Explore the vast range of titles available.

This study enriches the limited literature on multidimensional poverty by focusing on household demographic characteristics as determinants of household-specific living arrangements in Pakistan. The study employs the Alkire and Foster methodology to measure the multidimensional poverty index (MPI) using data drawn from the latest available nationally representative Household Integrated Economic Survey (HIES 2018-19). The analysis investigates multidimensional poverty levels among households in Pakistan according to various criteria (such as access to education and healthcare, basic living standards, and monetary status) and how they differ across Pakistan’s regions and provinces. The results indicate that 22% of Pakistanis are multidimensionally poor in terms of health, education, basic living standards, and monetary status; and that multidimensional poverty is more common in rural areas and Balochistan. Furthermore, the logistic regression results show that households with more working-age people, employed women, and employed young people are less likely to be poor, whereas households with more dependents and children are more likely to be poor. This study recommends policies for addressing poverty that consider the needs of multidimensionally poor Pakistani households in various regions and with various demographic characteristics.

In recent decades, there has been a rising global trend of farmland rental. Previous studies have explored the impacts of individual and household sociodemographics on farmland rental, but a holistic understanding of farmland rental in association with households’ demographics and livelihood strategies has not been achieved. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies 2012–2016, we investigated the association of farmland rental with household demographics and livelihood strategies in rural China. The results suggest that farmers in rural China tend to keep a balance between landholding and household needs, a finding that not only supports the labor–consumer balance theory, but also extends its application to a capitalized and increasingly mobile society. Larger and/or married-couple households were less likely to rent out their farmland, and the household decision-maker’s education level was positively associated with the probability of renting out farmland. The household decision-maker’s age was negatively associated with farmland rental up to age 34, after which it has a positive effect, demonstrating a non-linear, U-shaped relationship. Livelihood strategies, including non-farm employment and migration, were positively associated with farmland rental, whereas agricultural income showed a negative effect. This study extends the understanding of factors influencing farmland rental in areas where increasing migration could reshape farmland disposal, a common scenario in contemporary China and many developing countries.

Purpose There is a dearth of basic analysis about how the demographics of residents living in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) subsidized properties relate to the quality of housing. This research vacuum is often filled by popular stereotypes. This study aims to address this gap by examining the relationship between the demographics of residents and inspection scores. Design/methodology/approach Two data sources are drawn from the analysis: the 2018 HUD Picture of Subsidized Households database and HUD’s 2018 REAC Public and Multi-Family Housing Inspection Scores. Linear and logistic regression analysis were conducted, and selected data were mapped using GIS software. Findings The analysis examines the demographics of site-based subsidized properties in relation to inspection scores. In 2018, HUD identified 31,225 traditional public housing and other site-based multi-family properties in its Picture of Subsidized Households database. Residents living in these properties are often stereotyped as a homogeneous group that is predominantly composed of single, minority women with children who are welfare dependent. Similarly, properties are often portrayed as dilapidated, high-rise projects in segregated urban communities. The results from the analysis do not support these stereotypes about HUD-subsidized multi-family properties. By contrast, the results indicate that a diverse group of households lives in HUD-subsidized multi-family properties. Originality/value There is a need for scholars, advocates and practitioners to more aggressively challenge the popular stereotypes about site-based subsidized housing. In particular, there is a need for enhanced public scholarship focused on the dissemination of evidence-based research.

A companion to the bestseller, The Impact of Economic Policies on Poverty and Income Distribution, this title deals with theoretical challenges and cutting-edge macro-micro linkage models. The authors compare the predictive and analytical power of various macro-micro linkage techniques using the traditional RHG approach as a benchmark to evaluate standard policies, such as, a typical stabilization package and a typical structural reform policy.

Traditional approaches to studying human-environment interactions often ignore individual-level information, do not account for complexities, or fail to integrate cross-scale or cross-discipline data and methods, thus, in many situations, resulting in a great loss in predictive or explanatory power. This article reports on the development, implementation, validation, and results of an agent-based spatial model that addresses such issues. Using data from Wolong Nature Reserve for giant pandas (China), the model simulates the impact of the growing rural population on the forests and panda habitat. The households in Wolong follow a traditional rural lifestyle, in which fuelwood consumption has been shown to cause panda habitat degradation. By tracking the life history of individual persons and the dynamics of households, this model equips household agents with \"knowledge\" about themselves, other agents, and the environment and allows individual agents to interact with each other and the environment through their activities in accordance with a set of artificial-intelligence rules. The households and environment coevolve over time and space, resulting in macroscopic human and habitat dynamics. The results from the model may have value for understanding the roles of socioeconomic and demographic factors, for identifying particular areas of special concern, and for conservation policy making. In addition to the specific results of the study, the general approach described here may provide researchers with a useful general framework to capture complex human-environment interactions, to incorporate individual-level information, and to help integrate multidisciplinary research efforts, theories, data, and methods across varying spatial and temporal scales.

Human capital accumulation is one of the key drivers of economic growth especially in developing countries that are trying to catch up in per capita income with the developed world. A high dropout rate of children from school can significantly impede growth. This paper presents evidence on school dropout rate being affected by household characteristics and social background. We investigate dropouts by using a large data-set from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2011. A fractional logit model, a beta regression model, and for comparison a simple OLS model all indicate our empirical strategy to be fairly robust. The large incidence of households having a child quitting school to enter the labor market also allows us to study the dropout using a probit model. We find many interesting results. Children from poor families with less educated parents drop out sooner with a lasting effect on educational outcomes. Households that have more than three children or more than five members also experience greater quit rates. Richer and richest categories of households have the lowest dropouts. Those facing a costly commute to school or having no access to electricity also quit earlier. We also present evidence on several other factors with important policy implications. Our results suggest that any strategy that seeks to encourage human capital accumulation must simultaneously address the school dropout rate through a combination of such factors as promotion of female education and expansion of credit for small businesses.

Japan has the world’s largest old population ratio; thus, aging is an urgent societal issue. As global trends seem to be following Japan’s social changes, there is an emphasis on municipalities becoming more age-friendly. Hence, we examine the age-friendliness of 135 Japanese municipalities, selecting 240 resident architectural designers and constructors to assess their municipalities using the Age-Friendly Cities and Communities Questionnaire (AFCCQ). The findings indicate that Japan lacks “outdoor spaces and buildings”. Additionally, the evaluation of “housing”, “community support and health services”, and “transportation” in populated municipalities in the past five years was found to be significantly higher than that in depopulated ones. Age-friendliness is significantly affected by the AFCCQ total score (hereafter, Score) based on “housing”, “social participation”, “community support and health services”, “transportation”, and “financial situation” evaluations. High specificity (0.939) was found when the score was treated as a marker of depopulation; an age-friendly approach is a necessary condition for preventing depopulation. Furthermore, a lack of “communication and information” was observed in municipalities with a higher rate of single-person households aged 65 years and older. Therefore, resident architectural designers’ and constructors’ assessments, combined with the AFCCQ, will be a powerful tool for evaluating the age-friendliness of municipalities.

Background In Benin, access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) remains an issue. This study aims to provide an overview of household access to basic WASH services based on nationally representative data. Method Secondary analyses were run using the ‘HOUSEHOLD’ dataset of the fifth Demographic and Health Survey 2017–2018. The dependent variables were household access to individual and combined basic WASH services. The characteristics of the household head and those related to the composition, wealth and environment of the household were independent variables. After a descriptive analysis of all study variables, multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify predictors of outcome variables. Results The study included 14,156 households. Of these, 63.98% (95% CI = 61.63–66.26), 13.28% (95% CI = 12.10–14.57) and 10.11% (95% CI = 9.19–11.11) had access to individual basic water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, respectively. Also, 3% (95% CI = 2.53–3.56) of households had access to combined basic WASH services. Overall, the richest households and few, and those headed by people aged 30 and over, female and with higher levels of education, were the most likely to have access to individual and combined basic WASH services. In addition, disparities based on the department of residence were observed. Conclusion The authors suggest a multifactorial approach that addresses the identified determinants.

This article gives a concise overview of the theoretical development of the concept of the “second demographic transition” since it was coined in 1986, its components, and its applicability, first to European populations and subsequently also to non-European societies as well. Both the demographic and the societal contrasts between the first demographic transition (FDT) and the second demographic transition (SDT) are highlighted. Then, the major criticisms of the SDT theory are outlined, and these issues are discussed in the light of the most recent developments in Europe, the United States, the Far East, and Latin America. It turns out that three major SDT patterns have developed and that these evolutions are contingent on much older systems of kinship and family organization. Significance At the end of the historical declines in both mortality and fertility (the “first demographic transition”), new demographic phenomena developed in the Western World. Therefore, new theoretical frameworks were needed to explain features such as the baby bust, the systematic postponement of marriage and parenthood, subreplacement fertility, the rise of alternative forms of partnerships, and parenthood outside marriage. The “second demographic transition” (SDT) theory is such an attempt. Although it accepts the major tenets of bounded rational economic choice, it also allows for autonomous preference drift by relying on Maslow’s theory of shifting needs. As such, an essentially cultural component is being added.

This article argues that the trends normally linked with the second demographic transition (SDT) may be reversed as the gender revolution enters its second half by including men more centrally in the family. We develop a theoretical argument about the emerging consequences of this stage of the gender revolution and review research results that bear on it. The argument compares the determinants and consequences of recent family trends in industrialized societies provided by two narratives: the SDT and the gender revolution in the public and private spheres. Our argument examines differences in theoretical foundations and positive vs. negative implications for the future. We focus primarily on the growing evidence for turnarounds in the relationships between measures of women's human capital and union formation, fertility, and union dissolution, and consider evidence that men's home involvement increases union formation and fertility and decreases union instability. Although the family trends underlying the SDT and the gender revolution narratives are ongoing and a convincing view of the phenomenon has not yet emerged, the wide range of recent research results documenting changing, even reversing relationships suggests that the gender approach is increasingly the more fruitful one.