Many studies have conducted in the past that related to the domestic energy sector and households' appliances. These previous studies have explained the energy trends in the United Kingdom. In addition to this, the past studies have also provided wealth of information. However, all of these studies had some limitations. In addition, there were many gaps in the past studies regarding to the timing of usage the household's appliances and their daily contribution to the daily and peak demand. In this study, the researcher intended to overcome the limitations and gaps regarding the appliances time of use in the UK. In the present study, the data collected from Hillingdon Borough of London to ensure the study use the most reliable and valid data. Most importantly, suitable sampling and data collection technique applied in this study, which helped to obtain the appropriate data and outcome. All respondents were from the domestic sectors of the United Kingdom. Apart from this, to measure energy consumption in a more accurate manner, home appliances were categorised into several categories based on their functionality. Moreover, the household's appliances were categorised into time categories based on the time of use the appliances in order to determine the contribution of individual appliances at a certain time slot of the day to the total household consumption. Finally, the recommendations that have suggested in this study based on the current study as well as past studies. This means that the recommendations are a combination of all the major studies conducted. Additionally, based on the time a category of the household's appliances, a model was introduced that helped to determine how much of electrical appliances energy consuming in the UK households. Based on this model, the appliances consumption can managed and controlled. Thus, the model will help in mitigating the chances of the energy peak demand and will contribute towards energy and cost savings. Further, this study provides a valuable contribution to the field of smart homes as through the developed model, people can design a more efficient smart home. This specific method of determining energy demand has made the study more appropriate to forecast the 24h electricity demand and electricity price.

This thesis is an empirical research project assessing the household nutritional impact of the DICONSA food subsidy program in Mexico. By employing a combination of propensity score matching and OLS econometric approaches, I conduct an analysis of household survey data contained in La Encuesta Nacional de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares (ENIGH) from Mexico. I find strong evidence of a significant increase in household caloric intake in rural areas targeted by the program, driven primarily by increased consumption of DICONSA subsidised cereal products and corn grain in particular. I find no evidence of decreased caloric intake resulting from overriding income effects of subsidisation. However, my investigation into the specifics of participant household food expenditure data suggests that reselling of subsidised commodities may occur amongst poorer households.

Malaria is a vector borne, acute febrile illness, caused by Plasmodium parasites. Malaria impacts the medical and socioeconomic development programs of affected communities, as it diverts both individual and national resources into managing the disease burden. The purpose of this study was to explore and evaluate household determinants of malaria in Mutasa District, Zimbabwe. The precede-proceed theoretical model guided the study. Secondary data from Demographic Health Survey and District Health Management Information System, and current data from household determinant questionnaires, were used to evaluate the influence and significance of identified household determinants. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the association between malaria prevalence and the identified household determinant factors. The study result showed the existence of household determinant factors that affected the prevalence of malaria in Mutasa District. The presence of livestock animals within a 50-meter radius of the household, ownership of animal drawn carts and low socioeconomic status significantly increased malaria risk, while availability of drinking water within a 50-meter radius of the household, significantly reduced malaria risk. Other variables, although not statistically significant, had varied levels of malaria infection risk. The study results may contribute to positive social change by providing an insight into innovative strategies that enhance existing interventions. The study results may also provide opportunities for upgrading malaria intervention policies and sustainable community participation, thus enhancing malaria elimination efforts

Existing studies provide a range of insights into the causes of womens low retirement incomes and emphasise the effect of low life-time incomes on womens access to economic resources in later life. Despite these insights, however, there is relatively little research on the roles played by motivations, social institutions and decision-making processes in determining womens capacity to save for retirement. In order to address some of these gaps in our understanding, this study aimed to broaden the range of theoretical approaches applied to economic studies of womens retirement savings strategies. Based on methodological perspectives informed by critical realism and feminist epistemology, the study utilised grounded research methods to collect and analyse qualitative data relevant to womens financial decisions and retirement plans. The data collection and analysis process are conceptually organised and integrated to propose a theoretical contribution that emphasises the links between social structures and specific decision-making processes that systematically contribute to low retirement savings for women. The studys findings are discussed with reference to existing economic literature that has not previously been utilised in studies of womens retirement incomes. The conclusions from this study suggest that there are significant features of womens decision-making contexts that contribute to ongoing under-saving to support women in later life.

It is a conventional wisdom that since the start of the Chinese economic reform in 1978, the domestic saving structure in China has changed significantly. Previous studies of household saving in China (for example: Qian, 1988, Feltenstein et al, 1990, and Wakabayashi and Mackellar, 1999) have usually relied upon the Keynesian absolute-income hypothesis, Duesenberry’s relative-income hypothesis, and Friedman’s permanent-income hypothesis. This thesis uses the Modigliani-Brumberg life-cycle hypothesis to examine the determinants of household saving behavior in the Peoples’ Republic of China during the period 1978 to 2003. The research uses modern cointegration techniques to examine the impact on saving rates of economic growth, age dependency, wealth, the real interest rate, social security payments and unemployment (as a proxy for income uncertainty). Autoregressive distributed lag models are constructed and tested. The results find that economic growth, the real interest rate and social security payments have the expected effect with significant parameters; age dependency has the expected sign but in one model is not statistically significant; and that unemployment is not significant. The most surprising result is that increases in household wealth are associated with increased saving rates, which may help explain very high economic growth rates in China post 1978.

Womens roles in the work force have increased, however, womens positions in the household have not changed greatly (Lennon & Rosenfield, 1994). While paid work research has focused significantly on the qualities of roles, household work research has not (Janzen & Hellsten, 2007). As the few existing instruments that do measure the quality of household work roles lack psychometric evidence (Janzen & Hellsten, 2007), a new instrument assessing all aspects of the quality of household work roles and possessing evidence of validity and reliability is required. The first step in the instrument development process is the identification and definition of relevant constructs. Thus, the main purpose of the study was to identify household work themes. Four focus groups of triple role women were performed with a total of 20 participants. A snowball sampling technique was used to recruit participants. Thematic analysis of the transcripts identified eight themes: No End Result, Scheduling, Time Constraints, Psychological Strain, Equality in Work, Value, Money, and Reward. The results found women to enjoy certain aspects of household work, but that they lead busy and hectic lifestyles. The themes created in the study were placed into a table of specifications this is to guide future instrument development research in which items can be included for each of these eight themes.

This thesis focuses on Chinese immigrant women’s experiences of household work and leisure in Canada. Socialist feminist perspective is used for an analysis of in-depth conversations with ten Chinese immigrant women with children. Results show that Chinese immigrant women experienced a significant increase of household work and a dramatic decrease on leisure pursuits after immigration and/or the birth of their children, implying that gender inequalities are reproduced and reinforced. Chinese immigrant women encounter and negotiate forms of tension resulted from the striking difference of being in China and being in Canada, their change in social status and their changed gender status. This thesis may contribute background knowledge for the practitioners in recreational programs and social works specialized in immigrant settlement services. Future research could be the motives for immigration, the actual experiences of immigration; a comparative study between Chinese immigrant women and women of other ethnicities is also suggested.

This thesis looks at the immigration status differentials in time allocation to household work, value of household work, and determinants of participation rate in household work. In determining the time allocated to household work by immigration status, the data provided by General Social Survey (GSS) Circle 12 Individual Information Survey, on time spent on household work in Canada 1998 with about 6,944 respondents was used. Two methods of valuation of household unpaid work were used which were opportunity cost (before and after tax) and replacement cost. In deciding which method is best I recommend the use of replacement cost of valuing household work since GNP itself measures actual output produced. <p> In the study, I anticipated that an average immigrant spends more time in household work than an average Canadian and that an average female generally allocates more time to household work than an average male based on socio-economic factors determining household unpaid work as seen in Gronau (1977) and Becker (1965). As expected, the results show that an average female allocates more time to household work than an average male and the difference is statistically significant. An average immigrant and Canadian allocate the same amount of time to household work. However, in maintenance and repairs, the results show that males participation rate is higher than females and an average Canadian participation rate in maintenance and repairs is higher than the immigrant with statistically significant difference. When other variables were introduced into the model using probit method of estimation, it was observed that there is no significant difference in participation rates between Canadians and immigrants.

This thesis looks at the immigration status differentials in time allocation to household work, value of household work, and determinants of participation rate in household work. In determining the time allocated to household work by immigration status, the data provided by General Social Survey (GSS) Circle 12 Individual Information Survey, on time spent on household work in Canada 1998 with about 6,944 respondents was used. Two methods of valuation of household unpaid work were used which were opportunity cost (before and after tax) and replacement cost. In deciding which method is best I recommend the use of replacement cost of valuing household work since GNP itself measures actual output produced. <p> In the study, I anticipated that an average immigrant spends more time in household work than an average Canadian and that an average female generally allocates more time to household work than an average male based on socio-economic factors determining household unpaid work as seen in Gronau (1977) and Becker (1965). As expected, the results show that an average female allocates more time to household work than an average male and the difference is statistically significant. An average immigrant and Canadian allocate the same amount of time to household work. However, in maintenance and repairs, the results show that males participation rate is higher than females and an average Canadian participation rate in maintenance and repairs is higher than the immigrant with statistically significant difference. When other variables were introduced into the model using probit method of estimation, it was observed that there is no significant difference in participation rates between Canadians and immigrants.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between household food inventories (HFI) and dietary recalls among Mexican-origin children (ages 6-11 years old) who reside in Texas border region colonias. Household food availability is a known influence upon children's diets; however, this population faces unique influences upon children's dietary intake and household food availability may not exhibit the same influence upon children's dietary intake that it does in other areas of the United States. This study utilized promotoras (community healthcare workers native to the Texas border region) to collect data from participants due to their rapport with residents of the community. These promotoras collected a series of surveys, HFI's and 24-hour dietary recalls with each mother-child dyad participant. Data from the HFI-s and 24-hour recalls were entered into the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R) from the University of Minnesota and the nutrient profiles for each were analyzed. The HFI data was then adjusted for household composition to obtain a more accurate representation of what nutrients are available to each specific member of the household. After analysis, participant children reported living in households with 5.7 adults and children (range 3-10). All children participated in school breakfast and lunch programs. Age- and gender-specific body mass index (BMI) percentiles indicated that 42% were considered overweight or obese. Lower food security was associated with greater energy, total sugar, and added sugar intakes. The largest correlations between HFI's and 24-hour intakes were for total protein, total sugar, sodium, and added sugar. Sodium was the only nutrient with a significant correlation between household availability and children's dietary intake. HFI was independently associated with greater intake of sodium and lower intakes of total sugar and added sugar. Results show a relationship between household food availability and children's dietary intake. However, at the nutrient level, this association is only statistically significant for sodium and almost significant for total sugar. Colonia children are likely eating many meals outside of the home; the traditional HFI might not be useful in determining what foods are available for these children to eat.