scholarly journals Women and Pensions in Italy: Gender Imbalances and the Equalization of Retirement Age

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola De Luigi ◽  
Roberto Rizza ◽  
Federica Santangelo

This paper examines the age at retirement for men and women in Italy. Despite the expansion of women’s educational attainments, they still display lower employment rates, are frequently engaged in involuntary part-time jobs and have more fragmented careers. As a consequence, the mean age at which women receive a pension is higher than that of men. Using Labour Force Survey (2006 and 2012), the authors test the hypothesis that women’s higher age at retirement is determined by a selection bias towards more educated and work oriented women. A Heckman selection model has been developed. Results show that the main disadvantage is suffered by women with medium and low levels of education who show the highest estimated age at retirement, whereas higher educated women retire on average before men with the same level of education. The authors argue that pension policies, without interventions in the field of work-life balance policies, end up penalizing women with lower levels of education.

2013 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-33
Author(s):  
Cristina Barbot ◽  
Pilar González ◽  
Luís Delfim Santos

Using a large matched employer-employee data set with information at both the worker and the company level we characterise the Portuguese airlines' employment structure and, by comparing it with the general structure of the Portuguese labour force, we stress the particularities of the sector. Based on the Heckman selection model, we develop an analysis of the variables that influence wages in this sector and which contribute to its differentiation from the general labour market. Particular attention is paid to the disparity among different types of jobs in the air transportation sector, namely amongst flight crews and land personnel. We also analyse the differences between regular and non-regular sub-sectors. Our main findings indicate that the aviation sector labour force is clearly specific regarding gender distribution and human capital accumulated by its workers. Moreover, some professions, pilots in particular, have important specificities compared to other jobs even within the sector. We also find that wages are strongly influenced by levels of education, tenure and experience as well as professional categories, which appears as an important specificity of this sector.


2021 ◽  
pp. 135245852199455
Author(s):  
Barnabas Bessing ◽  
Mohammad A Hussain ◽  
Suzi B Claflin ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Leigh Blizzard ◽  
...  

Background: While employment rates have increased in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS), little is known about the longitudinal trends of work productivity. Objective: To describe the longitudinal patterns of work productivity and examine the factors associated with annual change of work productivity of PwMS. Methods: Study participants were employed participants of the Australian MS Longitudinal Study (AMSLS) followed from 2015 to 2019 with at least two repeated measures ( n = 2121). We used linear mixed models to examine if the within-individual variations in MS symptoms are associated with changes in work productivity. Results: The mean annual change in work productivity between 2015 and 2019 was −0.23% ( SD = 18.68%). Not the actual severity of symptoms but rather the changes in severity of symptoms that are associated with change in work productivity in the same year. In a multivariable model, every unit increase in mean annual change in ‘pain and sensory symptoms’, ‘feelings of anxiety and depression’, and ‘fatigue and cognitive symptoms’ were independently associated with 2.43%, 1.55% and 1.01% annual reductions in work productivity, respectively. Conclusion: Individual changes in work productivity are largely driven by the changes in symptom severity rather than the absolute severity. Stabilising/improving MS symptoms might improve work productivity.


1982 ◽  
Vol 100 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. C. Arora ◽  
R. S. Pandey

Abstract. Domestic buffaloes were used to characterize the pattern of progesterone, oestradiol-17β, LH and androgen in the systemic circulation following infertile insemination. Concentrations of hormones were measured by RIA in blood samples collected daily or at alternate days following insemination. The concentration of progesterone was lowest on the day of insemination, and increased significantly to a peak level of 4.00 ± 0.60 ng/ml by day 13 post insemination. After day 17, it declined significantly (P < 0.01) to reach low levels by day 21. The concentration of oestradiol-17β was high at the time of insemination and declined significantly (P < 0.01) by day 2 after insemination. It was maintained around the basal level till day 18 with minor peaks in between this period. It again rose significantly (P < 0.01) at subsequent oestrus. The mean level of LH was highest at the time of insemination, and declined significantly (P < 0.01) by day 1 post insemination. It did not vary appreciably till the animal returned to oestrus. The oestrous value of LH and progesterone were negatively correlated (r = −0.77). The androgen level was observed to be high at insemination in 3 out of 5 animals, but the overall pattern of this steroid was inconsistent during the period studied. A high concentration of androgen was recorded in all the animals from day 2–5 before the onset of oestrus.


2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110012
Author(s):  
Valeria Insarauto

This article studies women’s vulnerability to the economic crisis of 2008 through the lens of part-time work in Spain. It posits that part-time work made the female employment position more fragile by acting as a transmission mechanism of traditional gender norms that establish women as secondary workers. This argument is tested through an analysis of Labour Force Survey data from 2007 to 2014 that examines the influence of the employment situation of the household on women’s part-time employment patterns. The results expose the limited take-up of part-time work but also persistent patterns of involuntariness and underemployment corresponding to negative household employment situations, highlighting the constraining role of gender norms borne by the relative position of part-time work in the configuration of employment structures. The article concludes that, during the crisis, part-time work participated in the re-establishment of women as a family dependent and flexible labour supply, increasing their vulnerability.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Norene Pupo ◽  
Ann Duffy

Throughout Western highly industrialised countries, there has been a marked shift toward more conservative social policies signalling a dismantling of the welfare state as part of the process of globalisation. This paper examines the aetiology of the (un)employment insurance programme in the Canadian context. Recently, legislators have tightened eligibility rules, lowered earnings replacement rates and altered coverage requirements. While these changes signal a shredding of the social safety net, they differentially impact on certain segments of the population. Despite official pronouncements of fairness, employment insurance changes intensify the subordination women experience in the paid labour force.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 518
Author(s):  
Ayal Kimhi ◽  
Nitzan Tzur-Ilan

Israeli agriculture has experienced rapid structural changes in recent decades, including the massive exit of farmers, a resulting increase in average farm size, a higher farm specialization and a higher reliance on non-farm income sources. The higher farm heterogeneity makes it necessary to examine changes in the entire farm size distribution rather than the common practice of analyzing changes in the average farm size alone. This article proposes a nonparametric analysis in which the change in the distribution of farm sizes between two periods is decomposed into several components, and the contributions of subgroups of farms to this change are analyzed. Using data on Israeli family farms, we analyze the changes in the farm size distribution in two separate time periods that are characterized by very different economic environments, focusing on the different contributions of full-time farms and part-time farms to the overall distributional changes. We found that between 1971 and 1981, a period characterized by stability and prosperity, the farm size distribution has shifted to the right with relatively minor changes in higher moments of the distribution. On the other hand, between 1981 and 1995, a largely unfavorable period to Israeli farmers, the change in the distribution was much more complex. While the overall change in the size distribution of farms was smaller in magnitude than in the earlier period, higher moments of the distribution were not less important than the increase in the mean and led to higher dispersion of farm sizes. Between 1971 and 1981, the contributions of full- and part-time farms to the change in the size distribution were quite similar. Between 1981 and 1995, however, full-time farms contributed mostly to the growth in the average farm size, while the average farm size among part-time farms actually decreased, and their contribution to the higher dispersion of farm sizes was quantitatively larger. This highlights the need to analyze the changes in the entire farm size distribution rather than focusing on the mean alone, and to allow for differences between types of farms.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 764-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy E. Fritz ◽  
John D. Lantos

A national survey was used to study the differences in career and family patterns of pediatricians who work part-time (PT) vs those who work full-time (FT). A questionnaire mailed to 375 members of the American Academy of Pediatrics asked about age, marital status, number of children, type of practice, hours worked in particular duties, and attitudes about their choices. Sixty-five percent (n = 216) of the questionnaires were completed. The mean age of both the PT and FT women was 40 years, and FT men averaged 46 years. Thirty-seven percent of women had worked PT at some point in their careers; 21% were currently working PT. Only 70% of the FT women were married compared with 97% and 95% of PT women and FT men. The FT women had significantly fewer children (mean 1.27, compared with 2.34 for PT women and 2.39 for FT men). Part-time women in academic medicine tended to do little research or administrative work, but they had more teaching responsibilities. Almost all the PT women were happy with their decisions and careers despite the feeling among many that they had made career compromises. Many of the FT pediatricians wanted to work less. It is concluded that many women, particularly those with children, choose PT work in order to combine career and family duties. These choices may lead to different career paths for women pediatricians. By recognizing these different career paths, it may be possible for academic institutions to benefit from the unique contributions that PT women pediatricians can make.


2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 27-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graziela Aparecida Nogueira de Almeida RIBEIRO ◽  
Helenice Brizolla GIAMPIETRO ◽  
Lídia Barbieri BELARMINO ◽  
Wilson SALGADO-JÚNIOR

Abstract Background: The psychologist who works in bariatric surgery has a role to receive, evaluate, prepare and educate the patient who will undergo the surgical procedure. Psychological evaluation becomes important in so far as allows us to obtain data on personal and familiar history and allow tracing of possible psychopathology. Aim: To collect data on psychological evaluations of patients in a bariatric surgery service of a public hospital in order to describe the psychological profile of patients in this service. Method: Data were collected from 827 patients between 2001 and 2015, using data from an interview, Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and Binge Eating Scale (BES). Results: The mean age of patients before surgery was 39 years+/- 10, the mean BMI was 51 kg/m²+7, and most patients (81%) were female. The average score on the BDI was 14.8+8 and women had significantly higher scores than men. On the BAI the average score was 11+8 and on the ECAP was 14+8, both with no difference between groups. Conclusions: Psychosocial characteristics of the patients points to the significant presence of indicators of depression, with low levels of anxiety and binge eating.


2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (01) ◽  
pp. 81-102
Author(s):  
OLUWOLE OWOYE ◽  
OLUGBENGA A. ONAFOWORA

This paper postulates that highly educated leaders matter in economic growth and development and that this is one of the fundamental causes of the differences in income between countries. To verify this assertion, we examine Central African Republic and Singapore within the neoclassical growth model that incorporates educational attainments of leaders as the functionally relevant explanatory variable. We found the mean years of schooling of educated leaders to be statistically and significantly different in both countries, but more importantly, educational attainments of leaders have a positive and statistically significant effect on economic growth in Singapore, but negative in Central African Republic.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-256
Author(s):  
Summer Van Arsdale ◽  
Sarah E. Yost ◽  
Chiu-Hsieh Hsu ◽  
Mary Meer ◽  
Shari Schoentag ◽  
...  

Objective: Pyridoxine is 1 of 8 B vitamins that assist in a variety of essential functions including immune functions. The purpose of this study was to assess the risk factors associated with low pyridoxine levels in solid organ transplantation recipients. Design: The study cohort was divided into 2 groups: (a) patients with normal pyridoxine levels or (b) patients with low pyridoxine levels. Dietary evaluation and clinical characteristics of all patients, rejection episodes, and immunosuppression were collected. Simple descriptive statistics were used to analyze the overall cohort. Results: Of the 48 patients, 29 (60%) in the study cohort were identified to have low pyridoxine levels. The mean interval between transplantation and pyridoxine level check was 910 days (standard deviation [SD] 456). The mean weight at the time of dietary consultation was 80 kg (SD 20.7). More patients in the deficient group received thymoglobulin for rejection treatment (56% vs 0%; P = .01) and were thymoglobulin recipients (78% vs 10%; odds ratio [OR] = 31.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.35-422.30; P < .01). A strong correlation was identified between thymoglobulin treatment for induction and a low level of pyridoxine (correlation coefficient R = 0.6, P = .004) and between thymoglobulin treatment for rejection and a low pyridoxine level (correlation coefficient R = 0.5, P = .05). Based on multivariate logistic regression analysis, only thymoglobulin treatment (induction or rejection treatment) was significantly associated with low pyridoxine levels (OR = 19.5, 95% CI, 1.01-375.24; P < .05). Conclusions: Low levels of pyridoxine appear to be relatively common, and thymoglobulin treatments are associated with low pyridoxine levels. Prospective studies are needed to confirm and valuate the significance of these findings.


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