Spatial impact of factors influencing the achievement of the Europa2020 employment targets

In this paper, autologistic models are used to examine the impact of certain factors on the likelihood of European regions' ability to meet the employment target for both men and women for the year 2017 in 270 EU regions at NUTS 2 level. The results show the role of both regional and gender differences in forming spatial clusters, as well as the presence of spatial interaction in achievement of the target. Moreover, meeting the European strategy's education target and increasing a region's GDP levels also have a positive impact on achieving the targets. These findings may be of interest for the implementation of socio-economic policies at a regional level, aimed at raising the employment rate for men and women in European regions.     

The work‐life experiences of office and site‐based employees in the Australian construction industry

A survey was conducted among employees of a large Australian construction firm. Comparisons were made between employees who differed by gender and work location. Male employees in site‐based roles reported significantly higher levels of work to family conflict and emotional exhaustion than male employees who worked in the regional or head office. Site‐based male employees were also less satisfied with their pay than male respondents who worked in the regional of head office. Few significant differences were found between women who worked in different locations. Neither were significant differences between men and women who worked in the same location reported. The results are explained in terms of women's tendency to work in administrative, secretarial or support services roles, which typically demand fewer hours. The paper concludes that the experiences of site‐based construction employees, particularly men, warrant further attention to explore the sources of work‐life imbalance and burnout.     

The combined effect of tobacco and alcohol consumption on the level of lead and cadmium in blood

This study deals with the person-to-person variation in the levels of lead and cadmium in the blood of 6437 subjects (2883 men and 3554 women). The lead level (Pb-B) is clearly higher in men than in women, and the cadmium level (Cd-B) is a little higher in men than in women. Only the Pb-B varies according to age for both sexes. The results reveal that the consumption of alcohol could play an important part in the variation of lead and cadmium levels in the blood; the consumption of alcohol is associated with an increase in Pb-B but a decrease in Cd-B. These variations involving alcohol consumption remain significant regardless of smoking habits. On the other hand, an increase in Pb-B and Cd-B has been noted among smokers and, to a lesser degree, among former smokers, compared with non-smokers.     

Housing,Lone Parenthood and Gender: A Qualitative Approach in Southern Europe

One of the most significant changes affecting family structures in Europe over the last few decades is the remarkable increase in the number of lone-parent families as a result of the dissolution of relationships. Housing is one of the primary needs that arises. Attitudes for coping with the situation are varied and are determined by a number of factors—legal/legislative framework, finances and employment, psycho-social factors—which all affect men and women differently in terms of housing. The main goal of this research is to address, from the gender perspective, the constraints, needs and preferences expressed by men and women who become lone parents as a result of separation. The paper has adopted a qualitative method based on discussion groups, including a sample of divorced or separated men and women living as lone parents in Southern Europe.     

Housing movements of the divorced and separated

The first section of the paper uses information from the 1976 Family Formation Survey to investigate the extent and pattern of the housing movements made by women at and subsequent to the breakdown of their marriages. Overall, half the women who had experienced breakdown left the marital home at breakdown, but this proportion varied with age, tenure, sharing status and whether or not there were children from the marriage. The Labour Force Survey of 1981 is then used to provide more detailed cross‐sectional information on the housing and household circumstances of divorced and legally separated men and women than is currently available from other official statistical sources. It is shown that the parental home is an extremely important source of housing for young manual‐class men whose marriages have broken down.     

Greenspace matters: exploring links between greenspace,gender and well-being with conservation volunteers

Abstract

Our study aimed to increase understanding of the effect of gender on mediating engagement with greenspace, currently poorly understood. We engaged with a group of conservation volunteers in a Scottish city to explore how men and women benefit from and interact with greenspace in a deprived area. We found that interactions with the greenspace have multiple health and well-being benefits and that differences in engagement (and therefore potentially in any well-being benefits accrued) can be identified between men and women in terms of: motivations for getting involved with the group (e.g., men got involved for something to do whilst women sought to pursue conservation experience), connections volunteers made being in the group (e.g., men were more likely to value the social connections they made in the group than women) and finally, and potentially most importantly, the greenspace being valued for being a ‘neutral space’ where volunteers (especially men) felt more at ease and equal than in other places. This research enhances understanding of the ways in which benefits from engagement with greenspace are mediated through social factors such as gender and volunteering. Such research is important to planners and policy-makers in understanding how greenspace use can be encouraged for different genders.     

Men’s experiences of state sponsored housing in South Africa: emerging issues and key questions

In South African cities, millions of men and women living informally are being rehoused through the state-directed provision of formal houses to poor beneficiaries. This intervention is reshaping their lives, and innovatively targets beneficiaries with dependents, where over half are women. Aiming to redress the historical context of gendered inequality in housing ownership and house the very poor, these policy and implementation changes necessarily impact on men in terms of their power, resources and employment but in complex ways including positive and negative. The home remains significant for many men’s desires for authority and identity. Using the lens of masculinity, this paper considers the ways in which men are experiencing this housing intervention, revealing a complex mix of outcomes in terms of their sense of identity, their relationships and their financial pressures and income generation. It draws on empirical work in South Africa to illuminate the importance of focusing on men in relation to housing and offers key questions for future research.     

The Line of Descent in the Intergenerational Transmission of Domestic Property

Although there has been a growing interest over recent years in the intergenerational transmission of Western domestic property, and specifically housing inheritance, the line of descent in this transmission has been ignored. We do not know whether domestic property goes disproportionately to the next generations(s) of men, or to women, or equally to men and women as the Western cognatic system of descent would dictate. This paper explores the line of descent through an argument proffered by two European sociologists, Delphy and Leonard. They maintain that domestic property goes disproportionately to the next generation(s) of men because of the power of patriarchy. However, neither available information, nor data from an Australian case study, confirms this claim. Indeed, there is a suggestion that domestic property goes roughly equally to the next generations of men and women. The implications of these findings are explored.     

Association of toxic and essential metals with atopy markers and ventilatory lung function in women and men

The association of age, smoking, alcohol, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), blood lead (BPb) and cadmium (BCd) levels, and serum levels of copper (SCu), zinc (SZn) and selenium (SSe) with atopic status and ventilatory function was examined in the groups of 166 women and 50 men with no occupational exposure to metals or other xenobiotics. Markers of atopy included serum total IgE, skin prick test (SPT) to common inhalatory allergens, non-specific nasal reactivity (NNR) and non-specific bronchial reactivity (NBR). Parameters of ventilatory function included forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV(1)). Significantly higher BPb, SZn, IgE and prevalence of positive SPT, and lower SCu and NNR was found in men than in women. Fifteen women taking female sex hormones (HT) had significantly higher SCu than women without HT. Regression models showed significant inverse associations between IgE and SCu (P=0.021) and NNR and SCu (P=0.044) in women. When excluding women with HT, the association of SCu and total IgE became of borderline significance (P=0.051), association between SCu and NNR disappeared, and significant positive association between total IgE and BPb emerged (P=0.046). In men, significant inverse association was found between positive SPT and SSe, and between NBR and SSe. A decrease in FVC% and FEV(1)% was associated with an increase in smoking intensity (P<0.001) and a decrease in SZn (P=0.043 and P=0.053, respectively). These results were observed at the levels of the metals comparable to those in general populations worldwide. The observed differences between men and women may partly be explained by different levels of relevant toxic and essential metals, and their combination. The role of female HT in associations of atopy markers and SCu should be further investigated.     

Privacy in the private sphere

This article examines the issue of privacy within the home as a way of exploring the contradiction between feminist views that women and men experience the home differently ‐ and indeed that women may find the home oppressive ‐ and Saunders’ recent (1990) evidence that men and women express similar and equally strong positive sentiments about their home. We conclude that privacy within the home is negotiated within the wider framework of familial ideology and the ideals of ‘home’ and the companionate marriage’, so that within the home there is typically differential access to privacy for adults and children, and men and women.     

Dietary exposure to copper in the European Union and its assessment for EU regulatory risk assessment

EU legislation requires a multimedia exposure assessment for substances supplied within the EU. Dietary intake is the main source of exposure for the majority of the population hence an essential component of the human risk assessment. This paper describes the available data for dietary copper and its use in estimating daily intake including variability and determinants of exposure. Typical and reasonable worst-case estimates are derived for the general population from the available peer reviewed literature. Intakes from drinking water are found to exhibit more variability than those from food. Therefore, different exposure scenarios are derived to reflect the range of acute and chronic exposures that may occur. Estimates of typical copper intakes for the EU population are in the range 0.8-1.8 mg/day. Typical copper intakes of men are higher than those of women while the intake among the general adult population is higher than that of the elderly. Intakes of both men and women are generally close to the WHO normative requirements but may be somewhat lower in specific locations where background levels of copper are unusually low. Alcoholic beverages represent minor contribution daily copper intakes. Intakes for children are rather variable ranging broadly from 0.7 to 1.5 mg/day and are somewhat age and sex dependent. Greater uncertainty applies to the assessment of local exposure incorporating food produced on land directly impacted by contemporary copper industry emissions. Specifically, the extent to which soil is enriched in copper in these conditions is unclear. However, effective homeostatic control mechanisms in plants limit uptake and transfer to the human food chain. A best estimate of 0.25 mg/day in addition to regional exposure was derived. Drinking water is estimated to contribute only marginally to total copper intake in most cases. Higher intakes may occur in areas of poor water quality and/or corroded distribution systems. Such elevated exposures appear unusual but their frequency is unknown.     

A comparison of retirement migration from Paris and London

"Retirement migration from Paris and London [is] compared by means of data from the OPCS Longitudinal Study for London and from the Echantillon Demographique Permanent for Paris. The levels of retirement migration for men and women from different zones of each capital city are examined and the social class differences in retirement migration in London and Paris and the different role which housing tenure plays in the two cities are highlighted. The authors go on to examine the regions to which Londoners and Parisians move on retirement and the type of housing which they take. In all cases, marked differences are found in migration behaviour between newly retired men and women in Paris and London, linked to urban structures and cultural differences."     

High School Graduate Earnings in New York City: The Effects of Skill,Gender, Race and Ethnicity

This article investigates gender and racial/ethnic wage gaps for high‐school‐educated residents of New York City. The study measures local skill requirements in detailed occupations and endeavors to control for space and skill as determinants of group earnings inequality. Wage earnings models show higher returns to observed skills for male high school graduates relative to women and for young white men relative to young black and Hispanic men. A second major source of inequality is the relatively low employment shares of women and young minority men in occupations requiring high levels of occupationally specific vocational preparation. Possible explanations for the group variation include unobserved average productivity differences, segregated job information/recruitment networks and employer wage and hiring discrimination. The article concludes by reviewing local policy options to help bridge the wage gaps.     

妇女在千年目标中应得到的优先考虑

根据发展中国家提供的信息，由妇女当家的家庭普遍比男子当家的家庭贫困。     

Blood lead levels of the general populations of three Chinese cities

Blood samples were obtained from 537 adults (age greater than or equal to 16 years) living in three cities in China; in Hefei in 1985, and in Shenyang and Jinxi in 1987. The samples were subjected to blood lead (Pb-B) analyses. The subjects were factory workers either in solvent-synthesizing or solvent application plants with no known exposure to metals (including lead). Their smoking and drinking habits were confirmed in medical interviews. Blood lead was significantly higher in smokers than in non-smokers, although no dose-dependency was observed. The Pb-B values in non-smokers were log-normally distributed. The Pb-B among non-smokers was significantly higher in men [104.0 micrograms l-1 (1.428) 87] [geometric mean (geometric standard deviation) number of determinations] than in women [75.5 micrograms l-1 (1.358) 225] when the data from the three cities were combined. There was a significant difference in the Pb-B levels of non-smoking men in the three cities studied, suggesting that regional food habits should be considered as a possible contributory factor of a non-occupational nature. The present findings are compared with observations from Korea and Japan from the viewpoint of environmental health.     

为什么没有伟大的女建筑师?

上世纪60～70年代,女建筑师的生存状况开始引起西方女性主义建筑学者的关注.但在没有强大女性运动传统的中国,这一问题至今尚未引起足够的重视.本文以“为什么没有伟大的女建筑师”为线索,尝试引发人们对女建筑师的重视.笔者认为,历史中之所以没有伟大的女建筑师,一方面是因为女性在进入建筑师职业之前的建造行为不被认可为评价伟大建...     

女性·建筑设计·职业:浅析女性建筑师的现状及未来

本文围绕着建筑设计领域中知名建筑师男性占绝大多数这一现象,分别从历史原因、女性生理及心理特点、社会原因三个方面挖掘其根源所在,指出现阶段女性从事建筑设计工作的优势与不足,并展望了今后更多职业女建筑师的出现给建筑设计市场带来的美好前景。     

Urbanisation in Swaziland

Swaziland’s growing urban crisis, coupled with high levels of unemployment brings to attention the question, Do women migrate? Research on migration within Swaziland’s national boundaries has emphasised the role of men in the migration process, with the implication that women participate little in migration. The complexity of migration, involving social networks and connections in a number of places, as well as moves of individuals and groups between several places over time, needs to be considered for a more nuanced understanding of the role of women in migration (Trager 1995). Gould (1995:132) points out that migration does not cease in a collapsed economy, it merely takes on different forms, and in some cases the relative importance of urban and long-distance migration may be reduced. Certainly, changes in the political, social and economic structure of Swaziland and of her more powerful neighbour, South Africa, caused the migration of Swazi women to take on different forms at different times — a factor of social change within the fabric of Swazi society and economic restructuring within a Southern African regional economy. In this sense, it could be said that Swazi female migration has acted as a barometer to the continuously changing interrelationships between population movements and the development process which are intricately bound into the changing geographies of Southern African countries.     

Gender,Class and Home Ownership: Placing the Connections

This paper contributes to understandings of how gender interacts with the social class implications of home ownership. It is argued that the connections between gender, class and home ownership have only been partially elaborated, and suggested that a more specific focus on identity and the socio-spatial context facilitates a more complex portrayal of these connections. Using material from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 60 men and women in two neighbourhoods in Vancouver, British Columbia, it will be demonstrated that, contrary to common expectations, home ownership is an important component of both middle-class masculinity and middle-class femininity. However, there is no singular or linear connection between gender, class and home. Instead, there is conflict between familial and status expressions of home, conflict that varies for men and women and according to geographical location.     

Gender differences in the impact of family background on leaving the parental home

We address the question to what extent characteristics of the family of origin influence the timing of leaving the parental home and to what extent these effects differ between men and women. We use data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study to examine the effects of parental resources, atmosphere in the family of origin and family structure on leaving home to live without a partner and leaving home to live with a partner. The results indicate that a pleasant atmosphere in the parental home decreases the risk of leaving home and living in stepfamilies or single-parent families increases this risk. The availability of parental resources leads to a decreased risk of leaving home at young ages, but an increased risk at later ages. Many of these effects are found for both men and women and for both pathways out of the home. Furthermore, we find evidence that women are affected more strongly by family background characteristics than men are.