Review of: Sharon M. Friedman et al. eds., Communicating Uncertainty

A review of the book Communicating Uncertainty: Media Coverage of New and Controversial Science (Sharon M. Friedman, Sharon Dunwoody & Carol L. Rogers, eds.; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates 1999). Preface, introduction. ISBN 0-8058-2728-5 [261 pp. $32.50. Paperback, 10 Industrial Avenue, Mahwah, NJ 07430-2262]

Introduction to Carol Rogers-Shaw’s “Disabled Lives and Pandemic Lives: Stories of Human Precarity”

The idea for Carol Rogers-Shaw’s essay began in April 2020, six weeks into the initial COVID lockdown, at her Zoom-based PhD dissertation defense. Carol’s dissertation brought together a narration of her life as a person with a disability and her work as a high school teacher of students with identified disabilities, conceptualized and reconceptualized through the lens of critical disability studies

The Inland Empire Nonprofit Sector: A Growing Region Faces the Challenges of Capacity

While many people know the work of individual nonprofits, it can be difficult to understand the sector as a whole. This report connects the dots in the Inland Empire. It is intended to build public awareness about the region's nonprofit sector and provide information to help civic, nonprofit and philanthropic leaders strategize and take action to strengthen it. California's Inland Empire is a geographically vast region with a diverse and growing population. As the size and nature of this two-county region change, the infrastructure of its nonprofit sector is not keeping pace. This report describes the characteristics of the Inland Empire's nonprofit sector, the work it does, the ways it has changed between 2000 and 2005, the challenges it faces today and recommendations for strengthening its future. The Inland Empire's Riverside and San Bernardino counties and their subregions have distinct identities and resources, but they share many issues due to similarities in geography, population growth and the location of nonprofits relative to need. These persistent issues can serve as the basis for concerted action

Inequality, Productivity, and Child Labor: Theory and Evidence

A recent theoretical literature has linked reductions in income inequality to reductions in child labor in countries that are relatively well-off, but has not explored how income distribution affects child labor in very poor countries. We show that while in higher-productivity countries with child labor, a more equal income distribution will reduce or eliminate child labor, in low productivity countries, a more equal distribution of income will exacerbate child labor. Econometric specifications studying child labor among 10- to-14 year olds yield results generally consistent with these predictions. Policy actions that aim to bring about more equality so as to reduce child labor will likely not have the desired effect unless a country in which they are taken is sufficiently wealthy.

Does Child Labor Decrease When Parental Incomes Rises

In the presence of two-sided altruism, i.e., when parents and children care about each other's utility, increases in parental income need not always lead to increases in schooling and to decreases in child labor. This surprising result derives from the systematic way capital market constraints bind as parental income rises: child labor increases as soon as parental income rises by enough to eliminate transfers from children to parents.

A Theory of Exploitative Child Labor

We develop a model of exploitative child labor with two key features: first, parents have imperfect information about whether employment opportunities available to their children are exploitative or not. Second, firms choose whether or not to exploit their child workers. In our model, a ban on exploitative child labor is desirable, because it resolves the problem of imperfect information faced by parents, and therefore leads to Pareto efficiency. We also find that a ban leads to an increase in the wages of child workers, and that firm profits, even for firms that do not exploit child workers, fall. Finally, a ban has ambiguous effects at the macroeconomic level: aggregate child employment and aggregate output can rise or fall.

Slave Redemption When it Takes Time to Redeem Slaves

We analyze slave redemption programs—the buying of slaves to give them their freedom--in a simple matching model, i.e., under the assumption that it takes time to find slaves to buy or sell. Unlike in a supply and demand framework, where sufficiently large and effective redemption programs must lead to an increase in the price at which slaves are exchanged, we find that such programs do not necessarily raise the price of slaves. We also use the model to explain why a slave redemption program can slow the flow of people into the actual state of slavery, but at the same time can increase the number of people captured to be slaves. We present contemporary examples to suggest that the weight that should be assigned to costs inflicted on the extra captured people, versus the benefits enjoyed by those redeemed, depends critically on the nature of the experience at, and just after, capture.slavery, matching models

A Theory of Exploitative Child Labor

We develop a model of exploitative child labor with two key features: first, parents have imperfect information about whether employment opportunities available to their children are exploitative or not. Second, firms choose whether or not to exploit their child workers. In our model, a ban on exploitative child labor is desirable, because it resolves the problem of imperfect information faced by parents, and therefore leads to Pareto efficiency. We also find that a ban leads to an increase in the wages of child workers, and that firm profits, even for firms that do not exploit child workers, fall. Finally, a ban has ambiguous effects at the macroeconomic level: aggregate child employment and aggregate output can rise or fall.child labor, economic exploitation

A Theory of Exploitative Child Labor

Child labor laws should aim to protect children who work, instead of trying to remove children from work. In this paper, we identify an instance when the risk of exploitation lowers the expected bene…t of child labor to the child,and therefore suppresses child labor force participation. Targeted legal intervention that lowers or removes the risk of exploitation raises child participation in the labor market, child welfare, and overall societal welfare. Targeting on child labor more broadly may reduce child labor force participation, child welfare, and overall societal welfare. Our key assumptions for generating these results are that parents decide for each child based on their child's best interest, that parents face imperfect information about the risks their children confront upon entering the labor market, and that firms may choose to exploit this information imperfection by employing children under forced-labor-type conditions.child labor, exploitation

Beyond Bereavement: is close kinship enough? :An exploration of the bereavement experiences and support in Gypsy and Traveller families

The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of the cultural norms and community practices influencing the bereavement experiences of Romani Gypsy and Irish Traveller families in England. The aims and objectives set out to explore the impact of bereavement on individuals and wider family members. To identify whether bereavement has a long term impact on their life experiences, and to explore the extent to which membership of a close-knit family and community, with explicit cultural norms offers effective support for managing the processes of loss, or potentially exacerbates the risk of long-term complicated grief. The research was undertaken in partnership with the Child Bereavement UK and a number of Gypsy and Traveller support organisations. The study has a phenomenological paradigm and uses a narrative approach, focus groups and narrative conversations to gain an understanding of the bereavement experiences of Gypsy and Traveller women. Consideration is also given to potential bereavement support needs and how best organisations can tailor their policy and practice to meet the needs of these ‘hard to reach’ populations. Gypsies and Travellers remain one of the most marginalised ethnic minority groups in Britain. Policy enactments and a decline in stopping places have impacted on their cultural tradition of nomadism, leading to significant socioeconomic challenges and rapid cultural change in recent decades. Additionally, Gypsies and Travellers face significant health inequalities, including a reduced life expectancy of between ten to twelve years compared to ‘mainstream’ populations. Furthermore considerably higher levels of suicide, maternal and infant mortality, miscarriage and stillbirth are reported. The numerous intergenerational bereavements experienced can result in complicated and prolonged grief reactions with long term health implications including depression, anxiety and an increase in risk taking behaviours including alcohol and substance misuse. The research findings suggest that the close knit nature of Gypsy and Traveller communities means that the death of a relative is felt with great intensity, articulated by some research participants as an event that they ‘never come to terms with’. Consequently complex family relationships and stoic attitudes result in personal grief responses often becoming hidden losses as highly protective behaviours place the needs of others above that of the individual; thus family becomes a barrier rather than support mechanism following bereavement. The research offers new insights and understanding of the bereavement experiences of Gypsies and Travellers, recognising the increased vulnerability to complicate grief responses resulting from the often frequent, multiple intergenerational deaths. These findings highlight the need for specialist community bereavement support resources and services