scholarly journals Inequality measurement and tax/transfer policy

Author(s):  
Patricia Apps ◽  
Ray Rees

AbstractWe provide a critique of the standard methodology for inequality measurement, which makes welfare comparisons between households by deflating household income and consumption with an equivalence scale. We argue that this leads to support for tax/transfer policies that significantly disadvantage low to middle income households and second earners—predominantly women. Its main limitations are that it takes an overly-simplistic approach to household production, bases its welfare measurements on joint household income, and has no theory of the family household. We point the way to an alternative procedure by presenting a theoretical model of the family household that derives duality-based welfare measures. In the light of current data limitations we propose, as a second best, primary earner income as a superior base to joint income for across-household welfare comparisons in policy formulation. We also emphasise the importance of taking the family life cycle into account when making such comparisons. We use the Australian income tax system and Australian income and tax data for a detailed comparison of the standard approach with our proposed alternative.

2021 ◽  
pp. 101053952110209
Author(s):  
Elaine Umali ◽  
Helen Tanielu ◽  
Robyn Whittaker ◽  
Cam Sugden ◽  
Judith McCool

There has been an increase of adapted tobacco control media campaigns in low- and middle-income countries. Adapting existing material offers many benefits especially to countries with limited resources. We adapted 3 television advertisements for the Tu’u Nei Loa Le Ulaula Tapa’a (Stop Smoking Now) campaign in Samoa. Adaption included rigorous efforts to ensure advertisements were culturally appropriate. To determine audiences’ perception of anti-tobacco television advertisements to promote smoking cessation, we conducted 8 talanoa, a Pacific Islands research methodology, among 54 smokers and nonsmokers in Apia, Samoa. The talanoa were transcribed, translated, and thematically coded. Results suggest that the advertisements raised awareness on the negative health impacts of tobacco use, especially to the internal organs. Graphic and emotionally evocative advertisements, especially those that have an impact on the family, have greater potential to motivate Samoans to quit.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy A. Otieno ◽  
Fauzia A. Malik ◽  
Stacy W. Nganga ◽  
Winnie N. Wairimu ◽  
Dominic O. Ouma ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Maternal immunization is a key strategy for reducing morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases in mothers and their newborns. Recent developments in the science and safety of maternal vaccinations have made possible development of new maternal vaccines ready for introduction in low- and middle-income countries. Decisions at the policy level remain the entry point for maternal immunization programs. We describe the policy and decision-making process in Kenya for the introduction of new vaccines, with particular emphasis on maternal vaccines, and identify opportunities to improve vaccine policy formulation and implementation process. Methods We conducted 29 formal interviews with government officials and policy makers, including high-level officials at the Kenya National Immunization Technical Advisory Group, and Ministry of Health officials at national and county levels. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. We analyzed the qualitative data using NVivo 11.0 software. Results All key informants understood the vaccine policy formulation and implementation processes, although national officials appeared more informed compared to county officials. County officials reported feeling left out of policy development. The recent health system decentralization had both positive and negative impacts on the policy process; however, the negative impacts outweighed the positive impacts. Other factors outside vaccine policy environment such as rumours, sociocultural practices, and anti-vaccine campaigns influenced the policy development and implementation process. Conclusions Public policy development process is complex and multifaceted by its nature. As Kenya prepares for introduction of other maternal vaccines, it is important that the identified policy gaps and challenges are addressed.


2019 ◽  
pp. 85-92
Author(s):  
Maryna Budzar

The publication of the document is devoted to the anniversaries of two well-known representatives of the Ukrainian elite of the 19th century — 200th anniversary of the birth of Hryhorii Pavlovych Galagan and the 215th anniversary of the birth of Mykola Andriiovych Markevych. Published letter depicts the serious events of the family history of Markevyches — the disease and the death of the father of historian Andrii Markevych. The text contains a detailed description of the events leading up to the event and the circumstances of the death of A. Markevych. The author addresses to Pavlo Galagan, who is the husband of his aunt (mother’s sister). He fully trusts this man. This leads to the frankness of the story. The text includes people from the immediate surroundings of related families of Markevyches — Galagans. This allows us to clarify the personal and psychological characteristics of individual representatives of the Markevyches family. We can notice from the text the remarkable details of the everyday life of the middle-income family of the beginning of the 19th century. We see the arrangement of everyday life, the traditions of everyday communication, the level of provision of medical aid, etc. The contents of the document reveals the attitude of the nobility Left Bank Ukraine to the problem of disease and death, to the ethics of family communication, to property and financial problems.


Author(s):  
Muthia Cenderadewi ◽  
Richard Franklin ◽  
Sue Devine

Most deaths by drowning (91%) have occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in Southeast Asia (35%) and Africa (20%), in proportion to total drowning deaths worldwide. Poor data collection in LMICs hinders the planning, implementation, and evaluation of prevention strategies. The objective of this study was to review the rates and risk factors of unintentional drowning in LMICs and to identify drowning prevention strategies within a socio-ecological health promotion framework. A systematic search, guided by PRISMA, was conducted on Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL, Informit health, PsycINFO (ProQuest), Scopus, SafetyLit, Google Scholar, and BioMed Central databases for all relevant studies published between 2012 and 2017. McMaster appraisal guideline was used for critical review. The disparity of available drowning data was observed across selected countries. The highest rates were identified in low-middle income South-east Asian countries. The socio-economic background of the family, overcrowding, and living close to water bodies were important predictors for paediatric drowning in LMICs, while the presence of mother as caregiver was identified as a protective factor. The over-reliance on active injury prevention strategies was identified. Further research focusing on developing relevant upstream drowning prevention and water safety promotion is needed to ensure the sustainability of drowning prevention in LMICs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 331-348
Author(s):  
Ali Cem ÖZTÜRK ◽  
Burcu YAVUZ TİFTİKÇİGİL

Turkey has been under the middle-income country category according to the income category classification of the World Bank. Turkey promoted to high-middle-income group in 2005 after spending more than 50 years in lower-middle-income group. The purpose of this study is to identify the presence of middle-income trap in Turkey. The study brings together the most recent theoretical studies from different perspectives with respect to the presence of MIT in Turkey along with Robertson and Ye approach in the empirical phase. Within the context of this study, structural break unit root test using current data obtained through the Atlas method is applied in order to evaluate Turkey’s middle-income trap status. The GNI per capita Atlas Method (current US $) data of the World Bank for the years 1967-2016 are used in the study. The empirical analysis briefly showed that Turkey is not in the MIT.


2021 ◽  
Vol VI (III) ◽  
pp. 12-31
Author(s):  
Tamanna Bibi ◽  
Amjad Amin ◽  
Jabbar ul Haq

This study analyses the woman's status labour market of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Four working states: self-employed, paid employees, and unpaid family helpers were investigated. Data were collected about individuals and household characteristics of women aged between (15-60) years from the Pakistan Social and Living Standard Measurement Survey (PSLM, 2014-15). The estimated results based on Multinomial Logit (MNL) suggest a positive and significant impact of women's age on all working categories in the labour market. The woman who owns a house, or the married woman, with multiple children or having a combined family system, or the residents of the countryside have less likelihood to take part in paid works. Participation in paid works decreases with the increase in the number of children, whereas participation in self-employment increases with the increase in the number of children. The probability of female participation in all four working states increases with the increase in the number of working individuals in the family. Whereas, probability of women's participation in the labor market decrease with the Joint family system, house owning, marriage, or higher household income.


2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Szopiński

The relevant literature provides an array of factors determining the propensity of households to save. There is no unanimity among researchers as to the direction of statistical relationships among some variables such as, e.g. household income, the place of residence or concerns regarding the worsening of financial circumstances, and a household’s propensity to save. The aim of this article is to verify the statistical relationships between the amount of savings of Polish households and their attributes, such as: income, biological type of the family, and the size of the place of residence. The author of the article analyses the responses provided by Polish households with regard to the size of their savings measured as a multiple of their income. The data under analysis were collected during a panel study Diagnoza społeczna 2015 (ang. Social Diagnosis 2015). Higher earnings were accompanied by higher levels of savings. It was more common for households from bigger cities to have higher earnings. Taking into consideration the biological type of the family, childless marriages and people, who lived alone, declared having the highest savings.


Author(s):  
Shayna R. Deecker ◽  
Malene L. Urbanus ◽  
Beth Nicholson ◽  
Alexander W. Ensminger

Legionella pneumophila is a ubiquitous freshwater pathogen and the causative agent of Legionnaires’ disease. L. pneumophila growth within protists provides a refuge from desiccation, disinfection, and other remediation strategies. One outstanding question has been whether this protection extends to phages. L. pneumophila isolates are remarkably devoid of prophages and to date no Legionella phages have been identified. Nevertheless, many L. pneumophila isolates maintain active CRISPR-Cas defenses. So far, the only known target of these systems is an episomal element that we previously named Legionella Mobile Element-1 (LME-1). The continued expansion of publicly available genomic data promises to further our understanding of the role of these systems. We now describe over 150 CRISPR-Cas systems across 600 isolates to establish the clearest picture yet of L. pneumophila ’s adaptive defenses. By searching for targets of 1,500 unique CRISPR-Cas spacers, LME-1 remains the only identified CRISPR-Cas targeted integrative element. We identified 3 additional LME-1 variants - all targeted by previously and newly identified CRISPR-Cas spacers - but no other similar elements. Notably, we also identified several spacers with significant sequence similarity to microviruses, specifically those within the subfamily Gokushovirinae . These spacers are found across several different CRISPR-Cas arrays isolated from geographically diverse isolates, indicating recurrent encounters with these phages. Our analysis of the extended Legionella CRISPR-Cas spacer catalog leads to two main conclusions: current data argue against CRISPR-Cas targeted integrative elements beyond LME-1, and the heretofore unknown L. pneumophila phages are most likely lytic gokushoviruses. IMPORTANCE Legionnaires’ disease is an often-fatal pneumonia caused by Legionella pneumophila , which normally grows inside amoebae and other freshwater protists. L. pneumophila trades diminished access to nutrients for the protection and isolation provided by the host. One outstanding question is whether L. pneumophila is susceptible to phages, given the protection provided by its intracellular lifestyle. In this work, we use Legionella CRISPR spacer sequences as a record of phage infection to predict that the “missing” L. pneumophila phages belong to the microvirus subfamily Gokushovirinae . Gokushoviruses are known to infect another intracellular pathogen, Chlamydia . How do gokushoviruses access L. pneumophila (and Chlamydia ) inside their “cozy niches”? Does exposure to phages happen during a transient extracellular period (during cell-to-cell spread) or is it indicative of a more complicated environmental lifestyle? One thing is clear, 100 years after their discovery, phages continue to hold important secrets about the bacteria upon which they prey.


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