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<p>For close to a decade, Zimbabwe has experienced a protracted socio-economic crisis. Although it is affecting both rural and urban areas, major forms of formal safety nets by the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations have been confined to rural areas. On the other hand the virtual collapse of the formal food marketing system in urban areas and the high formal unemployment rates have contributed to increased vulnerability of low income urban households to food insecurity. Using qualitative research methods, the study set out to understand livelihoods of low income urban households in Dzivaresekwa. In particular strategies low income households employ to cope with the negative macro-economic environment prevailing in Zimbabwe.</p>

Technological development and regulations are gradually making buildings and appliances more energy efficient but household electricity use remains at relatively high levels and does not seem to be decreasing despite improvements in equipment. The point of departure in this paper is the potential for more energy efficient behaviour where household activities are concerned and how that can be studied. It focuses on public housing companies that have built passive houses, in which appliance use is an integral part of maintaining a comfortable indoor climate. The purpose of this paper is to introduce a model called energy orders for analysing household activities in passive houses and identifying restrictions and opportunities for energy efficient behaviour connected to laundry activities. Qualitative interviews have been conducted with public housing residents on their everyday activities and use of appliances. Results show that activities may be realised in very different ways, and they may result in more or less electricity use depending on the resources households use. However, households are affected by various restrictions that prevent them from making better choices energy wise. Also, opportunities for taking certain actions vary between households. While individual choices do matter the households are undoubtedly limited by restrictions shaped by housing companies and other organisations. Identifying the obstacles that deter households from acting more energy efficiently may increase the potential of the passive house to further reduce household electricity use. Housing companies need to provide more flexible solutions in order to create better opportunities for households to act in more energy efficient ways.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-223). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Anthropology)--Southern Methodist University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 215-223). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1985.

Given the growth of households headed by women, one of the biggest social concerns is the high poverty level within these households. Studies have shown that individuals living in female-headed households are more likely to be in poverty than those in other types of households due to women's disadvantaged position in the labor market. However, the disadvantage of women in the labor market does not necessarily lead to poverty within households headed by women. The livelihood of female-headed households is determined by contextual factors as well as the labor market condition, because the labor market, family and welfare policies all contribute to family well-being within a particular national context. Using both quantitative and qualitative method, I examine various components that are associated with social and family life of Mexican female heads and single mothers: living arrangements, household practices, the labor market, and welfare policy. Interview data with Mexican single mothers provide this research with basic research questions as well as evidences supporting the findings of quantitative analyses about the association between poverty and those women. Quantitative data analyses show that kinship network is important resources of welfare of female-headed or single-mother households in Mexico. First, the prevalence of female-headed households in Mexico is associated with gender-specific migration, increased economic opportunities for women, and marriage-market conditions. Second, Mexican female heads have household income relatively higher than or equivalent to that of male heads, and this peculiarity is attributed to the financial support to female-headed households provided by family networks, and to the selection process of single mothers. Third, extended family members residing with mothers affect their time allocation, and the effects vary by the gender of the extended family member and the mothers' marital status. / text

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This study examines how income, household division of power and maternal decision-making ability influence dietary intake and child morbidity. A sample of 154 households with children between one and three years was drawn from six villages in Busia District, western Kenya. Information on household and maternal characteristics, morbidity, dietary intake and anthropometry was gathered between July and November 1988. Household headship was found to have no significant or direct influence on children's nutritional status. Total income was higher in female-headed households. While women in male-headed households had greater financial responsibility for household maintenance, female heads of household assumed more farming responsibilities but had higher remittances from husbands. A measure of maternal differentiation was generated by principal components analysis, constituted mainly by schooling, language ability, nutrition knowledge and information seeking behaviour. Differentiation had a strong impact in lowering morbidity and was a significant predictor of greater dietary diversity and weaning practices that supported better child nutrition and growth.