Förändringar på arbetsmarknaden har medfört att anställda i allt större utsträckning upplever anställningsotrygghet. Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka huruvida autonomi, deltagande i beslutsfattande och arbetsrelaterat socialt stöd kan moderera sambandet mellan anställningsotrygghet och framtida psykisk ohälsa samt bristande arbetstrivsel. En enkät besvarades av 181 anställda på en revisionsfirma vid två tillfällen. Resultatet av hierarkiska regressionsanalyser indikerar att kvantitativ och kvalitativ anställningsotrygghet predicerar bristande arbetstrivsel och att kvalitativ anställningsotrygghet även predicerar psykisk ohälsa. Varken autonomi över arbetsuppgifterna, deltagande i beslutsfattande, socialt stöd från kollegor eller från chefer dämpande dessa samband. Möjligen har tidigare tvärsnittsstudier överskattat den modererande effekten av arbetsrelaterad kontroll och socialt stöd.

This paper examines how socioeconomic status and economic insecurity relate to obesity in working-age Canadians between 2000 and 2010. First, I attempt to explain the gender specific gradients in body mass. Second, I test the theory that higher levels of economic insecurity are associated with higher rates of obesity. Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey is used to determine how BMI relates to various measures of income, food insecurity, and stress. My results indicate that low income is associated with higher rates of female obesity and lower rates of male obesity. Economic insecurity measured at the provincial level, such as the employment rate seems to have no significant impact on obesity, which may be due to limitations in the data. Food insecurity is predictive of excess body weight in women, especially mothers.

Yes / Food insecurity is a determinant of maternal health; however, research on the health impact of food insecurity among mothers of varying ethnicities is under-developed. We assessed the association of food insecurity and health among white British and Pakistani mothers. Data from the Born in Bradford cohort were matched with data on food insecurity and self-reported health from the nested BiB1000 study (N= 1280). Food insecurity was associated with elevated odds of fair/poor health among white British mothers but not Pakistani mothers. Adjusting for financial security, the association between food insecurity and poor health was not significant among either white British or Pakistani mothers.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / Pima County, Arizona has a high rate of overall and childhood food insecurity (15.8% and 26.1% respectively). At the same time attitudes and interests in School Garden Programs have led to an increase in programs throughout the county. This research considers the following question: What role do school gardens play in alleviating food insecurity in Pima County? How can a School Garden Program be designed to best attend to food access, and how can it be applied specifically at Acacia Elementary School? Three school garden programs at three different schools were examined based on academic standing of the school, food security status of students and families, and garden programs related to food access. Observations of school garden programs and discussions with school faculty and teachers showed that there were two potential effects of the programs: Direct or Indirect Effects. Direct effects include produce that is directly donated or sold (affordably) to students and families. Indirect effects of school gardens provide skills, resources, confidence to practice gardening, cooking, or raising chickens at home. Indirect effects proved to be more significant than direct effects. Themes of school garden programs that address food access in this way included (1) Community Partnerships, (2) Extra-Curricular Garden Programs, (3) Cooking Education and Cultural Celebration, and (4) School and District Commitment. The potential of school gardens to alleviate food insecurity was directly applied to the new implementation of a school garden at Acacia Elementary School, a Title 1 school located in a rural food desert. The “ripple effect” food access garden programs cause can create a powerful force in communities living in urban or rural food desert and living with extreme food insecurity.

Sustainable Built Environments Senior Capstone Project / The paper revolves around the intersection of food waste and food insecurity within the built environment. A sample of grocery stores were asked to explain their policies regarding food waste, specifically how they divided this waste stream between food recovery and composting. It was determined in the end that the potential to grow composting as a waste management practice is far greater than the potential to expand food recovery, for all the participating grocery stores could not donate more food than they had historically.

Food banks are potent symbols of the prevalence of poverty and food insecurity in affluent countries, yet they have received very little academic attention in New Zealand. Previous food bank research in this country has mainly been instigated by the voluntary welfare sector and has focused on client characteristics and patterns of use. This study expands on these concepts in the local context from a socio-spatial perspective, and examines food banks from both a service provision and service user perspective. This study aims to: document the growth of the food bank industry and determine its role within the broader voluntary welfare sector; determine patterns and trends in usage; examine client characteristics, neighbourhoods and reasons for use; and discuss the implications of food bank use and how dependency on food banks may be reduced. This study examines non-identifiable socio-demographic and address data obtained for food bank clients (n=1695) from a large Christchurch social service agency for 2005. Data from a second large Christchurch social service agency is used to illustrate certain spatial and temporal trends. Additional interviews and questionnaires are conducted with staff and volunteers in the local food bank industry, and with the clients themselves. Results show that food bank use appears not to have decreased in recent years. Maori, sole parents/sole caregivers and beneficiaries are over-represented amongst food bank clients, while there is an apparent under-use of the food bank by other key groups. Poverty and food insecurity appears to be dispersed in Christchurch and is not confined to the most deprived neighbourhoods. A range of factors contributes to food insecurity and food bank use, with the main reasons relating to lack of income, household bills and unaffordable housing. Changes in macro social and economic policy, rather than increased client education, will contribute to a decrease in the need for food banks.

In the current South African context, job insecurity has become a phenomenon to be reckoned with. Although research on this phenomenon is still scarce, a growing interest in the perceived experience of job insecurity and its different underlying constructs is obvious from the increase of job insecurity research. A comprehensive summary of previous research studies and relevant outcomes is therefore relevant. Up to now, South African studies on job insecurity have accepted the assumptions and context of international research studies on job insecurity. It is now time to investigate the influence of the South Afncan context on this phenomenon and to include this background in future studies. The main objective of this study was to review, investigate, compare, evaluate and interpret existing research, conducted internationally and nationally, in order to set a research agenda through proposing a theoretical model for job insecurity in South Afncan organisations. The model will primarily serve as an academic tool to new research scholars to identify new research problems, existing sources of information, relevant measuring instruments, and contextual variables that may be of interest. The model will also be applicable as a management tool to understand and deal with job insecurity in South Ahcan organisations. A qualitative, descriptive research design was followed to perform content analysis and an extensive literature review. Results of the qualitative content analysis were enhanced with semi-structured interviews with managers from different organisations (N = 24). Results indicated gaps between international and South African research studies as well as the gaps indicated between theory and practice. This was indicated by a comparison between the South African research results and the results from the semi-structured interviews with selected managers. These results were integrated into a proposed model for job insecurity in order to serve as a guideline for future research. It also serves as a tool for managers to be aware of the presence of job insecurity, and to enable them to improve their management intervention. Conclusions and limitations of the study were discussed and recommendations for organisations and for future research were made. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Changes such as economic uncertainty, global competition, and an increase in mergers and acquisitions in the past decade have forced organisations to improve organisational effectiveness and streamline operations through downsizing, outsourcing, and restructuring. These actions are associated with large scale workforce reductions. For many employees these changes in working life cause feelings of insecurity of the nature and future existence of their jobs. Interest in the experiences of job loss, job insecurity and stressors associated with organisational restructuring, merging and downsizing has grown considerably during the past few years. The primary objective of this study was to determine the relationship between job insecurity and general health of employees working in a government organisation in the Free State. A cross-sectional survey design was used. A stratified random sample was taken from various occupational levels of a government organisation in the Free State. A total of 130 employees were included of which 83 participants responded. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The Job Insecurity Inventory (JII), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), as well as a biographical questionnaire were utilised for the purpose of the study. Results confirmed the reliability and validity of the various measuring instruments. Affective job insecurity showed an association with increased levels of social dysfunction, anxiety and sleeplessness and severe depression. Cognitive job insecurity was however not found to correlate with any of the GHQ subscales. Multiple regression analyses indicated that affective job insecurity holds predictive value with regard to severe depression (12%), as well as social dysfunction (10%). Conclusions were made, limitations of the current research were discussed and recommendations for future research were put forward. / Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

Thesis (M.A. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2005.

There is a persistent problem of poor agricultural production which leads to household food insecurity problems for farmers in Ghana. Studies show that the adoption of improved agricultural practices and technology may help stabilize production, and lessen food insecurity problems. There, however, is a missing link between food insecurity and adoption of soil improving practices in the literature. The missing link is addressed by investigation whether the food insecurity group differs in adopting the use of soil improving practices. Conversely, the adoption of soil improving practices may influence a household’s food security position. With this in mind, the objectives of study are to determine the 1) likelihood of adopting the soil improving practices of Ghanaian households; and 2) determine if and how food insecure agricultural households differ from food secure agricultural households in terms of agricultural practices, household characteristics, and technologies adopted. A conditional logit model, based on random utility theory, is estimated to determine which factors affect adoption of soil improving practices; whereas, a multinomial logit model is used to examine factors influencing a household’s food insecurity position. Positions considered are chronic, seasonal, vulnerable food insecure groups and a food secure group. The positions are differentiated by the length of time a household went without sufficient food. Characteristics of operating under seasonal lease, being a food secure household, and households farming medium quality soil increase the probability of adopting soil improving practices. Application of chemical fertilizers, commercial seeds, and pesticides, along with operating under a seasonal lease tenure and adoption of improved soil practices are likely to improve the household food security position. Households with medium quality soil have a larger probability of not being a chronic food insecure household. Given the high priority that the government of Ghana has placed on food security, policies that encourage households to adopt soil improving practices may be beneficial to food insecure households. Household characteristics such as income, age, education level, and household size are not significant in determining the likelihood of a household being in one of food insecurity group. The insignificance may be attributed to the homogeneity of the surveyed household characteristics.