The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relative advantages and disadvantages of two approaches for estimating oral bioaccessibility using a physiologically-based extraction technique (PBET): a simple gastric phase simulation and a two-phase gastrointestinal simulation. Bioaccessibility estimates of six metals prevalent in Canadian contaminated sites (zinc, lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, and chromium) were compared using the gastric phase simulation alone and the complete gastrointestinal simulation. Samples included vacuum dust samples from 33 homes, certified dust and soil reference materials, and a house dust control sample. Bioaccessibility measurements using the gastric phase simulation were greater than or equal to measurements obtained using the gastrointestinal simulation for the six studied metals. This research found that for the six studied metals, a simple simulation of the gastric phase provides the most conservative and cost-effective approach for estimating oral bioaccessibility of ingested metals.

The studies deal with analysis of household indebtedness evolution. There is examined causes and consequences of development of debt. Work describes evolution of household indebtedness in banking and non-banking institution. It evaluates influencing factors of household debt. It provides comparison of indebtedness Czech households compared with households of EU countries.

This work focuses on family issues and its development from 1989 to the present. By analyzing the demographic characteristics and sociological facts are trying to determine whether the education of the child is still determined by marriage or otherwise under the common coexistence of household. The thesis is divided into three main chapters. The first analyzes the demographic characteristics associated with households. The second chapter is devoted to the concepts of family and household. The final chapter contains data analysis of the Labour Force Survey for the home. In conclusion, we find the reflection on the future development of family issues.

Empowerment-based approaches to social development has attracted substantial attention in the last two decades. At the core of this debate is the preposition that empowering marginalised groups can improve their agency, with possible favourable implications for their life outcomes. The household bargaining literature has examined the effect of women’s empowerment/bargaining power on development outcomes (e.g. health, education, agriculture and household expenditure). A core issue in this literature is the measurement of what constitute women’s empowerment. The literature in economics and human development has tended to rely on the use of proxies that capture women’s access to resources and or capabilities/functioning. This approach tends to ignore or deemphasise the importance of social norms/informal institutions (norms, values, traditions, beliefs etc), which via patriarchal gender stereotypes, restrict women’s voice and access to resources. Although some researchers in demography have used proxies that capture social norms, they have been used alone, thus telling a single sided story as in the case of the economics and human development literature. Secondly, the discussion on the instrumental importance of women’s empowerment in this literature seem to have focused mainly on mean development outcomes compared to the distributions of such outcomes in the population (inequality). Thus, the current study, using Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data from 20 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, computes a composite women’s empowerment Index (CWEI), together with two sub-indices (social norms and access to resources) representing two dimensions of CWEI. The study further examines the comparative effect of social norms and women’s access to resources on household health (i.e. mean health outcomes for women and children and poor child health inequality). Results suggest that in general, women from Southern Africa have a higher score on CWEI compared to their counterparts from East and Central Africa and West Africa. In addition, Southern African women are more able to negotiate social norms that constrain their voice and agency, whiles women from West Africa perform better on the access to resources index. Information from the DHS data and other external data sources (World Development Indicators database, International Labour Office and WEIGO), together with the SSA literature on the politics of liberation struggles and the formal/informal dichotomy of SSA economies, suggest that the sub-regional differences may be due to the unique history of liberation struggles in Southern Africa and the relatively large size of the informal sector in West Africa. Multivariate results also confirm the long held view that women’s empowerment positively influences household health (mean health outcomes and inequality), with social norms having a much higher effect on household health compared to women’s access to resources. In addition, the results suggest that other factors such as women’s education, household wealth, access to and availability of health services, rural/urban and provincial differences have a higher effect on household health compared to the two dimensions of women’s empowerment. The study concludes, advocating that interventions aimed at improving women’s empowerment and bargaining emphasise issues of social norms, since they are likely to constrain women’s voice, access to resources and consequently implications on household outcomes. This emphasis must however take into consideration the importance of other equally important factors (women’s education, household wealth, access to and availability of health services etc), given that women’s empowerment (especially informal institutions such as social norms) could take a long time to change and their effect realized in the long-term.

In this thesis, South African survey data (which was collected as part of a separate project on ageing and wellbeing), is analysed in order to explore old age social pension-handling and the extent to which social pensions influence decisions about living arrangements. The findings have implications for current policy debates in South Africa and beyond. A key argument against widening the South African social safety net to cover other groups which do not currently have access to grants (such as the unemployed), is based upon the premise that social grants foster dependency. Empirical evidence which suggests that family members move into the households of pensioners has been used to suggest that social grants cultivate a disincentive to work. A Regression Discontinuity design is used to consider the relationship between pensions and household composition around the threshold of age eligibility for a pension. The study contributes new empirical evidence which demonstrates that pensions are linked to changes in living arrangements just before and following the age of eligibility. The changes are not extensive and are restricted to particular age/gender groups. Nevertheless, effects are established, which is not surprising in light of the fact that pensions represent a regular, reliable and principal income source for many South Africans and that, based on new evidence contributed by this study, as well as previous studies, intra-household pension sharing appears to be a pervasive and persistent social norm. Overall, the analysis finds stronger evidence of pensions having either a ‘crowding out’ effect, or no effect at all, as opposed to a ‘crowding in’ effect, which casts doubt on dependency theories. Furthermore, the results suggest that pensions given to men may lead to fewer changes in household composition than pensions given to women. A key difference is that there was no evidence to suggest that for men, pensions are associated with systematic changes in the average number of prime working-age household members. This is generally consistent with findings from previous studies. A key theory regarding gender-based disparities in pension effects, relates to gender-based differences in the extent of intra-household pension sharing. In this study, there was no evidence produced to suggest that beneficiary gender influences the extent of intra-household pension sharing. The methodological challenges associated with the analysis of intra-household income-handling are acknowledged. However, with no evidence of differences in pension sharing behaviour observed, other potential explanations are considered. In particular, it is speculated that gender-based differences in child care provision by pensioners may influence the ability of parents, particularly mothers, to become labour migrants, and that gender-based disparities in life expectancy after pension eligibility age may be important factors.

Saving is critical for the economic development of a country and can insulate it from unwanted inflation and financial instability as a result of international exposure. South Africa is currently experiencing low savings rates and many South Africans have difficulty servicing their debts. Black Africans form the majority in South Africa and they are therefore of critical importance with regard to saving and this country’s ability to finance future projects. It can be argued that the White South African population is becoming older and will therefore begin to withdraw its savings. A literature review has been undertaken to distil the determinants of saving in general and to observe the applicability of these determinants to Black middle class South Africans. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of household savings of the Black middle class, with reference to questionnaires and quantitative answers from the respondents in four of South Africa’s provinces. The key findings of the research indicate that the South African Black middle class is financially illiterate and not disciplined with regard to budgeting. They show a high dependency ratio, and the need for instant gratification. In addition, people are hindered by cultural norms that inhibit them from discussing theirSaving is critical for the economic development of a country and can insulate it from unwanted inflation and financial instability as a result of international exposure. South Africa is currently experiencing low savings rates and many South Africans have difficulty servicing their debts. Black Africans form the majority in South Africa and they are therefore of critical importance with regard to saving and this country’s ability to finance future projects. It can be argued that the White South African population is becoming older and will therefore begin to withdraw its savings. A literature review has been undertaken to distil the determinants of saving in general and to observe the applicability of these determinants to Black middle class South Africans. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify the determinants of household savings of the Black middle class, with reference to questionnaires and quantitative answers from the respondents in four of South Africa’s provinces. The key findings of the research indicate that the South African Black middle class is financially illiterate and not disciplined with regard to budgeting. They show a high dependency ratio, and the need for instant gratification. In addition, people are hindered by cultural norms that inhibit them from discussing their finances. These findings can be traced back to this class’s previous exclusion from the main economy. The recommended outcome of this paper indicates that the South African government should implement budgeting as part of the curriculum in primary and high schools. People leaving employment before retirement should not be allowed to cash out more than 50% of their pension fund, and the private sector should be involved in educating its employees with regard to budgeting and the benefits of saving, while creating an environment that facilitates access to financial providers. / Dissertation (MBA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) / unrestricted

The objective of this dissertation is to document the lived experience of mothering in poverty and the unique challenges the role of mother presents to maintaining food security. Millions of households in the United States are struggling to put food on the table, a problem made worse by the current economic recession and high food prices. Among them, households with children and specifically, single mothers, report the highest prevalence of food insecurity. While Federal food assistance programs are available to help alleviate this issue, the continued problem of hunger is a very real and pervasive concern for millions of American families. While there is a robust and comprehensive scholarly body of work focused on food security and nutrition, this study fills an important gap in the literature. By describing the unique social and cultural circumstances that accompany the transition to motherhood in a low-income setting, I connect the lived experienced of mothering with vulnerability to food insecurity. This is framed within the underlying assumption that the related experiences of expectant mothering and caring for an infant impart different risk factors for food insecurity. This study used a mixed methods approach to examine its objectives. These include semi-structured ethnographic interviews, participant observation, surveys and questionnaires and foodscape analysis. The mixed method design allowed for a holistic examination of the lived experience of mothers through narrative analysis, the visual representation of their foodscape through community mapping, and the triangulation of findings through administered surveys and questionnaires. The primary findings of this dissertation include identification of social, cultural and geographic patterns of maternal isolation among low-income women and their impact on food security. Results of this study indicate that the unique demands of mothering in a low-income setting present challenges to maintaining food security. Gaps in services provided to low-income mothers to address food insecurity were identified to include improving the social connectedness of expectant and new mothers. This study is intended to reach a wide target audience including students, practitioners, anthropological colleagues and policymakers. In an effort to translate the findings of this study into practical recommendations for action, the author calls for more research into the issue of maternal isolation and for policy initiatives to recognize the unique role mothering plays in contributing to household food security status.

<p>Using self-reports from 83 military connected youths, the results of the present study challenge convention, suggesting first that the best fitting model for youth’s non-normative caregiving behaviors includes three distinct behavior types: Parentification, Adultification, Role Reversal. Second, that while non-normative caregiving behaviors may be associated with youths’ socio-emotional well-being, how these behaviors are associated may depend on both the behavior and the outcome. Lastly, that Unfairness significantly moderates the association between youth’s non-normative caregiving behavior types and socio-emotional wellbeing. Implications and directions for future research on youths’ non-normative caregiving experiences and types of non-normative caregiving behaviors are considered.</p>

Climate patterns over the past century served to amplify the frequency and intensity of environmental hazards, including flooding, wind and heat. While indicators like SoVi and BRIC begin to characterize how people and places fair against hazards, they can be limited in scope. Through the administration of household surveys, I investigate the usefulness of such indicators by examining the roles communication, infrastructure, institutional efforts, financial independence, knowledge, mobility and social capital play in producing resilience within the Estates of Fort Lauderdale Community in Dania Beach, FL. While results confirm BRIC’s Medium-High Resilience community classification, they push beyond Census data to pinpoint underlying resilience processes. Responses indicate community classification, they push beyond Census data to pinpoint underlying resilience processes. Responses indicate that place attachment and community connectedness encourage weather-related information sharing, limited experiences and skills impede weather preparedness and response actions, and weather preparedness and response experiences are associated with less evacuation than expected. Findings prove to be richer and more policy and program actionable. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2020. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Savings is essential for boosting economic growth. Low savings in a country will have negative consequences for both investment and economic growth. South Africa has continued to expe rience declining saving rates and in recent years, accompanied by declining economic growth. The study evaluated savings in South Africa by decomposing it into household saving, cor porate saving and public saving. The focus was to investigate the determinants of household savings, corporate and public savings. In addition to examining the determinants of savings, the research has also analysed the saving-investment relationship for South Africa. The study used a Bayesian vector auto regressive model to investigate the determinants of household sav ing from 1980Q1 to 2017Q4. The results of the investigation on household saving showed that GDP, inflation rate, and financial deepening determine household saving in South Africa. The Bayesian VAR was also used to identify the determinant of budget deficit between 1980Q1 to 2017Q and found Real GDP, inflation rate, total government debt, investment by general government and the inflation rate to be determinants. The Blundel-Bond Generalized Method of Moment (GMM) was used to investigate the determinants of corporate saving in form of cash holding for 80 non-financial firms listed on the JSE between 2007 and 2017. The results showed leverage, cash flow, debt maturity and previous amounts of cash holding to have significant effect on cash holding in SA. Lastly, the study examined the saving-investment nexus for South Africa using yearly data from 1980 to 2016. Using the Autoregressive Distributed lag (ARDL) and the Error Correction Model, (ECM), the study found a cointegrating relationship between domestic saving and domestic investment. It further found a positive relationship between domestic saving and domestic investment in both the short and long run. Causality analysis showed a unidirectional causality from domestic saving to domestic investment.