Young people's housing transitions in context

The transition to adulthood is frequently characterised as delayed or extended in the contemporary period, in the UK as elsewhere. Studies have addressed changing school-to-work transitions, for example, the extension of full-time education and expansion of higher education, as well as changing patterns in family formation and partnership, including the postponement of marriage and childbearing. Some of these changes have been associated with increasing rates of living alone or ‘solo- living’ and living in shared housing. However, the nature of young people’s housing transitions has received less attention and this paper provides a background to a study which specifically addresses the housing transitions of young people aged between 25 and 34 years old living in ‘non-family’ households, that is, living alone or sharing with others. The paper concludes with a short overview of the project and its main research focu

Yuppie Kvetch? Work-life Conflict and Social Class in Western Europe. WP239. May 2008

Recent debates on time-use suggest that there is an inverse relationship between time poverty and income poverty (Aguiar and Hurst, 2007), with Hammermesh and Lee (2007) suggesting much time poverty is ‘yuppie kvetch’ or ‘complaining’. Gershuny (2005) argues that busyness is the ‘badge of honour’: being busy is now a positive, privileged position and it is high status people who work long hours and feel busy

The exclusion of exclusion in social capital

In this paper we argue that many scholars using the conceptual framework of social capital have largely ignored or minimised two important elements: closure and emergence. First we chart the rise of social capital (section two), then we outline some of the existing criticisms of social capital (section three). In section four, we offer a four-way classification system, based on the recognition of emergence and/or closure, of the most popular and widely utilised definitions of social capital. Such categorisation allows for the analysis of how social capital is understood across academic disciplines and how it has been taken up in the policy making arena. Finally we argue that it is only by conceptualising social capital as having emergent properties and as inherently exclusionary that it becomes theoretically and analytically useful to sociological enquiry.

Impact of NICU Design on Feeding-Related Outcomes in Preterm Infants

Many NICUs around the country are moving away from traditional open-bay designs in favor of single-family rooms (SFRs) as more is understood about the impact of the sensory environment on neurodevelopment in preterm infants. SFRs house one infant and their family for the length of the infant’s stay and are associated with improvements in numerous outcomes, including increased milk intake and weight gain and earlier transition to enteral feeding. Oral feeding remains a critical requirement for NICU discharge; however, the impact of NICU design on feeding outcomes remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare feeding outcomes between infants cared for in an open-bay NICU and infants cared for in SFRs, via retrospective chart review. The primary outcome variable of interest was feeding-related length of stay (FRLOS). A secondary outcome measure was gestational age at first oral feeding. The key findings from this study were no significant differences in either outcome measure between groups, suggesting that for relatively healthy preterm infants, NICU design has no significant impact on feeding-related length-of-stay or age at first oral feed. Infants progressed to full oral feeding at roughly the same rate whether cared for in an SFR or an open bay nursery

Genome engineering futures and the role of the Synthetic Biologist

Much of the debate surrounding the public, regulatory, IP, funding, security and ethical aspects of synthetic biology has been based on speculation about uncertain futures. This is likely to change as applications begin to emerge, but much still remains unknown. As has been seen in debates over GM crops and stem cells, interest groups and politics can play a central role in how these futures are played out, which can in turn shape scientific and technological pathways of innovation. Synthetic biologists have an important role to play in helping to influence outcomes, and it is crucial that their views and actions inform the emerging agenda. The purpose of this discussion-based workshop is to develop a number of possible future scenarios for synthetic biology. We will propose several starting points relating for example to costs of DNA synthesis, public attitudes, regulatory environments, biosafety and security, and intellectual property regimes. The focus will be on exploring interactions between factors – ethics and regulation, open source and commercial dynamics, biosecurity and militarisation – and how these may affect innovation pathways. The outcomes of the workshop will be fed back to the synthetic biology community and will ideally help to inform policy formation, as well as social science publications on synthetic biology innovation. The underlying analytical concept guiding the social science work emphasises the 'reflexivity' of synthetic biologists. This highlights the active role that they play in shaping social as well as technological genome engineering futures

Rap Music and the True Threats Quagmire: When Does One Man’s Lyric Become Another’s Crime?

This Article examines the complex and unsettled state of the true threats doctrine through the lens of the equally complicated, controversial and multi- faceted musical genre of rap. Rap, although generally protected by the First Amendment, is frequently caught in the crosshairs of criminal prosecutions focusing on whether or not it constitutes a true threat of violence. Ultimately, this Article offers suggestions for how to clarify the doctrinal issues, with rap illustrating and supporting those ideas

RECONCILING WORK AND FAMILY LIFE: WORKPLACES, OCCUPATION AND THE EXPERIENCE OF WORK-LIFE CONFLICT. ESRI Research Bulletin 2009/3/4

Concerns about the appropriate balance between work and family life have intensified as growth in female labour market participation has been accompanied by falling fertility and the prospect of an ageing population. The importance of this area for policy has led to a growing body of research, to which ESRI researchers have recently contributed.† One of the papers specifically explores the various types of flexible working mechanisms and the relationship with work-life conflict, using data from the 2003 Changing Workplaces Survey,1 a nationally representative survey of employees in Ireland, which provides a unique and comprehensive picture of contemporary Irish workplaces. The other papers focus on Ireland’s situation in an international comparative context, drawing on the 2004 European Social Survey

Access to Information About Lethal Injections: A First Amendment Theory Perspective on Creating a New Constitutional Right

This article examines, through the lens of First Amendment theory, current judicial debate regarding the access rights of inmates and the public to detailed facts about lethal- injection drugs, personnel, and procedures. The article uses several 2014 appellate court disputes as analytical springboards, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s groundbreaking decision in Wood v. Ryan. The article argues that the First Amendment doctrine developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in Press-Enterprise II too narrowly cabins and confines access rights in lethal-injection data cases. In contrast, three venerable theories of free expression–the marketplace of ideas, democratic self-governance, and self-realization/human dignity–support the establishment of both an inmate’s and the public’s right to such information