The Triple Bind of Single-Parent Families: Resources, employment and policies to improve wellbeing

Editors: Rense Nieuwenhuis and Laurie C. Maldonado Authors are listed in order of appearance in text. Author/Editor details at time of book publication. Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book presents evidence from over 40 countries that shows how single parents face a triple bind of inadequate resources, employment and policies, which in combination further complicate their lives. This book - multi-disciplinary and comparative in design - shows evidence from over 40 countries, along with detailed case studies of Sweden, Iceland, Scotland, and the UK. It covers aspects of well-being that include poverty, good quality jobs, the middle class, wealth, health, children’s development and performance in school, and reflects on social justice. Leading international scholars challenge our current understanding of what works and draw policy lessons on how to improve the well-being of single parents and their children. Also available through Bristol University Press.https://digitalcommons.molloy.edu/fac_book/1001/thumbnail.jp

The triple bind of single-parent families: resources, employment and policies

The days when Tolstoy opened Anna Karenina with ‘Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’, to reect a dominant discourse on the nuclear family as the singular form of happiness and wellbeing, are long gone. Alongside the second demographic transition – women gaining economic independence and better control over their fertility, improvements in gender equality and changing norms on family and gender – a diversity of family forms emerged. Wellbeing and happiness, as well as unhappiness, can be found in all families, regardless of family structure. This challenges the assertion that any one family form will always ensure wellbeing over another. Indeed, as Myrdal and Klein noted in 1956: ‘Though it is fairly easy to describe what constitutes a bad home, there is no simple definition of a good one. Conformity with the traditional pattern certainly is no guarantee of the happiest results’ (p.126)

Solving the Bethe-Salpeter equation for bound states of scalar theories in Minkowski space

We apply the perturbation theory integral representation (PTIR) to solve for the bound state Bethe-Salpeter (BS) vertex for an arbitrary scattering kernel, without the need for any Wick rotation. The results derived are applicable to any scalar field theory (without derivative coupling). It is shown that solving directly for the BS vertex, rather than the BS amplitude, has several major advantages, notably its relative simplicity and superior numerical accuracy. In order to illustrate the generality of the approach we obtain numerical solutions using this formalism for a number of scattering kernels, including cases where the Wick rotation is not possible.Comment: 28 pages of LaTeX, uses psfig.sty with 5 figures. Also available via WWW at http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/theory/papers/ADP-97-10.T248-abs.html or via anonymous ftp at ftp://bragg.physics.adelaide.edu.au/pub/theory/ADP-97-10.T248.ps A number of (crucial) typographical errors in Appendix C corrected. To be published in Phys. Rev. D, October 199

Netting down gross earnings data in the LIS database: an evaluation of two procedures

LIS researchers who seek to perform country-comparative and / or trend analyses have to account for the fact that in some LIS datasets income variables were reported net of taxes and social security contributions, while in other datasets income variables were reported gross of taxes and social security contributions. In this technical paper we discuss, develop, and evaluate two `netting down procedures' that help reduce bias that would be introduced by directly comparing net and gross datasets. Results of evaluating the performance of these netting down procedures indicate that the validity of the comparison of net and gross datasets can be greatly improved when netting down procedures are applied. In several cases, however, substantial amounts of bias remain

Nonperturbative dynamics of scalar field theories through the Feynman-Schwinger representation

In this paper we present a summary of results obtained for scalar field theories using the Feynman-Schwinger (FSR) approach. Specifically, scalar QED and chi^2phi theories are considered. The motivation behind the applications discussed in this paper is to use the FSR method as a rigorous tool for testing the quality of commonly used approximations in field theory. Exact calculations in a quenched theory are presented for one-, two-, and three-body bound states. Results obtained indicate that some of the commonly used approximations, such as Bethe-Salpeter ladder summation for bound states and the rainbow summation for one body problems, produce significantly different results from those obtained from the FSR approach. We find that more accurate results can be obtained using other, simpler, approximation schemes.Comment: 25 pags, 19 figures, prepared for the volume celebrating the 70th birthday of Yuri Simono

Yukawa model on a lattice: two body states

We present first results of the solutions of the Yukawa model as a Quantum Field Theory (QFT) solved non perturbatively with the help of lattice calculations. In particular we will focus on the possibility of binding two nucleons in the QFT, compared to the non relativistic result.Comment: 3 pages, talk at "IVth International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics" (Madrid, June 2006

Nonperturbative study of generalized ladder graphs in a \phi^2\chi theory

The Feynman-Schwinger representation is used to construct scalar-scalar bound states for the set of all ladder and crossed-ladder graphs in a \phi^2\chi theory in (3+1) dimensions. The results are compared to those of the usual Bethe-Salpeter equation in the ladder approximation and of several quasi-potential equations. Particularly for large couplings, the ladder predictions are seen to underestimate the binding energy significantly as compared to the generalized ladder case, whereas the solutions of the quasi-potential equations provide a better correspondence. Results for the calculated bound state wave functions are also presented.Comment: 5 pages revtex, 3 Postscripts figures, uses epsf.sty, accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

First-Order Logic Theorem Proving and Model Building via Approximation and Instantiation

In this paper we consider first-order logic theorem proving and model building via approximation and instantiation. Given a clause set we propose its approximation into a simplified clause set where satisfiability is decidable. The approximation extends the signature and preserves unsatisfiability: if the simplified clause set is satisfiable in some model, so is the original clause set in the same model interpreted in the original signature. A refutation generated by a decision procedure on the simplified clause set can then either be lifted to a refutation in the original clause set, or it guides a refinement excluding the previously found unliftable refutation. This way the approach is refutationally complete. We do not step-wise lift refutations but conflicting cores, finite unsatisfiable clause sets representing at least one refutation. The approach is dual to many existing approaches in the literature because our approximation preserves unsatisfiability

How to strategically position European SMEs as part of an electric vehicle technology value chain

European policy aims for a clean transport sector for improving the competitiveness of the automotive industry. By supporting small and medium enterprise (SME) development, European Union (EU) can achieve both economic growth and emission reduction targets. It is expected that there will be changes in the established relationships within the automotive supply chain in moving from internal combustion engine (ICE) to electric vehicles (EVs), and SMEs that are more capable of developing those technologies might have a role in the possible EV based automotive value chain re-shaping. The "European Network on Electric Vehicles and Transferring Expertise" (ENEVATE) partnership conducted a series of interviews with SMEs throughout North-West Europe to investigate support areas that SMEs need to have to play a role in this possible EV based automotive value chain re-shaping. It was found that SMEs needed more support for protecting technology, establishing relationships and funding investments