The non-linear impacts of poverty, economic growth and unemployment on child abuse

Child abuse remains a persistent and grave issue worldwide, with significant social and economic implications. In Malaysia, despite various measures, child abuse rates have shown a concerning upward trend. Understanding the economic factors that contribute to this issue is essential for crafting effective interventions. This study utilizes the non-linear ARDL method to investigate the relationship between poverty, economic growth, unemployment, and child abuse in Malaysia from 1989 to 2020. The results reveal significant impacts of variations in poverty, economic output, and unemployment on child abuse rates. Specifically, higher unemployment rates are associated with higher child abuse rates over the long term, while lower unemployment rates may lead to lower rates of child abuse. Increases in poverty have been correlated with decreases in child abuse. Both positive and negative fluctuations in economic growth have direct and pronounced effects on the upward trend of child abuse rates. Interestingly, while a positive shock in economic growth increases child abuse, a negative shock mitigates it in the short run. Negative trends in poverty correspond to an increase in abuse rates. These findings highlight the complex relationship between macroeconomic factors and child abuse rates. They underscore the importance of government interventions to address this issue and promote the well-being and happiness of children as the economy advances. Therefore, policymakers are encouraged to prioritize child protection and abuse prevention as interconnected goals. This can be achieved by implementing interventions that address underlying parental stressors, such as offering support for managing work-related stress, reducing the stigma associated with unemployment, and ensuring access to mental health and social support services

Climatic inferences from glacial and palaeoecological evidence at the last glacial termination, southern South America

There is uncertainty about the interhemispheric timing of climatic changes during the last glacial–interglacial transition. Different hypotheses, relying on different lines of evidence, point variously to the Northern Hemisphere leading the Southern Hemisphere and vice versa, or to synchrony between the hemispheres. Southern South America is well placed to test the various alternatives using both glacial and palaeoecological evidence. We argue here from a synthesis of key proxy records that there was a sudden rise in temperature that initiated deglaciation sychronously over 16° of latitude at 14 600–14 300 14C yr BP (17 500–17 150 cal. yr). There was a second step of warming in the Chilean Lake District at 13 000–12 700 14C yr BP (15 650–15 350 cal. yr), which saw temperatures rise to close to modern values. A third warming step, particularly clear in the south, occurred at ca. 10 000 14C yr BP (11 400 cal. yr), the latter achieving Holocene levels of warmth. Following the initial warming, there was a lagged response in precipitation as the westerlies, after a delay of ca. 1600 yr, migrated from their northern glacial location to their present latitude, which was attained by 12 300 14C yr BP (14 300 cal. yr). The latitudinal contrasts in the timing of maximum precipitation are reflected in regional contrasts in vegetation change and in glacier behaviour. The large scale of a 80-km glacier advance in the Strait of Magellan at 12 700–10 300 14C yr BP (15 350–12 250 cal. yr), which spans the Antarctic Cold Reversal and the Younger Dryas, was influenced by the return of the westerlies to southern latitudes. The delay in the migration of the westerlies coincides with the Heinrich 1 iceberg event in the North Atlantic. The suppressed global thermohaline circulation at the time may have affected sea-surface temperatures in the South Pacific, and the return of the westerlies to their present southerly latitude only followed ocean reorganisation to its present interglacial mode