Employer-Sponsored Pensions: A Primer

The shifting pension landscape raises questions about the financial security of future retirees. About one-half of private-sector workers are not covered by employer-sponsored pension plans on their current job. Many private-sector employers have replaced traditional pensions with 401(k)-type plans, which protect benefits for workers who change jobs frequently but expose participants to investment risks. This primer describes pensions, workers with coverage, and related policy issues

Pension Reform and Economic Performance in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s

The late 1980s saw a major shift in pension provision in the United Kingdom, when for the first time individuals were permitted to opt out of part of the social security program into individual retirement saving accounts (Personal Pensions). At the same time, membership of company-provided pension plans (occupational schemes) was made voluntary. The paper explores the possible impact of these, and other related changes in social security in the 1980s and 1990s in the UK, on household saving rates, on current and future public finances, on retirement, and on the job mobility of individuals covered by company pension plans.

Factors related to special education teacher job commitment: a study of one large metropolitan school district in Southern California

Researchers have focused their attention on the subject of special education teacher attrition for many years. While these researchers have made valuable findings, the need to abate the staggering numbers of special education teachers who leave the field still exists. Districts desiring to retain their teachers must place greater emphasis on the development of evidence-based strategies to reduce teacher attrition (Billingsley, 2004). The purposes of this study were to: (a) provide an overview of the extent to which, if at all, perceptions of job commitment among current special education teachers in a large metropolitan school district in Southern California differ on the basis of those teachers\u27 demographic characteristics; (b) identify to what extent, if at all, perceptions of job satisfaction and stress are related to perceptions of job commitment among current special education teachers in a large metropolitan school district in Southern California; (c) identify the common reasons/conditions expressed by current special education teachers in a large metropolitan school district in Southern California for wanting to leave teaching special education; and (d) identify the reported career plans of current special education teachers in a large metropolitan school district in Southern California Examining the literature in non-teaching fields, general education teaching, and special education and considering the findings from this study, the salient factors relating to burnout appear to be: (a) personal/demographic factors (e.g., marital status, age, gender, race/ethnicity, type of student population, experience on the job, certification and preparation, and self-concept/self-confidence); (b) employment factors (e.g., mentoring opportunities, salary, workload, caseload and class size, administrative support, colleague support, interpersonal relationships, availability of resources, and employee involvement in decision-making, level of parent involvement, school climate, and student discipline issues,); and (c) external factors (e.g., lack of respect or prestige, community/societal support for the occupation). There are other personal factors that should not be attributed to burnout, such as retirement, promotion, relocating, health, pregnancy, and other family-related issues. This study employed a survey design. The target population for this study was the over 4,000 full-time special education teachers (as designated by district criteria) employed by a large metropolitan school district in Southern California. The specific form of data collection was the administration of a web-based survey using Survey Monkey. The instrument used was an adapted version of a questionnaire by Billingsley and Cross (1992, as revised by Theoharis, 2008). In addition, two questions pertaining to Future Teaching Plans were borrowed from Billingsley et al. (1995). Data analysis included both quantitative (descriptive statistics, correlation, ANOVA, multiple regression) and qualitative techniques (coding and sorting responses into themes). The findings of this study suggest the following demographic variables are related to job commitment: being female, Hispanic, and teaching students with eligibilities other than learning disabilities in an elementary setting. Job satisfaction was positively correlated with job commitment and career longevity, but negatively correlated with job stress. In addition, job stress was negatively correlated with both with job satisfaction and career longevity. Also, job satisfaction and career longevity were positively correlated. The most frequently indicated factors related to wanting to leave the field included lack of administrative support, workload issues, salary issues, paperwork issues, class size issues, lack of parent involvement, negative school climate, inadequate resources, lack of respect or prestige, student discipline issues, lack of opportunities to participate in decision-making, lack of time to interact with colleagues, lack of community support, negative teacher-teacher relationships, and negative teacher-student relationships. The majority of the special education teachers who participated in this study indicated that they planned to remain in their job at least until retirement. For those who planned to leave within the next 3 to 5 years, the most frequently indicated reasons (in order of popularity) were retirement, followed by obtaining a promotion within school or district, seeking employment in a non-teaching job in education, and teaching special education in another district. Future research should examine the relationship between teacher predictions for career plans and actual behavior, and should explore the specific employment or external factors that lead some special education teachers to indicate intent to remain in or leave the field. Further research is recommended to explore the relationship between years teaching special education and job commitment, the nature of colleague interaction and its effect on job satisfaction, and intent to remain in or leave the field. Future research should also examine the nature of support provided by administrators in schools where special education teachers perceive satisfactory levels of support, and further research is needed to investigate the association between race and job satisfaction

EXPLORATIVE STUDY ON THE BEHAVIOR OF POCA PARTICIPANTS IN THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Prevention of Crime Act (POCA) 2014 is an act enacted to deal with criminal activities such as gangs, organized crime, drugs, and human trafficking. The Act is intended to regulate criminals, gangsters, and individuals who threaten national security and related matters. Even though there are a lot of awareness programs was conducted by the government, the number of offenders under POCA still increased. The offenders of POCA has a lack of awareness about his future life and goals so that it's easy to get into the crime. The purpose of this study is to explore the behavior of the participant under the crime prevention act (POCA) based on the theory of Reality. This study used a quasi-experimental qualitative method. An interview was conducted with a randomly selected participant under this Act who received a restraining order at the Police Station, Gurun, Kedah, Malaysia. In this interview session, the researcher explored the participant's experiences, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The participant got benefits from this interview session. The participant gains awareness plans for the future, and be aware of the mistakes made. Participant also has thought to change negative behaviors into positive ones after this interview session. In the future, researchers can observe the offenders’ behavior after job placement. Job-related programs will help POCA participants to get awareness and achieve their goals in life

Cele i plany życiowe młodzieży a rozwój perspektywy przyszłościowej : wyniki badań

The research presented is a part of a larger project named "Youth’s Values, Goals and Life Plans and Development of Future Orientation during Adolescence". It is based on theories concerning development of man’s time perspective (Nuttin, 1980; Nurmi, 1991; Trempała, Malmberg, 1996, 2002; Trempała, 2000; Zaleski, 1991). Diversification of contents of youth’s goals and life plans set for various periods of life according to their age and definition of the dominating youth’s time perspective are the main problems of the presented part of the study. An original survey named "My Values, Goals and Life Plans" modelled on Zaleski’s "Goal Survey" (1991) and a modification of Nuttin’s Motivational Induction Method (MIM) (1980) were used in the study. Surveys were completed by 140 junior high school students aged 15 and 177 senior high school students aged 18. As far as the contents of goals are concerned, the following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the results of the study: the goals related to education prevail among young people’s short-term goals. Goals related to education, job and family prevail among junior high school students’ goals whilst those related to family and work prevail among senior high school students’ goals. Among life-long goals, job is the most frequently mentioned factor by junior high school students whilst happiness and stability are the most frequently mentioned goals by senior high school students. Education prevails among youth’s short-term goals; junior high school students mention university studies, family and job belong to the most frequent 10-year plans; senior high school students mention family and job the most frequently. It has also been stated, based on the results of the Motivational Induction Method that future time perspective prevails among the young people surveyed

Cele i plany życiowe młodzieży a rozwój perspektywy przyszłościowej – wyniki badań

The research presented is a part of a larger project named “Youth’s Values, Goals and Life Plans and Development of Future Orientation during Adolescence”. It is based on theories concerning development of man’s time perspective (Nuttin, 1980; Nurmi, 1991; Trempała, Malmberg, 1996, 2002; Trempała, 2000; Zaleski, 1991). Diversification of contents of youth’s goals and life plans set for various periods of life according to their age and definition of the dominating youth’s time perspective are the main problems of the presented part of the study. An original survey named “My Values, Goals and Life Plans” modelled on Zaleski’s “Goal Survey” (1991) and a modification of Nuttin’s Motivational Induction Method (MIM) (1980) were used in the study. Surveys were completed by 140 junior high school students aged 15 and 177 senior high school students aged 18.As far as the contents of goals are concerned, the following conclusions can be drawn from the analysis of the results of the study: the goals related to education prevail among young people’s short-term goals. Goals related to education, job and family prevail among junior high school students’ goals whilst those related to family and work prevail among senior high school students’ goals. Among life-long goals, job is the most frequently mentioned factor by junior high school students whilst happiness and stability are the most frequently mentioned goals by senior high school students. Education prevails among youth’s short-term goals; junior high school students mention university studies, family and job belong to the most frequent 10-year plans; senior high school students mention family and job the most frequently. It has also been stated, based on the results of the Motivational Induction Method that future time perspective prevails among the young people surveyed

The impact of national legislation on psychosocial risks on organisational action plans, psychosocial working conditions, and employee work-related stress in Europe

Work-related psychosocial hazards are recognised as a key priority in the future of work. Even though European Union (EU) legislation requires employers to assess and manage all types of risks to workers’ health and safety associated with all types of hazards in the work environment, it does not include clear reference to psychosocial risks and work-related stress. In several EU member states, there is now more specific legislation on psychosocial risks that clarifies employer responsibilities. The aim of this study is to explore whether the introduction of specific legislation on psychosocial risks and/or work-related stress is related to organisations implementing action plans to prevent work-related stress, and in turn, better psychosocial working conditions (job demands and resources), and less reported work-related stress in the workforce. It does so by comparing EU member states and candidate countries that have introduced more specific legislation to those that have not, conducting multilevel modelling analysis by linking two representative European-level datasets, the 2014 employer European Survey of Enterprises on New & Emerging Risks and the 2015 employee European Working Conditions Survey. Findings indicate that the presence of specific national stress legislation is associated with more enterprises having a work-related stress action plan. The existence of action plans was found to be associated with increased job resources but not decreased job demands. Furthermore, only in those countries with specific national legislation on stress, job resources were found to be associated with less reported stress through the existence of organisational action plans. Findings lend support to the argument for more specific legislation on psychosocial risks/work-related stress in the EU. However, they also raise questions on whether current interventions implemented at organisational level to deal with work-related stress may be geared more towards the development of individual resources and less towards better work organisation and job design

Urinary incontinence, work, and intention to leave current job: A cross sectional survey of the Australian nursing and midwifery workforce

© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Aims: To determine the prevalence and severity of urinary incontinence (UI) in a group of female nurses and midwives, and to examine the relationship between UI, work and intention to leave current job. Methods: An electronic survey “Fit for the future” was distributed to nurses and midwives in NSW, Australia between May 2014 and February 2015. UI was investigated using the International Consultation on Incontinence UI—Short Form. Examined work characteristics included: work role, location, setting, contract, shift, job satisfaction, and plans to leave current job. Logistic regression modelling was performed to determine whether the severity of UI had an independent effect on intention to leave. Results: Of 5041 survey responses, 68.5% answered the question on urine leakage. Of the included female sample (n = 2,907) the prevalence of UI was 32.0% (95% CI: 30-34%): of these 40.5% experienced moderate and 4.4% “severe or very severe” symptoms. UI was more likely to be reported in nurses or midwives working part-time or days only (not shifts). Those with “severe or very severe UI” were more likely to indicate an intention to leave at 12 months (OR: 2.68; 95% CI: 1.18-6.06) than those with slight or moderate symptoms, after accounting for age, body mass index, parity, pelvic organ prolapse, anxiety, depression, work contract, shift, and job satisfaction. Conclusions: UI is a condition of high prevalence and significant severity in female nurses and midwives. In this workforce, severe UI was associated with intentions related to future employment

Taking the Lead: How STEM Librarians Collaborated to Introduce Data Management Workshops at UCF

This presentation was delivered for the STEM Librarians Collaborative 2021 virtual conference during a roundtable discussion held on July 22, 2021. This presentation will provide insight into how the STEM librarians created and collaborated with both internal and external library partners to hold data management workshops on campus. We will discuss how it is possible to start small and work from a grassroots approach to gain the attention of important campus partners. We will share how working with outside groups has helped us grow and what our plans for the future will be. Although the UCF Library does not have a formal data management team or specific librarian job responsibilities associated with data related concerns, our STEAM Bootcamp team has helped to pave the way for the possible creation of these new positions in the future, once a new founding Dean of Libraries is hired at our institution. Attendees will learn how to start data management workshops as well as gain insight into how to partner with similar data related groups at their institutions. Attendees will also be presented with data sources and tools and how they can be leveraged for inclusion in their programming

Development in Ethiopia using poverty reduction strategies

1 online resource (48 p.) : colour mapIncludes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-48).This thesis focuses on poverty alleviation and development in Ethiopia related to Poverty Reduction Strategy Plans, the Millennium Development Goals, and to a lesser extent, the Sustainable Development Goals. Issues debated are the meaning of development and effective poverty alleviation as well as industrialization and advances in agricultural technology, which affected job opportunities for farmers and ordinary Ethiopian workers. The implementation of various iterations of poverty reduction strategy plans has had a positive effect on such issues, with each of the four currently standing plans contributing to the development of the country. These plans are the World Bank Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan, the Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty, and the Growth and Transformation Plans I & II. The plans mainly focus on increasing Ethiopia’s industrial sector, and on improving agricultural technology and farming methods. Through such programs, poverty rates and the number of people living below the poverty line in Ethiopia have dropped exponentially over the 15 years period from 2000-2015, despite Ethiopia’s population still rapidly growing. Job opportunities have increased in the service and industrial sectors, especially for women and youth. Policies related to each version of the plan, and how the ideals of the Millennium Development Goals have affected development in Ethiopia are examined. Ethiopia’s pro-poor development agenda has been implemented alongside a rapidly growing economy, which is continuing to grow, leading to hope that the sustainable development of it will contribute to the progressive reduction of poverty in the future