SOCIAL CAPITAL AND HOUSEHOLD INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS: EVIDENCE FROM MICHIGAN AND ILLINOIS

Social capital is a resource increasingly recognized as having important economic and social consequences. Robison and Siles (1999) examined some of these consequences at the U.S. state level and this study extends their efforts. Their 1999 study found important connections between the distributions of social capital and the distributions of household incomes. This study asks if the relationships between social capital and household incomes discovered at the state level are also present at the community level.Consumer/Household Economics, Institutional and Behavioral Economics,

Why are They Moving Away? Comparing Attachment to Place in the Great Plains to the Rest of the Nation

We combine a telephone survey of working-aged adults in the continental US with Census 2000 county and zip code tabulation area data to explore attachment to place. Using results of the 2000 US Census, we define cultural and economic regions. Our modified “Great Plains” area is that portion of the region that is experiencing population decline. We explore how attachment to place is different between the Great Plains and other regions of the US. Our measure of attachment to place is a question on the amount of additional income respondents would require to move to a similar community 500 miles away. We identify three respondent groups: unconditional migrants, conditional migrants, and unconditionally rooted. Basic tabulations and regression analysis reveal differences between the Great Plains and other regions. Natural amenities present in the community appear to play a role in shaping respondent attitudes towards relocation

Harvest of Hope: Family Farming/Farming Families

The image of the family farm as storehouse of the traditional values that built this nation—self-reliance, resourcefulness, civic pride, family strength, concern for neighbors and community, honesty, and friendliness—persists, as many recent surveys show. But the reality of this rich tradition is rapidly changing, eroding the security once represented by these nostalgic images of rural America. Although the United States is still by far the world\u27s leading overall producer of agricultural products, the number of American families making their livelihood through farming is much diminished, and if our demographers are correct, the number of family-operated farms is destined to fall still further in the coming decades as consolidation, cycles of boom and bust, and corporate invasions redefine who will farm the land. Harvest of Hope is a story of farm family life through the words of those who live it. The saga of the generations who have lived and worked on Basin Spring farm in western Kentucky is the thread that binds together the stories of eighty other farm families. They talk about their family businesses, their way of life, and the forces reshaping their lives. The challenges of making a living in farming either strengthen families or break them. Technology, government programs, and community changes that are supposed to be the hope for their future often come with unexpected drawbacks. The stories in this book—tales of growing up in farming, working in a multifamily business, juggling jobs on and off the farm, and struggling to maintain financial security and comfortable working relationships—reveal what American farming families know about hope and survival in a changing world. The authors offer a multifaceted view of the present situation, as well as suggestions for ways of enhancing the positive elements that have enriched and inspired Americans in the past. It is an analysis that highlights the myths and realities of a business and way of life that has a powerful hold on the American imagination. The reader comes away from this work with a clear idea of the tribulations farming families endure and the delicate balance between the spiritual and other rewards of farm life. Lorraine Garkovich is professor of sociology at the University of Kentucky. Janet L. Bokemeier is professor of sociology at Michigan State University. Barbara Foote is a writer who lives and works on Basin Spring Farm in western Kentucky. Anyone who cares about the future of farm families could benefit from reading this book. —Rural Development Perspectives The collaboration of two sociologists and a journalist has produced this unique and compelling picture of contemporary family farms. —Choicehttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_gerontology/1003/thumbnail.jp

You can’t always get what you want: gender differences in job satisfaction of university graduates

Previous literature stressed on the gender differences in job satisfaction and the factors influencing the job satisfaction of men and women. Two rationales are usually provided for the finding that women tend to be relatively more satisfied with their jobs than men although disadvantaged in labour markets: first, women may have relatively lower expectations of career and income, and second, they may attach relatively less importance to extrinsic rewards than men. In order to analyse whether substantial gender differences exist already at the beginning of the career, we employ information of over 20000 graduates collected through a large-scale survey of German university graduates who recently entered the labour market. We find that the job satisfaction of female graduates is on average slightly lower than the job satisfaction of male graduates, but our results do not point to substantial gender differences. In our sample of highly qualified individuals, men and women are very similar in what they want from their jobs and also in their perceptions of what they get. While our results point to substantial similarity of men and women in the early career stage, gender differences may emerge at later stages of the career life cycle

Consumer choice and managed competition: A study of multiple plan offerings in a university enrollee population

This study was to identify significant differences in health insurance plan enrollment based on consumer concerns and demographics. Emphasis was on cost, health status, physician/patient relationships, and socioeconomic demographics. The population studied was a random sample of the faculty and staff at California State University, Fresno. Data acquisition was via written questionnaire, distributed through the university mail system. Analysis was from frequency and Pearson chi-square (with Yates Correction Factor) statistics. The hypothesis that plan differences would not exist with respect to physician concerns was rejected as a result of statistical significance at > .05. There were no differences established between plans due to either health risk or cost concerns. No plan differences developed out of concerns for proximity of care, nor were differences between preferred provider organization (PPO) plans and other health maintenance organization (HMO) plans revealed relative to income, age, or educational demographics

Patterns in Income Source Expectations for Retirement Among Preretirees

Financial planning for retirement is a lifelong process constrained by financial literacy, resources, and competing demands for resources across the life course. Further, social structure shapes the availability of options for funding retirement. The social and economic frameworks surrounding retirement planning are changing, and policy makers and researchers question whether retirement expectations have adapted. To explore this question, this research used k-means cluster analysis of a 2010 survey data set to identify natural groupings of Michigan adult preretirees based on their expectations of income sources for retirement. The cluster analysis identified six distinct groups that hold very different expectations. Most had expectations that are not consistent with projected changes in social structure and resource availability and those that did were more likely to occupy traditionally privileged statuses including being White, male, and married. </jats:p

Moonlighting in Rural America

About 1.4 million nonmetro married couples had a moonlighting (working more than one job) spouse in May 1985. Compared with other rural couples, moonlighting couples were more likely to have children under 18 living at home, a college-educated spouse, higher income, farm affiliation, and work schedules that facilitated a spouse's taking a second job. The types of opportunities and economic needs associated with moonlighting differed by educational level