scholarly journals Non-kin ties as a source of support amongst older adults ‘left behind’ in Poland: a quantitative study on the role of geographic distance

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (06) ◽  
pp. 1255-1280 ◽  
Author(s):  
NINA CONKOVA ◽  
RUSSELL KING

ABSTRACTIn the transition to democracy and a market economy, the Central and Eastern European countries experienced rapid and fundamental changes. Large-scale emigration flows and pronounced reductions in previously universal welfare systems increased the phenomenon of ‘left behind’ older adults. We examine this phenomenon in the case of Poland, a rather family-oriented society which in recent years sent most emigrants to Western Europe in absolute terms. Employing a support system framework and representative survey data, we enquire into older adults’ support patterns. Our results suggest that older adults in Poland rely predominantly on family support, although this varies greatly across living arrangements. We also find a positive association between distance separating parents and their closest child, and support from at least one non-kin. Yet, our findings reveal differences between practical and emotional support, with the latter being more likely to be provided by non-kin, but with distance mattering to a lesser degree. Parents with very distant child(ren) are few and differ only from parents with very proximate child(ren), a finding prompting the question as to what is the difference between being ‘left behind’ by international and by internal migration. We conclude that the phenomenon of ‘left behind’ in Poland, at least in terms of support, is less a matter of children's migration and more an issue of household and regional context.

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1182-1213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Song

Objective: When examining the depressive symptoms of left-behind elderly, this article goes beyond a focus on disruption to traditional patterns of living arrangements and investigates the heterogeneities in the patterns of migration distance, as well as the role of community contexts in buffering the loss of migrant children’s support. Method: This study uses the first wave of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Survey, and employs random effects multi-level modeling. Results: Having migrant children is associated with increased depressive symptoms among older adults, above and beyond living arrangements. Having their migrant children all live outside the province further puts older adults in disadvantaged mental conditions. This disadvantage can be further compounded by residence in impoverished communities. Discussion: In assessing depression among rural older adults in China, examination of living arrangements may be insufficient. It may be necessary to reference to children’s migration status as well as community poverty levels.


2021 ◽  
pp. 152483802199597
Author(s):  
Amylee Mailhot Amborski ◽  
Eve-Line Bussières ◽  
Marie-Pier Vaillancourt-Morel ◽  
Christian C. Joyal

A growing number of large-scale studies suggest that people with disabilities are at greater risk of sexual victimization than nondisabled individuals. However, certain results are inconsistent and whether potential moderators explain this variability in previous findings remain to be considered. This meta-analysis aimed to determine the magnitude of the difference in risk of being sexually victimized based on the presence of a disability. An additional objective was to evaluate the relative influence of gender, age, type of disability, type of sexual violence, and relationship with the perpetrator on the association between the presence of a disability and sexual victimization. Studies were searched using pertinent databases and retained if they included a group with a disability, provided data that quantify the occurrence of abuse, indicated the type of sexual violence, and was published between 1970 and 2018 in French or English. A total of 68 studies, allowing 84 independent samples and 12,427 participants, were included. Individuals with disabilities were at significantly higher risk of sexual victimization than persons without disabilities (odds ratio = 2.27). The risk of sexual victimization among individuals with a disability was significantly higher in adult participants compared with the risk in minor participants. Sensory impairment was the type of disability associated with the highest risk of sexual victimization. Odds of sexual victimization among individuals with a disability were significantly higher in African countries compared with all others, and odds in Western Europe were significantly lower than in the United States. No significant differences emerged across eras.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miloš Todorović ◽  
Aleksandar Đorđević

The emigration of highly qualified labour from the countries of Eastern Europe is one of the worst effects of transitional and post-transitional period. It discredits the educational system of Eastern European countries, but also creates long-term problems in the development of the economy and all other sectors of society. The difference in earnings between immigrant countries of Western Europe and North America and the countries of emigration is the dominant motive for migration. But other motives are also not irrelevant. This paper is an initial part of a wider research of the international movement of labour which should provide guidance to the countries of emigration to mitigate  the consequences of this process. Student surveys in Eastern European countries, their thoughts and plans, will provide information on the motives of emigration. On the other hand, by surveying the experiences of young highly educated workforce who has already emigrated, a true picture of experiences and the expected and achieved intentions will be obtained. Finally, certain questions in the questionnaire will also give an answer to the question, which would be new moments that would encourage young experts not to leave the country, or to return those who emigrated. Keywords: International migration, brain drain, state measures, retaining talent


VASA ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Hanji Zhang ◽  
Dexin Yin ◽  
Yue Zhao ◽  
Yezhou Li ◽  
Dejiang Yao ◽  
...  

Summary: Our meta-analysis focused on the relationship between homocysteine (Hcy) level and the incidence of aneurysms and looked at the relationship between smoking, hypertension and aneurysms. A systematic literature search of Pubmed, Web of Science, and Embase databases (up to March 31, 2020) resulted in the identification of 19 studies, including 2,629 aneurysm patients and 6,497 healthy participants. Combined analysis of the included studies showed that number of smoking, hypertension and hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy) in aneurysm patients was higher than that in the control groups, and the total plasma Hcy level in aneurysm patients was also higher. These findings suggest that smoking, hypertension and HHcy may be risk factors for the development and progression of aneurysms. Although the heterogeneity of meta-analysis was significant, it was found that the heterogeneity might come from the difference between race and disease species through subgroup analysis. Large-scale randomized controlled studies of single species and single disease species are needed in the future to supplement the accuracy of the results.


Author(s):  
Annie Lang ◽  
Nancy Schwartz ◽  
Sharon Mayell

The study reported here compared how younger and older adults processed the same set of media messages which were selected to vary on two factors, arousing content and valence. Results showed that older and younger adults had similar arousal responses but different patterns of attention and memory. Older adults paid more attention to all messages than did younger adults. However, this attention did not translate into greater memory. Older and younger adults had similar levels of memory for slow-paced messages, but younger adults outperformed older adults significantly as pacing increased, and the difference was larger for arousing compared with calm messages. The differences found are in line with predictions made based on the cognitive-aging literature.


Author(s):  
Ron Harris

Before the seventeenth century, trade across Eurasia was mostly conducted in short segments along the Silk Route and Indian Ocean. Business was organized in family firms, merchant networks, and state-owned enterprises, and dominated by Chinese, Indian, and Arabic traders. However, around 1600 the first two joint-stock corporations, the English and Dutch East India Companies, were established. This book tells the story of overland and maritime trade without Europeans, of European Cape Route trade without corporations, and of how new, large-scale, and impersonal organizations arose in Europe to control long-distance trade for more than three centuries. It shows that by 1700, the scene and methods for global trade had dramatically changed: Dutch and English merchants shepherded goods directly from China and India to northwestern Europe. To understand this transformation, the book compares the organizational forms used in four major regions: China, India, the Middle East, and Western Europe. The English and Dutch were the last to leap into Eurasian trade, and they innovated in order to compete. They raised capital from passive investors through impersonal stock markets and their joint-stock corporations deployed more capital, ships, and agents to deliver goods from their origins to consumers. The book explores the history behind a cornerstone of the modern economy, and how this organizational revolution contributed to the formation of global trade and the creation of the business corporation as a key factor in Europe's economic rise.


Author(s):  
Angela Dranishnikova

In the article, the author reflects the existing problems of the fight against corruption in the Russian Federation. He focuses on the opacity of the work of state bodies, leading to an increase in bribery and corruption. The topic we have chosen is socially exciting in our days, since its significance is growing on a large scale at all levels of the investigated aspect of our modern life. Democratic institutions are being jeopardized, the difference in the position of social strata of society in society’s access to material goods is growing, and the state of society is suffering from the moral point of view, citizens are losing confidence in the government, and in the top officials of the state.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Sun ◽  
Disa Sauter

Getting old is generally seen as unappealing, yet aging confers considerable advantages in several psychological domains (North & Fiske, 2015). In particular, older adults are better off emotionally than younger adults, with aging associated with the so-called “age advantages,” that is, more positive and less negative emotional experiences (Carstensen et al., 2011). Although the age advantages are well established, it is less clear whether they occur under conditions of prolonged stress. In a recent study, Carstensen et al (2020) demonstrated that the age advantages persist during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that older adults are able to utilise cognitive and behavioural strategies to ameliorate even sustained stress. Here, we build on Carstensen and colleagues’ work with two studies. In Study 1, we provide a large-scale test of the robustness of Carstensen and colleagues’ finding that older individuals experience more positive and less negative emotions during the COVID-19 pandemic. We measured positive and negative emotions along with age information in 23,629 participants in 63 countries in April-May 2020. In Study 2, we provide a comparison of the age advantages using representative samples collected before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We demonstrate that older people experience less negative emotion than younger people during the prolonged stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the advantage of older adults was diminished during the pandemic, pointing to a likely role of older adults use of situation selection strategies (Charles, 2010).


1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (9) ◽  
pp. 155-174
Author(s):  
Henk L. F. Saeijs

The Delta Project is in its final stage. In 1974 it was subjected to political reconsideration, but it is scheduled now for completion in 1987. The final touches are being put to the storm-surge barrier and two compartment dams that divide the Oosterschelde into three areas: one tidal, one with reduced tide, and one a freshwater lake. Compartmentalization will result in 13% of channels, 45% of intertidal flats and 59% of salt marshes being lost. There is a net gain of 7% of shallow-water areas. Human interventions with large scale impacts are not new in the Oosterschelde but the large scale and short time in which these interventions are taking place are, as is the creation of a controlled tidal system. This article focusses on the area with reduced tide and compares resent day and expected characteristics. In this reduced tidal part salt marshes will extend by 30–70%; intertidal flats will erode to a lower level and at their edges, and the area of shallow water will increase by 47%. Biomass production on the intertidal flats will decrease, with consequences for crustaceans, fishes and birds. The maximum number of waders counted on one day and the number of ‘bird-days' will decrease drastically, with negative effects for the wader populations of western Europe. The net area with a hard substratum in the reduced tidal part has more than doubled. Channels will become shallower. Detritus import will not change significantly. Stratification and oxygen depletion will be rare and local. The operation of the storm-surge barrier and the closure strategy chosen are very important for the ecosystem. Two optional closure strategies can be followed without any additional environmental consequences. It was essential to determine a clearly defined plan of action for the whole area, and to make land-use choices from the outset. How this was done is briefly described.


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