability of being a current smoker by 13.3% and with smoking 1.7 more cigarettes. Female café users spent on average 11 hours on the computer/week. This was associated with an increase in the probability of drinking wine and/or liquor by 14.74% and was not associated with smoking. Internet cafés are an important venue by which adolescent and young adults in China are exposed to smoking and drinking. Multi-component interventions are needed ranging from policies regulating cigarette and alcohol availability in these venues to anti-tobacco campaigns aimed at the general population but also at individuals who frequent these establishments

A new class of partial orders

Let $R$ be a unital $*$-ring. For any $a,w,b\in R$, we apply the defined $w$-core inverse to define a new class of partial orders in $R$, called the $w$-core partial order. Suppose $a,b\in R$ are $w$-core invertible. We say that $a$ is below $b$ under the $w$-core partial order, denoted by $a\overset{\tiny{\textcircled{\#}}}\leq_w b$, if $a_w^{\tiny{\textcircled{\#}}} a=a_w^{\tiny{\textcircled{\#}}} b$ and $awa_w^{\tiny{\textcircled{\#}}} =bwa_w^{\tiny{\textcircled{\#}}}$, where $a_w^{\tiny{\textcircled{\#}}}$ denotes the $w$-core inverse of $a$. Characterizations of the $w$-core partial order are given. Also, the relationships with several types of partial orders are considered. In particular, we show that the core partial order coincides with the $a$-core partial order, and the star partial order coincides with the $a^*$-core partial order

Unemployment Insurance and Low-Educated Single Working Mothers Before and After Welfare Reform

Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a nationally representative, longitudinal survey, this study examines changing levels of Unemployment Insurance (UI) eligibility and benefit receipt among working low-educated single mothers, 1990–2005. It also examines changing participation in cash welfare and the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Relative to single childless women, there has been no increase in UI benefit receipt among single mothers entering a spell of unemployment in the postreform period, even though single mothers have increased their relative rates of UI eligibility. Because of declining cash assistance receipt, UI became a more common income support than cash assistance for this population during the period 2001–2005. Furthermore, the probability of accessing FSP for low-educated single mothers entering a spell of unemployment increased in the years 2001–2005. As a result, the proportion of this population accessing benefits from one or more of these programs remained virtually unchanged across the study period

Three Essays about Health and Welfare.

My dissertation is comprised of three separate essays that investigate health and welfare issues, both in China and US. The first essay provides insights into the net effects of increasing women’s bargaining power on the health outcomes of their children. Using Chinese longitudinal data in the 1990s, I find evidence in favor of women’s empowerment: children in families where the mother was head of household or made more purchasing decision had better Body Mass Index (BMI) than their counterparts whose mother had less power. The second essay explores the health consequences of computer use in internet cafés compared with usage at home only or in both settings. Using Chinese longitudinal data in the mid 2000s, I find suggestive evidence that adolescents and youth using computers in internet cafés are more likely to smoke and to self-report poor health status, and to consume a higher share of fat in their daily diets. The health disparities between computer users in internet cafés and other settings are significant. The third essay examines changing levels of Unemployment Insurance (UI) eligibility and benefits receipt among low-educated single mothers who entered unemployment between 1990 and 2005, and changing participation in cash welfare and the Food Stamp Program (FSP). Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), the study shows that low-educated single mothers who enter unemployment experience an increase in UI eligibility but not an increase in UI benefits receipt, when compared to low-educated, single, childless women who enter unemployment. The proportion of this population accessing benefits from at least one of these programs remains similar across the study period.Ph.D.Social Work and EconomicsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89638/1/wuly_1.pd