The Role of Gender Role Attitudes and Immigrant Generation in Ethnic Minority Women's Labor Force Participation in Britain.

Although substantial research shows that in Britain some ethnic minority women have significantly lower labor force participation (LFP) rates than White British women, even after controlling for demographic characteristics and education levels, little is known about the reasons underlying the remaining ethnic differences. Using nationally representative data (2010-2011), I investigate the role of gender role attitudes in explaining the ethnic as well as generational differences in women's LFP rates. The results show that after controlling for demographic characteristics and education levels, LFP rates of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are significantly lower than that of White British women and about half of the ethnic gap can be explained by differences in gender role attitudes. Moreover, I show that the ethnic gap is less pronounced for second generation Pakistani, Bangladeshi, and Indian women whose LFP rates are significantly higher than those of their first generation counterparts. Importantly, the higher LFP rates of second generation South Asian women can be largely explained by their relatively less traditional gender role attitudes. Drawing on my results, public policies could provide appropriate childcare services and flexible work arrangements to alter traditional gender role attitudes, thereby improving minority women's labor market opportunities

Exploring Extrinsic and Intrinsic Work Values of British Ethnic Minorities: The Roles of Demographic Background, Job Characteristics and Immigrant Generation

Despite the increasingly diverse ethnic composition of the British labor force, there is no research investigating whether ethnic minorities have different work values from the White British demographic (White British). Using nationally representative data (2012–2013), this article fills this gap by comparing extrinsic and intrinsic work values between White British and five ethnic minorities, while distinguishing between first and second generations. The results show that both first- and second- generation minorities have stronger extrinsic work values than White British, but the ethnic differences are more pronounced for the second generations. Compared to White British, while first-generation minorities have weaker intrinsic work values, the second generations have stronger intrinsic work values. Differences in extrinsic work values are partly explained by differences in age, education and income, while differences in intrinsic work values are largely explained by age, education and job autonomy. These results hold significant implications for understanding the career choices of ethnic minorities and labor market outcomes.</jats:p

Participation in civil society organizations and ethnic minorities’ interethnic friendships in Britain

Abstract: In Britain, civil society organizations (CSOs) have garnered much praise for promoting interethnic friendships (IEF) and strengthening community cohesion. Yet, there is very little empirical evidence to suggest that participation in CSOs promotes ethnic minorities’ IEF. Using nationally representative longitudinal (2011–2019) and cross‐sectional (2010) data, this article explores the association between participation in CSOs and IEF formation among five British ethnic minority groups and analyses how this relationship is affected by the ethnic composition of CSOs. Overall, fixed effects models show that participation in CSOs only significantly promotes IEF for Indians. For other minority groups it has either no effect or, in the case of Pakistanis, significantly decreases IEF. Further analyses show that compared with ethnic minorities that do not participate in any CSOs, those who participate in mostly interethnic CSOs tend to have significantly more IEF, whereas those who participate in mostly co‐ethnic CSOs tend to have significantly less IEF. Taken together, these findings suggest that the association between civic participation and ethnic minorities’ IEF is much more nuanced than previously thought and policy interventions seeking to improve ethnic integration should, therefore, take the ethnic background of participants and the ethnic composition of CSOs into account

The association between job quality and the incidence of PTSD amongst police personnel

It has been widely reported that surveys have found high levels of ICD-11 complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) (12.6%) among police personnel, and a further 8.0% with PTSD. Until now, there has been little research linking PTSD to working conditions. This report examines how the prevalence of CPTSD varies with measures of job quality. Positive indicators of job quality (for instance, the feeling of doing meaningful work, support from colleagues and managers, work–life balance, job security, and promotion prospects) typically predict half the rate of CPTSD. Negative indicators of poor job quality (such as having to deal with sexual harassment or extreme time pressures) are associated with CPTSD rates twice as high as the policing average. Additional evidence shows that police forces with better working conditions tend to have markedly lower rates of PTSD. These analyses cannot prove the direct causal relationship from job quality to PTSD but do provide unequivocal evidence of an association. Improving job quality may greatly reduce the level of this most debilitating psychological disorder, CPTSD, in the policing population

The Association Between PM2.5 and Depression in China.

While China has been experiencing unprecedented economic growth, depression is becoming one of the most striking social and mental health problems in recent years. Such a paradox to progress may partially be due to the notoriously poor air quality of the country. To verify this argument, we constructed an index of the prevalence of depression (IPD) using internet search query volumes in Baidu to proxy the potential depression and examined how IPD is associated with PM2.5, the major air pollutant in China. Our results from 2-way fixed effects models reveal that a 100 μg·m-3 increase in previous week's PM2.5 in a city is significantly associated with 0.279 increase in its IPD, comparable to 7.34 hours decrease in weekly daylight, and such relationship is particularly pronounced in the spring and summer and in East and South areas. Our findings of large-scale pattern suggest that PM2.5 at current levels in China poses serious mental health risks

Exploring the longitudinal relationship between lockdown policy stringency and public negative emotions among 120 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic: mediating role of population mobility

Background: To limit the spread of COVID-19, governments worldwide have implemented a series of lockdown policies to restrict the social activities of people. Although scholars suggest that such policies may produce negative effects on public emotions, the existing research is limited because it only provides a cross-sectional snapshot of the effect of lockdown policies in small and local samples. Using large-scale longitudinal cross-country data, the current study aims to gain a better understanding of the dynamic effect of lockdown policies on public emotions and their underlying mechanisms. Methods: Drawing on a large-scale longitudinal data from multiple sources, the study employs fixed-effects models to analyze the association between lagged lockdown policy stringency and public negative emotions among 120 countries from February to July 2020 (N = 9,141 country-day observations). The bootstrapping mediation test is used to examine the mediation effects of increased population mobility in residential areas. Results: The results show a statistically significant and positive association between lagged lockdown policy stringency and general public negative emotion (standardized coefficient = 0.32, CI = 0.30–0.35, p < 0.001). This pattern remains similar to other specific negative emotions, such as depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and helplessness. Moreover, the negative health effects of lockdown policy stringency are significantly mediated by increased mobility in residential areas (51–74% points, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The findings confirm that stringent lockdown policies have a negative effect on public emotions via confining population mobility residential areas. To tackle the COVID-19, future public health policies should pay more attention to the unintended negative consequences of lockdown measures on public emotions

A shorter working week for everyone: How much paid work is needed for mental health and well-being?

There are predictions that in future rapid technological development could result in a significant shortage of paid work. A possible option currently debated by academics, policy makers, trade unions, employers and mass media, is a shorter working week for everyone. In this context, two important research questions that have not been asked so far are: what is the minimum amount of paid employment needed to deliver some or all of the well-being and mental health benefits that employment has been shown to bring? And what is the optimum number of working hours at which the mental health of workers is at its highest? To answer these questions, this study used the UK Household Longitudinal Study (2009-2018) data from individuals aged between 16 and 64. The analytical sample was 156,734 person-wave observations from 84,993 unique persons of whom 71,113 had two or more measurement times. Fixed effects regressions were applied to examine how changes in work hours were linked to changes in mental well-being within each individual over time. This study found that even a small number of working hours (between one and 8 h a week) generates significant mental health and well-being benefits for previously unemployed or economically inactive individuals. The findings suggest there is no single optimum number of working hours at which well-being and mental health are at their highest - for most groups of workers there was little variation in wellbeing between the lowest (1-8 h) through to the highest (44-48 h) category of working hours. These findings provide important and timely empirical evidence for future of work planning, shorter working week policies and have implications for theorising the future models of organising work in society

Can Active Labour Market Programmes Emulate the Mental Health Benefits of Regular Paid Employment? Longitudinal Evidence from the United Kingdom

Funder: Cambridge Political Economy TrustActive Labour Market Programmes (ALMPs), which form important components of employment support policies around the world, have been found to improve mental health and wellbeing of participants. However, it remains unclear how these health effects compare with the effects of different types of employment for men and women. Using 1991–2019 panel data in the UK, we find that unemployed women derive similar mental health benefits from ALMPs compared with employment. Unemployed men also benefit from ALMPs but obtain significantly more health benefits from formal employment. Such benefits are particularly pronounced in full-time, permanent and upper/middle-status jobs. Further analyses reveal that programmes that deliver human capital training have larger mental health benefits than employment assistance ALMPs. These findings provide a more nuanced understanding of the mental health impacts of ALMPs compared with different types of employment, and highlight the need for a more gender-sensitive design in labour market interventions

The association between PM2.5 exposure and suicidal ideation: a prefectural panel study.

BACKGROUND: Suicidal ideation is subject to serious underestimation among existing public health studies. While numerous factors have been recognized in affecting suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB), the associated environmental risks have been poorly understood. Foremost among the various environment risks were air pollution, in particular, the PM2.5. The present study attempted to examine the relationship between PM2.5 level and local weekly index of suicidal ideation (ISI). METHODS: Using Internet search query volumes in Baidu (2017), the largest internet search engine in China, we constructed a prefectural panel data (278 prefectures, 52 weeks) and employed dynamic panel GMM system estimation to analyze the relationship between weekly concentration of PM2.5 (Mean = 87 μg·m- 3) and the index of suicidal ideation (Mean = 49.9). RESULTS: The results indicate that in the spring and winter, a 10 μg·m- 3 increase in the prior week's PM2.5 in a Chinese city is significantly associated with 0.020 increase in ISI in spring and a 0.007 increase in ISI in winter, after taking account other co-pollutants and meteorological conditions. CONCLUSION: We innovatively proposed the measure of suicidal ideation and provided suggestive evidence of a positive association between suicidal ideation and PM2.5 level

Exploring Extrinsic and Intrinsic Work Values of British Ethnic Minorities: The Roles of Demographic Background, Job Characteristics and Immigrant Generation

Despite the increasingly diverse ethnic composition of the British labor force, there is no research investigating whether ethnic minorities have different work values from the White British demographic (White British). Using nationally representative data (2012–2013), this article fills this gap by comparing extrinsic and intrinsic work values between White British and five ethnic minorities, while distinguishing between first and second generations. The results show that both first- and second- generation minorities have stronger extrinsic work values than White British, but the ethnic differences are more pronounced for the second generations. Compared to White British, while first-generation minorities have weaker intrinsic work values, the second generations have stronger intrinsic work values. Differences in extrinsic work values are partly explained by differences in age, education and income, while differences in intrinsic work values are largely explained by age, education and job autonomy. These results hold significant implications for understanding the career choices of ethnic minorities and labor market outcomes