scholarly journals The social patterning of mortality in a cohort of elderly Swedes

1996 ◽  
pp. 101-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olle Lundberg ◽  
Ingemar Kåreholt

Social class differences in mortality among the elderly have received only limited interest. In this paper we analyze the impact of social class on mortality from mid-life onwards. In 1968 1,860 persons born between 1892 and 1915 were interviewed and followed in the national cause of death registry for the period 1968-1991. In addition. 537 of the 563 survivors were fe-interviewed in 1992. We employ proportional hazard regressions to analyze the impact of social class on death risks over time. There are fairly small class differences in the probability of reaching old age. However, it appears that mortality differentials were steeper before retirement age than after. Still, the size of class differences in mortality seem smaller than expected on the basis of other studies. At the same time steep class gradients in illness and functional abilities exist among survivors. Some possible explanations for these somewhat contradictory findings are discussed.

2009 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Salmieri

This article examines differences of non-standard employment among parenting couples on the basis of qualitative research carried out in Rome and Naples. Although there is a growing interest in Europe in issues of flexibility and job security, there has been little focus upon the social differences among non-standard workers. Social class differences are assumed to be represented by the polarization between protected and secure employees on the one hand and casual and unprotected ones on the other, as if the latter represented a homogeneous group of marginalized workers. The research presented here offers evidence about three types of social differences among Italian couples of non-standard workers: job insecurity, the impact of various types of work-flexibility, and the organization of home–work boundaries. These vary widely depending upon the content, technological organization and prestige of professional positions that non-standard workers hold. This paper shows how social and economic differences within the group of non-standard workers affect family life.


1989 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aidan Kelly

ABSTRACTThe theory of incrementalism is a long-standing and influential perspective on policy making and resource allocation in the public sector. Previous research on social services budgeting suggests that resources are allocated incrementally, although there has been some debate as to whether this would persist in an era of prolonged expenditure restraint. Incremental budgetary outcomes are operationalised as percentage changes in budgets pro-rata with percentage changes in the total budget, and as stable shares of total expenditure for each activity. Data for 99 English social service departments supports incrementalism in that budget shares change by only 1.8 per cent, but percentage allocations depart from pro-rata incrementalism by a mean of 74 per cent. The comparison of the two summary indices over time supports those who have argued that prolonged restraint would encourage non-incremental budgeting, but change in the agency's total budget does not consistently predict budgetary outcomes. The effect of restraint on incrementalism varies with the measure used and across the component activities of the measures, but there is enough evidence to suggest a significant decline in the level of incrementalism in social service departments. In particular, non-incremental budgeting is strongly associated with the growth of day centre expenditure on the mentally ill and the elderly before 1982–3, and after that with the pursuit of the ‘community care’ strategy within state provided services for the elderly and children. Incrementalism as a general theory of agency budgeting is limited in its ability to explain variations in the degree of incrementalism between agencies, between component budgets and over time. The conclusion suggests that further research should seek explanations for these variations in the varying balance of the competing forces which shape outcomes in welfare bureaucracies and in the relationship between these forces and the organisation's environment.


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Gibson

Data are presented on the social backgrounds and IQs of a sample of scientists, their male sibs and their fathers. The range of IQ in the scientists is similar to the range of scores expected of the higher 25% of a representative general population sample.The IQs of the scientists showed a positive correlation with social class. Differences in IQ between the scientists and their fathers in each social class are related to the distance the scientists have moved up the social scale. In the twenty-two families in which the IQs of the father and two male sibs are known the upwardly mobile sibs tend to have higher IQs than the non-mobile or downwardly mobile sibs.In Class II there is evidence that stabilizing selection operates on IQ to maintain the mean IQ level. The effect on social stratification of such selection, together with increased educational opportunity, is discussed.


Sociology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 1217-1236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Henz ◽  
Colin Mills

This article examines trends in assortative mating in Britain over the last 60 years. Assortative mating is the tendency for like to form a conjugal partnership with like. Our focus is on the association between the social class origins of the partners. The propensity towards assortative mating is taken as an index of the openness of society which we regard as a macro level aspect of social inequality. There is some evidence that the propensity for partners to come from similar class backgrounds declined during the 1960s. Thereafter, there was a period of 40 years of remarkable stability during which the propensity towards assortative mating fluctuated trendlessly within quite narrow limits. This picture of stability over time in social openness parallels the well-established facts about intergenerational social class mobility in Britain.


2001 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. MATTHEWS ◽  
C. POWER ◽  
S. STANSFELD

Background. Home and work factors have been linked to psychological status, but less is known about their contribution to social inequalities in psychological status. We examine whether social inequalities in psychological distress can be explained by work–home factors and whether the impact of these potential explanatory factors is similar for men and women.Methods. Data are from the 1958 British birth cohort study. We sought to explain social class differences in psychological distress at age 33. Explanatory factors were classified as work–home roles: i.e. employment, marital status, domestic responsibility, children and elderly care; and work–home characteristics: i.e. job-strain, insecurity, unsocial working hours, youngest child's age, number of children and level of involvement in childcare.Results. A social gradient in psychological distress was found: odds ratios for classes IV and V v. I and II were 2·65 (men) and 3·02 (women). Work factors had consistently stronger associations with psychological distress and with social class among men than women. Work factors had a greater impact on class differences in psychological distress in men. Associations for home roles and characteristics were less consistent and their combined effect on class differences in distress was negligible for both sexes.Conclusion. Explanations for the social gradient differ for men and women. Work may be more important for men than women, but the impact of home factors was not strong during the early adulthood of this cohort.


Author(s):  
Eric Taylor

Over time, concepts have evolved from the idea of a constitutional basis for behavioural problems, through unitary neurological formulations, to the recognition of neurocognitive heterogeneity and the impact of the social environment. Diagnoses have altered accordingly. ADHD and hyperkinetic disorder have different historical traditions, and still generate international differences in practice; however, they have succeeded in keeping research and clinical practice in touch with each other. This chapter takes a historical approach to describe the influences on the development of the concepts. Concepts are still changing, in response both to the historical context and to improving scientific knowledge. It may well be that recognition of heterogeneity at neural, psychological, and genetic levels will lead to more and better differentiated behavioural concepts. For the moment, however, the clinical utility of diagnosis based on observable behaviour is likely to maintain ADHD as the dominant idea organizing the field.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-809
Author(s):  
Heath Spong

AbstractIn this paper a sophisticated conception of individuality is developed that extends beyond simple heterogeneity and is consistent with the approach of institutional economics. Studies of human biological and psychological development are used to illustrate the foundations of human individuality and the impact of the social environment on individual development. The link between the social environment and ongoing agential properties is established through the role of habits, which provide some continuity to individual personalities over time and assist them in navigating the social context they inhabit. Reflexivity is established via an agency-structure framework that endows individuals a changeable self-concept and an ability to interpret their relationship to the social context. The coordination of different individuals is explained not simply through reference to institutional structure, but also through the agent-level properties of shared habits. While reducing differences between individuals to one of degrees, shared habits are shown to be particularly important in the context of agent-sensitive institutions. Finally, the potential for different institutional experiences to impact the reflexivity of individuals is explored.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
E Lahelma ◽  
O Pietiläinen ◽  
J Ferrie ◽  
M Kivimäki ◽  
Jouni Lahti ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Ana Ramsha ◽  
Samrah Hidayat

This study examines the role of social parameters in the choice of address forms used in kinship domain in Punjab, Pakistan. The study targeted 140 respondents in order to test the impact of social factors along with the regional differences in the choices of address forms in kinship domain. Statistical analyses are done by applying t-test for gender in relation to choices of address forms and ANOVA for age, income, education and social class. The study finds out that there is a strong connection of different social parameters not only with language use and practice but also in choices and use of address forms especially in kinship relationships.  Moreover, it is highlighted that gender does not influence in the choices of address forms, even the participants belonging to young and middle categories show no significant difference with regard to the choices of address form despite the fact that all the factors and parameters exert influence on the choices of address forms. Hence address forms as being one of the major traits of language and society is affected by all the social factors around and regional differences are also most important as they give identity and ethnicity to the society.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Ivo Garrido

The central aim of this text is to show the impact institutions have on the performance of the health sector in Mozambique. The text shows that of the social determinants of health, institutions play a central role in the performance of the Mozambican health sector—and, through it, economic and social development—particularly for the poorer and more vulnerable, such as children, women, the disabled, and the elderly. It is also argued that the deficiencies and inefficiencies of the operation of the health sector in Mozambique are largely the result of the fact that the institutions with influence on the health sector are controlled by a minority of privileged people who do not give the appropriate priority to the basic health needs of the majority of the population. Finally, it is argued that the most important institutional measures for improving the state of health of Mozambicans are the revision of the Constitution of the Republic, the strengthening of the National Health System (particularly the National Health Service), and the reduction of poverty and economic and social inequality.


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