Impact of Married Women's Employment on Individual Household Member Expenditures for Clothing

Family member and per capita clothing expenditures are estimated via tobit, using 1980–1981 Consumer Expenditure Survey data. Occupation categories are developed and implicit wage rates imputed for each wife in the sample. Employed-wife households have higher expenditures for clothing than do nonemployed-wife households and wife's occupation differentially affects family member expenditures. Wife's implicit wage is not significant, while wife's unearned income has a positive impact on all categories of expenditures except for infants. These results indicate that it is not possible to generalize across family members about the influence of income and socio-demographic variables on clothing expenditures.     

Sustainable clothing: challenges,barriers and interventions for encouraging more sustainable consumer behaviour

Research with consumers has revealed limited awareness of the sustainability impact of clothing (Goworek et al., 2012). Semi‐structured interviews conducted with a range of experts in sustainable clothing to increase understanding of the challenges for sustainable clothing revealed that a focus on sustainability alone will not drive the necessary changes in consumers’ clothing purchase, care and disposal behaviour for three reasons: (i) clothing sustainability is too complex; (ii) consumers are too diverse in their ethical concerns and (iii) clothing is not an altruistic purchase. The findings identify the challenges that need to be addressed and the associated barriers for sustainable clothing. Interventions targeting consumers, suppliers, buyers and retailers are proposed that encourage more sustainable clothing production, purchase, care and disposal behaviour. These interventions range from normalizing the design of sustainable clothing and increasing the ease of purchase, to shifting clothes washing norms and increasing upcycling, recycling and repair.     

Expenditure patterns on food and non food items of Khayelitsha households,Western Cape,South Africa

Food insecurity or lack of access to adequate and nutritious food is a major determinant of under‐nutrition. Expenditure patterns accompanied by unemployment, low level of education, inflation and high food prices have a direct negative impact on food availability within households (Moller, 1997). Ghany and Schwenk (1993) found that as household income increases, the proportion of expenditures on food decreases, the proportion of expenditures on clothing, rent, fuel, and light stayed the same and that of sundries increased. The aim of this study was to investigate household expenditure patterns on food and non‐food items in Khayelitsha. A total of 20 households (10 from the formal and 10 from the informal settlements) were randomly selected from those willing to participate in the study. A questionnaire with open ended and closed questions was used to collect data. The questionnaire comprised four sections namely: biographical information, socio‐economic information which used wealth quintiles to assess households’ social economic status, total expenditure information and a food/hunger scale was used to assess households’ food availability. The findings revealed that households from informal settlements spent more money (62.2%) as a proportion of their income on food compared to households from the formal settlement (39%). There was higher unemployment rate (100%) at the informal settlement compared to the formal settlement (40%). Wealth quintiles scales did not reflect the social status of the households as equipment and assets owned by households were only used as fallback position during times of economic hardships. Households used different purchasing strategies; food and non‐food items were mainly purchased from outside the township (60%). Forty percent of the households bought their items from local shops and spazas because they allowed them to buy items whenever little money was available or to take items on credit. All the respondents preferred to buy bread and small items from spazas and local shops. Prices of items in the spazas and local shops were higher compared to prices of items in bigger shops outside the townships. The food/hunger scale and wealth quintiles showed that informal settlement households were more food insecure (as they were all unemployed and about 50% of the households ran out of food always) and had fewer assets compared to the formal settlement households. The implications of these findings underscore the need to improve socio‐economic conditions of low resource households through empowerment programs. These programs can be in the form of training in management/decision making, work related skills/literacy (to help them access formal employment), business management/income generation skills (to help them to be self‐employed), budgeting, and food gardening. This approach can help to increase the resource base and alleviate food insecurity in low resource households.     

Changing laundry habits in Norway

Maintenance is often the most energy‐demanding stage during clothes' life cycle. Therefore, a shift towards more sustainable washing habits has great potential to reduce the consumption of energy, water and detergent. This paper discusses the change in laundering practices during the past 10 years in Norway and suggests strategies to help consumers change their laundry habits to more sustainable ones. Quantitative information of consumers' experiences, habits and opinions concerning clothing maintenance was collected through three surveys in Norway in 2002, 2010 and 2011. The 2010 study was supplemented with qualitative in‐depth interviews of a strategic sample of households. The average washing temperature has decreased slightly during the studied time periods. Some products' washing frequencies remained the same, whereas other products such as jeans were used a few more days before washing. The cotton programme is the most used washing programme, but short programmes are gaining popularity. The laundry sorting processes vary greatly and are influenced by several factors such as washing temperature, colours, fibre type and use area. For some consumers, the use of several different sorting categories made it more difficult to collect a sufficient amount of clothing to fill the machine. They were also afraid that overfilling the machine would result in clothes that were not clean enough or had detergent residues. Detergent dosing practices are far from optimal. In 2010, although the majority of respondents only used eye measure and did not know the water hardness of their area, they still tried to vary detergent dosage based on the amount of laundry and the level of soiling. Different design for sustainable behaviour strategies could be used within detergent dosage systems, care labelling, machine programme selection (such as suggesting lower temperature and eco‐programme), machine filling grade indicators, storage systems for slightly used clothing and textile material choice.     

Determination or appropriate content for a clothing and textiles specialized course

A survey of teachers, parents and students was conducted to determine appropriate content for a semester course in clothing and textiles. A review of literature including research, curriculum guides, projections of future trends in clothing and textiles and knowledge needs of consumers served as the basis for developing the instrument. The initial list of topics identified was reduced to 13 major topics and 66 specific items by a panel of eight experts. The instrument was used to survey 1200 teachers, parents and students. A total of 327 surveys were returned. Respondents were varied on most demographic characteristics identified. Results were analysed to determine the significance of differences between the responses of the three groups. Respondents indicated that no more than Homemaking I should be required as a prerequisite for a clothing and textiles semester course and that simple clothing construction skills should be included. The overall rankings of the 13 major topics was: wardrobe planning, clothing selection, clothing construction, buying clothing, clothing care, clothing alterations, sewing tools and equipment, effects of clothing on individuals, design in clothing, textiles, family clothing, influences on fashion, clothing and textiles careers. Significant differences between groups existed for mean importance scores of 36 of the 66 specific topics. Teachers' mean importance scores differed from those of parents and/or students on 33 topics. Recommendations for content of a clothing and textiles semester course were based on the findings.     

The perception of Ghanaian consumers of textiles and clothing labels

A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on 105 (53·3% women, 46·7% men) workers in establishments in and around Legon in Accra, Ghana, about their perception of textiles and clothing labels. About 80% were aged between 24 and 44 years and 60% were educated beyond secondary school level. Those who looked for labels while shopping for fabrics were 75%, whereas 83% looked for labels when selecting ready-made clothing to determine the quality, suitability, the fit and the care to be given to the clothes. Chi-square analysis indicated no significant difference between the sexes with regard to perception of textiles and clothing labels. Information items required on labels indicated by the respondents, in order of preference, were fibre content, size/width, manufacturer's/brand name, price, care instructions and country of origin. The Ghana Standards Board (GSB), Ghana Consumers' Association and the Home Science Department at Legon are to assist in enforcing labels on all textiles and clothing. This will enable consumers to shop wisely and get their money's worth. Illiterate consumers are to be studied to determine their criteria for judging the quality of clothing at the point of purchase. This could be used to develop labels for them.     

Out‐of‐Pocket Health Care Expenditure Patterns and Financial Burden across the Life Cycle Stages

This study examines out‐of‐pocket health care expenditure patterns of households and the financial burden of health care costs over the stages of the household life cycle, using the 1995 Consumer Expenditure Survey. The elderly households not only spend more for health care, but they also experience higher financial burdens than other households. Insurance status, liquid assets, life cycle stage, household size, education, and self‐employment status are significant factors affecting the household budge share of health care expenses.     

Low‐literate consumers' use of clothing labels amidst personal and product related challenges

Low‐literate consumers experience various challenges in the marketplace. This quantitative study focused on low‐literate female consumers' use of clothing labels amidst personal and product‐related challenges in the marketplace. An interviewer‐administered questionnaire was used among black African female consumers (n = 450) with literacy levels ranging from Grades 5 to 8 (on average, 11–14 years old), residing in the Emfuleni Local Municipality area, Gauteng, South Africa. Personal challenges experienced involved reading and numeracy skills, as well as concrete and pictographic thinking. Although respondents indicated that they read and understand clothing labels, results revealed problems experienced when attempting to use the information provided. Their numeracy skills were average and related abstract thinking skills were fair. Product‐related challenges were related to the format of labels, care‐label knowledge and evaluation of clothing quality. Respondents' preference for symbolic and graphic presentation of size format provided evidence of pictographic thinking. Care label understanding was poor, and clothing products were evaluated concretely. Some of the older respondents were inclined to follow the peripheral route of elaboration when reading clothing‐label information. We conclude that low‐literate consumers' use of clothing label information can improve if provided in a format that they can read and understand.     

Understanding fashion communication between Korean middle‐aged mothers and daughters

Daughters can be considered important social role models for middle‐aged mothers in fashion communication such as the clothing purchase or conformity. This study explores antecedents (trust in daughters as fashion informants and internalized social pressure for appearance management) and outcomes (solidarity between mother and daughter, psychological well‐being of mother) of fashion communication (mother–daughter shopping, clothing conformity) between middle‐aged mothers and daughters. The data were collected using a self‐administered online survey of 307 middle‐aged Korean women between ages of 45 and 65. The result shows that mothers’ trust in daughters as fashion informants and internalized social pressure for appearance positively influence mother–daughter shopping and mothers’ clothing conformity to daughters. Next, mother–daughter shopping and mothers’ clothing conformity have a positive influence on the solidarity of mothers and daughters. When solidarity becomes stronger, the degree of the mothers’ psychological well‐being increases.     

国有纺织服装外贸企业应对“后配额时代”的SWOT分析

国有纺织服装外贸企业曾经是中国纺织服装出口的主力军。随着“后配额时代”的到来,国有纺织服装外贸企业的生存、发展环境发生了重大变化。运用SWOT方法,深入分析国有纺织服装外贸企业的内外部环境,得出以下结论：在其企业内部环境中,行业经验、人力资源、管理和资金等方面具有一定优势,但在新产品开发及创新能力、产品科技含量、自主品牌创建等方面存在劣势;而在其外部环境中,存在外部机会的同时也要面临诸多威胁。为此,国有纺织服装外贸企业应通过制定S0战略、WO战略等有效的经营战略来应时“后配额时代”的竞争。     

Dispersed alarm systems – a review

The increase in the number of retired, elderly and very old in society has begun to pose the problem of how to provide access to care services for those in households which are not purpose built, specially adapted and serviced accommodation. Liberalization of telecommunications in the U.K. allied to technical advances have allowed ‘dispersed alarm systems’ to be developed and thus provide a means of communication between isolated elderly people in distress and a central emergency service. The selection of an appropriate system and its management are discussed in this paper.     

Consumption Patterns Among the Young-Old and Old-Old

Data on 2,810 elderly households were drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics 1990 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Multivariate Tobit analysis was used to examine spending pattern differences between households with a reference person aged 65–74 (young-old) and households with a reference person aged 75 and older (old-old). Significant differences in spending were found for expenditures on food at home, food away from home, alcohol and tobacco, housing, apparel and apparel services, transportation, bealthcare, bentertainment, personal care, and personal insurance. The impact of socio-demographic factors on expenditures by either age group was not uniform.     

Clean laundry with pure conscience—A study on laundry practices among Finnish consumers

The previous study concerning laundry practices in Finland was published 16 years ago. Since that time, many pro‐environmental debates have been going on and sustainable actions have been implemented in many areas of individual lives and households. The purpose of this study is to investigate the textile laundering practices of Finnish consumers and their attitudes toward clothing care procedures. This study discusses how laundry habits could be developed into a more sustainable direction. The data for this research were gathered through an online enquiry that consisted of structured multiple‐choice questions. The data were obtained from 1,841 persons of whom 97.5% were women (n = 1,795). The data were analyzed by statistical means using the SPSS program. The data show that, despite media attention and debate about textile care procedures, there still are factors in laundering that burden the environment. From a sustainability point of view, some improvements exist when comparing to the situation 16 years ago, but washing machines still are seldom filled to their full capacity and consumers, being unaware of water hardness, administer excessive amounts of detergent. The current life situations of the household members seem to be major factors influencing laundry habits and sustainable actions. Especially, young people and families with children would benefit from information and instructions on laundry practices. Topics could contain knowledge about water hardness and proper dosing of detergent, filling the washing machine, washing temperatures, drying methods, and saving energy. Furthermore, general promotion of gender equality is important because household work and laundering is strikingly women‐performed work.     

Money management practices influencing household asset ownership

The purpose of this research is to describe the types and amounts of assets owned by households, and to determine socio-demographic variables and money management practices that influence the household's total asset ownership. The data used for this study are from a survey conducted during the winter of 1982. Definite patterns of financial asset ownership emerged. A majority, 70% or more, of the households owned current and savings accounts, and cars and real estate. A minority, 30% or less, owned certificates of deposit, mutual funds, stocks, bonds and individual retirement accounts. Age, net income and housing tenure were significant socio-demographic variables in explaining variation in total asset ownership among households. Only two money management practices, i.e. number of credit cards owned and the amount the manager felt comfortable charging on these cards, were significant in explaining variations in the amount of total assets owned by a household.     

Interdependence between consumption in the North and sustainable communities in the South

The issues we want to address and discuss in this article are related to the interdependence between consumption in households in high‐income countries and life in the low‐income countries, seen in a sustainable perspective. In the consumer society the underlying premise is that ever‐escalating consumption is accepted, even desirable. During the past decade, an increasing critique of consumer lifestyle has come from environmentalists, who argue that the resource use to maintain a consumer lifestyle is putting too hard a burden on the ecosystems. We give examples of the abundant evidence of interdependence between North and South at global levels, such as climate change and appropriation of ecosystem capacities, and related to specific types of consumption such as clothing, flowers, food and cosmetics. We argue that the loss of feedback to individual households in the North is a serious barrier for change towards more sustainable consumption habits, and raise a question about how impacts of production and consumption can be communicated to consumers. On the basis of previous and ongoing research, we highlight some impacts of positive and negative labelling schemes as well as extended environmental information.     

A situational analysis of consumer science skills used to improve incomes and create self‐employment in the Limpopo province,South Africa

A two‐phase study was conducted in the Mopani and Vhembe Districts of the Limpopo Province of South Africa to identify types of small‐scale businesses used by households to improve their income. The study sample was made up of 240 households from 16 villages and members from 16 organizations working with households in small‐scale, business‐related activities. Phase one of the study collected data on the types of small‐scale businesses carried out by households and organizations assisting them. Phase two developed training manuals and offered training to households. The findings revealed that self‐employment from sales of prepared and processed foods provided the main source of income for most households. Clothing and needlework and housing and art/craft were also used by families to generate income. Problems experienced included lack of technical/management skills, lack of marketing/business skills, inadequate operational funds, low profit margins, unavailability of raw materials and competition from big businesses. The findings highlighted the importance of consumer science‐related skills in poverty alleviation programmes targeting low‐resource households.     

IMPLEMENTING A PROFESSIONAL ON-CAMPUS WORK EXPERIENCE FOR CLOTHING AND TEXTILE STUDENTS

A Clothing and Textile course is described which provided a transition from classroom education to the world of work, improved students’ interpersonal skills and assisted in helping women students establish identities as professional people. In addition, the experience described demonstrates how concepts and skills from a large number of other courses are integrated when a specific real-life clothing problem must be solved. Through an on-campus experience, twenty-eight jackets for the Washington State University Men's Ski Team were designed and produced. Students were organized into a design team and a management team. The design team designed the jacket to meet the requirements of the ski team, made the the patterns, fitted the basic shells, reworked the pattern, wrote the assembly instructions and determined the most efficient layout. The management team investigated and purchased the materials and equipment needed, including a Babylock serger, determined jacket cost, organized and conducted meetings with the clients, and wrote the contract. All students participated in the construction of the jackets, a process organized as a factory assembly line. Students were enthusiastic about this practical opportunity to apply design and management principles and the chance to work with others towards a common goal. The approach used with this class is applicable to numerous functional clothing design problems.     

The welfare impact of implicit income generated from childcare in home-based employment

For households that take care of their children when working at home, the income earned from home-based employment is twofold. While visible money income is generated from the paid employment, there is a certain amount of invisible income generated from performing childcare at the same time. The purpose of this study was to estimate the invisible income generated from performing childcare when working at home, and its impact on household welfare change at both micro and macro levels. The results show that in 1988, for a typical home-based worker who took care of his/her children when working at home, the Hicksian compensating and the Hicksian equivalent variation were about $2564·53 and $1651·87 respectively. At the aggregate level, for the nine states included in this study, a point estimate of the total Hicksian equivalent variation was about 80·5 million. This means, if these households could not take care of their children when working, 80·5 million dollars would need to be given to them in order to keep them as well off.     

服装业供应链协同运作策略研究

随着国内经济的发展和对外交流的不断加强,供应链管理模式得到大多数人的理解和接受。但如何才能发挥供应链管理理念的最大优势,还需要大家不断的研究、探索和实践。我国是公认的世界服装大国,服装业对于我国经济的发展和解决国内就业压力发挥了巨大的作用。但如何将我国服装业提升为世界服装强国,发挥出我国服装业更大的作用,还是一个未完成的艰巨任务。我国服装业经营者必须改变传统的经营思想,与国际接轨,采用供应链管理理念,融入供应链协同运作模式。     

Factors affecting the selection of clothes on daily basis: male and female differences

The major objective of the study was to test the theories of the function of dress that individuals apply to everyday practice. The study examined the extent to which Maslow's theory of motivation is relevant to male and female practice regarding the selection of daily clothes, the order of importance and the attention to clothing functions demonstrated by males and females, and the inter-relationship between the different clothing functions. The study is based on data collected from male and female students at a midwestern university in the month of April. The Friedman two-way ANOVA by ranks revealed that weather function was the single most important clothing function for males which influenced the selection of daily clothing, while social activity was the most important clothing function which influenced females. Females indicated a higher degree of consideration of each clothing function than males. These findings suggest that females tend to dress more for social reasons, are more sensitive to clothing needs and possess a greater degree of clothing awareness than males. The correlation coefficients of clothing function for males and females indicated that there was a high degree of correlation between several clothing functions. The correlation coefficients of clothing functions for females were more consistent than those for males, indicating that females consistently consider several clothing functions concurrently while males do not. This finding conforms with the theory of functions of dress which illustrates the multiple nature of motivation of clothing behaviour and the interdependent characteristics of Maslow's five basic human needs.