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The plight of the poor has played a role in America’s politics for decades. In the 1930’s, Franklin Roosevelt’s Democratic Party vowed to fight the Great Depression, and by implementing countless anti-poverty initiatives and agencies it won enormous favor with the public and ushered in a period of Democratic dominance. In modern politics, narratives surrounding the poor and programs designed to help them are utilized by Republicans and Democrats to further their party’s agenda. I examine the influence of various demographic factors on the attitudes of Mississippi residents towards spending by the government intended to alleviate poverty, using the Mississippi Poll’s results from the years 2004-2014 as my dataset and using cross-tabulation analyses to draw conclusions. I find that gender and religiosity are relatively weak predictors of poverty spending attitudes, while income, education, and age are stronger predictors, and race and party identification are very strong predictors.

Fourteen years after the demise of apartheid and embrace of democracy, South Africa as a nation is still undergoing its transformation politically, socially and economically. This environmental churning has high impact on employee perceptions within the workplace, which subsequently affects retention rates. Among the challenges facing people managers in this environment is employee motivation. However, to thoroughly understand what motivates today’s diverse employee base, one needs to look further than the current landscape into historical backgrounds, to build up character models for different demographics. The study aimed to identify associations between employee motivation and employee demographics (gender, age, race and organisational level) in the South African banking industry by also taking into account South African history to understand these associations and to translate the insights gained into effective leadership. A survey questionnaire, based on ten motivation factors, was adapted from similar studies pioneered by Kovach in 1946, who conducted subsequent studies in 1987 and 1995. The questionnaire for this study was forwarded via email to South African banking employees requesting them to provide demographic data and complete a short questionnaire with two countercheck questions per motivation factor. The collected data was then analysed to identify any associations by highlighting differences in means of the responses to the motivation factors between employee demographic categories. The means were also used to rank the ten motivation factors for each demographic category. It was concluded that there were associations, particularly between generations and the motivation factors, while gender showed the least association. On the other hand, similarities were also identified. Deserving of particular mention are similarities indicative of the Ubuntu concept of African culture across all demographic categories. Recommendations for retention strategies were provided based on these conclusions.

While there is great concern about the potential impact of aging populations on health care systems in the developed world, evidence from recent decades has shown at best a weak relationship between population aging and health expenditures at the aggregate level. This thesis explores the literature that frames the relationship between age and health care utilization in the context of reduced mortality and shorter periods of morbidity at the end of life. We add to this literature with an empirical study of individual health expenditures of the British Columbia senior population in the years 1991-2001 in the categories of hospital services, continuing care, doctor billings, and pharmaceutical prescriptions. Expenditures for decedent and survivors of the same age are compared and are fitted to a model using age and time-to-death as explanatory factors. The partial derivative of the model with respect to age is analyzed for empirical estimates of the effect of age after controlling for time-to-death. Results show that decedent costs rose over the study period while costs for survivors fell, particularly in continuing care, so that the relative cost of dying increased. The effect of age, after controlling for time to death, was muted or negative for hospitals, doctors, and drugs, but strongly positive for continuing care and, as a result, for all services combined. Overall, these results suggest that age is not a ‘red herring’, as some researchers have suggested, with respect to forecasting future demands on health systems. While future reductions in mortality and morbidity could mitigate pressures on hospitals, aging populations will put increased pressure on long-term residential care and other forms of social care.

Fourteen years after the demise of apartheid and embrace of democracy, South Africa as a nation is still undergoing its transformation politically, socially and economically. This environmental churning has high impact on employee perceptions within the workplace, which subsequently affects retention rates. Among the challenges facing people managers in this environment is employee motivation. However, to thoroughly understand what motivates today’s diverse employee base, one needs to look further than the current landscape into historical backgrounds, to build up character models for different demographics. The study aimed to identify associations between employee motivation and employee demographics (gender, age, race and organisational level) in the South African banking industry by also taking into account South African history to understand these associations and to translate the insights gained into effective leadership. A survey questionnaire, based on ten motivation factors, was adapted from similar studies pioneered by Kovach in 1946, who conducted subsequent studies in 1987 and 1995. The questionnaire for this study was forwarded via email to South African banking employees requesting them to provide demographic data and complete a short questionnaire with two countercheck questions per motivation factor. The collected data was then analysed to identify any associations by highlighting differences in means of the responses to the motivation factors between employee demographic categories. The means were also used to rank the ten motivation factors for each demographic category. It was concluded that there were associations, particularly between generations and the motivation factors, while gender showed the least association. On the other hand, similarities were also identified. Deserving of particular mention are similarities indicative of the Ubuntu concept of African culture across all demographic categories. Recommendations for retention strategies were provided based on these conclusions.

Thesis advisor: Richard McGowan / Proposition 13 revolutionized local politics in California when it stated that any future increase in taxes or tax rates would require a vote of two-thirds of the electors in any given local jurisdiction. Since California is the sixth largest economy in the world and exhibits tremendous economic and demographic variation, this study seeks to determine what characteristics of a county can be used to predict whether or not a local ballot initiative will pass. In addition, this study attempts to determine whether there is a distinction between the predictive value of demographic variables for transportation, education, safety, and facilities initiatives. This report reveals that greater wealth within a county is associated with a greater likelihood of an initiative passing, although at a decreasing rate. The data also suggests that a greater percentage of nonwhites in a county is correlated with an initiative passing. In counties with larger elderly populations, initiatives are less likely to pass. Furthermore, the data indicates that the impact of demographics varies for transportation, education, safety, and facilities initiatives. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

In 2008, a severe economic crisis hit economies around the world. Its effects included a significant loss of GDP and employment which led to several social ills associated with recessions. However, the crisis did not impact all places with the same severity. This thesis investigates the crisis impact across GB Local Authority Districts during 2008-2014 within a framework that utilises the concept of economic resilience. However, this concept does not have a universally accepted definition or methodology of investigation. Hence, the study adopts an operational definition, comparing the conditions in local labour markets before and after the start of the recession. Using this method, a wide variation in resilience performance is identified across spatial areas. To identify the determinants of these differences, the study critically examines existing empirical studies and relevant theories. The factors identified range from past labour market performance to industrial structure, skills, demographics and other variables. The thesis then adopts an empirical method of investigation utilising a cross-sectional model. The results indicate that places which performed well before the start of the crisis have suffered deeper crisis impacts. However, the share of younger aged population and degree level qualification holders has mitigated the impact. The results are confirmed by robustness checks concerning the influence of outliers, migration and exploring the use of a composite indicator of resilience. It is the first time that a study of the crisis has focused on GB Local Authority Districts and comprehensively examined local labour markets. Moreover, the study makes a contribution by providing an operational definition and methodology for measuring resilience and empirically testing the impact of a range of determinants of resilience performance. The policy implications suggest a greater focus on skills and the attraction of younger aged workers through increased embeddedness of anchor institutions such as universities, as well as the inclusion of resilience as a core element of place-based policies.

Many adolescents with substance use disorders have ongoing problems with abuse and/or dependence throughout their lives. Little research has been conducted examining the differences among adolescents who do and do not continue to have difficulties. This study compared adolescents who recidivate versus those who do not recidivate after receiving treatment for substance abuse. Adolescents were compared on four categories of variables: (a) demographic variables, (c) delinquency /substance use history, ( c) social/educational support, and ( d) treatment history. It was found that the most powerful predictors of recidivism within these categories were criminal history severity, age at intake, and treatment completion. The implication of this finding is discussed. It may be possible in the future for treatment providers to identify adolescents most at risk for recidivism, as these teens should perhaps receive more intensive treatment, a different type of treatment, and/or more intensive monitoring during and after treatment.

Summary: In the past population geographers have tended to concentrate excessively on the task of mapping, discussing, and explaining the geographical distribution and pattern of change associated with demographical distribution and pattern of change associated with demographic problems and situations found in the developed world, namely Europe and the Americas. (Zelinsky: 1961). During the past decade, however, increasing attention has been given to the dynamics of population structure. This is particularly evident in the case of geographical mobility, and a considerable body of knowledge has already been accumulated on the spatial distribution of mortality. Human fertility, too, has become a major focal point for research. Part of this interest has been stimulated by the world-wide problem of excessive and unevenly distributed population growth. This has been coupled with the realization that fertility is the paramount influence on population growth rates, both in situations of sharply declining mortality, as in the economically advanced nations, and already low death rates, as in much of the rest of the world. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that, in a closed population, it is only when substantial changes in fertility occur that major shifts in age-structure become evident. Theory relating to population dynamics, especially fertility, has developed largely from studies of Western populations. According to Zelinsky there are as few as two identifiable demographic paradigms in current use. These are the so-called Laws of Migration (Ravenstein: 1883) and the Theory of Demographic Transition. This concept appears to have been introduced by Thompson (1929) and has since been restated in numerous forms. Perhaps the most elaborate is that presented by Cowgill: 1962-63)...

Water is a limited and essential resource for living and its importance is understood by all. Water is a scarce resource in Australia. Many of the river basins in Australia cover only a small area and the rivers that drain them are seasonal in flow. Climate change coupled with increasing population and a growing economy has put stress on the existing water resources. In the period of drought between 2003 and 2005 the careful consumption of water was of high importance and there is a consequent need to develop new methods to use water wisely. The state and federal governments have initiated many campaigns over the past decade to reduce water consumption and conserve water. This thesis aims to identify the relationship between socio-demographic factors and water consumption using multivariate analysis techniques and geographic information systems (GIS). This thesis has examined the water consumption patterns of Metropolitan Melbourne on a postcode level during the period 2000-2005. It has investigated how these patterns have altered with time and examined whether or not these changes are geographically linked. The effectiveness of the advertising campaigns and educational programs undertaken during the study period by The Victorian Government and its impact on Melbourne's water usage has been evaluated. Moran's I statistic was performed using water consumption to find spatial autocorrelation among postcodes. Multivariate techniques of factor and regression analysis were used to develop a model based on socio-demographic predictors to estimate water consumption. The relationship between separate dwellings, business counts, distance from GPO, semi detached dwellings and academically less qualified residents has been identified in this study. The numbers of separate dwellings and businesses have a significant influence on water consumption. Water use and soci o-demographic data are visualised by the creation of thematic maps using GIS.