Comparative Advantage, Observability, and the Optimal Tax Treatment of Families with Children

Children are special, not only to their own parents, but also for society at large. Even if society is not directly interested in children, intervention may still be justified for re-distributive reasons. The fact that children are not transferable, while income is, does in fact bias the first best in favour of households with a comparative advantage in raising children. Furthermore, visibility makes children a natural target of second-best policies (but it does not necessarily follow that family size should be subsidized, at least directly). If society is directly interested in children, maybe only because of an externality, that is an additional reason for interfering with parental decisions.     

Don't They Care? Or,Are They Just Unaware? Risk Perception and the Demand for Long‐Term Care Insurance

The potential need for long‐term care (LTC) is one of the greatest financial risks faced not only by the elderly but also by their adult children, who often provide care or financial assistance. We investigate adult children's role in the demand for LTC insurance. Similar to flood insurance, we find that demand for LTC insurance is low due to low risk perception. The more aware adult children are of the risk, the more likely LTC insurance is to be purchased, either by the children themselves on behalf of their parents or by the parents under the influence of their children.     

Do Macroeconomic Crises Always Slow Human Capital Accumulation?

The impact of macroeconomic crises on the investments made byparents in the human capital of their children is a questionof considerable policy importance. Analysis of the effects ofthe profound 1988–92 macroeconomic crisis in Peru on theschooling and employment decisions of school-age children inurban areas finds no effect on attendance rates but a significantdecline in the fraction of children who are both employed andattend school. It also finds significantly higher mean educationalattainment for children exposed to the crisis than for thosewho were not. These findings may be related: Children who arenot employed have more time available and may therefore putmore effort into school.     

建立我国高风险家庭儿童监测保护体系研究

儿童监护不力、遭受伤害或侵害等事件在我国有显著增加的趋势。发达国家的儿童保护服务,日益倾向以科学化和标准化的方法来评估儿童所面临的危机;并且渐以此方法为研究的目标,建立对儿童面临风险的监测标准,以及建构某些标准化的风险预估与防治模式。基于完善家庭政策、保护儿童权益和社会文明发展需要,我国应建立高风险家庭儿童监测保护体系。现有的法律法规政策、社会共识和社区发展为我国建立高风险家庭儿童监测保护体系提供了支持平台。我国高风险家庭儿童监测保护体系建设应坚持重在预防、贵在标准和成在精细的建设方针。     

Exploring the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Productivity: A Study of Accounting Faculty Who Are Caregivers of Children*

This study explores how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the productivity of accounting faculty who identify as caregivers of children. We examine the effects on caregivers of children because of the significant shift in the family-work interface that resulted from remote working and learning. We draw on existing family-work conflict research to develop four hypotheses that explore why the productivity of accounting faculty who are caregivers of children might be affected differently during the pandemic than that of accounting faculty who are non-caregivers of children. We surveyed accounting faculty primarily across Canada and the United States. We find that accounting faculty caring for children during the pandemic experienced reduced research, teaching, and service productivity because of increased family-work conflict and depletion. We supplement our main findings with an analysis of open-ended questions to further understand productivity changes and supports for research, teaching, and service. Our study contributes to research examining family-work conflict, employee productivity, and the accounting profession by making practical recommendations for providing targeted support for caregivers of children during times of crisis.     

拐卖妇女、儿童罪若干疑难问题研究

拐卖妇女、儿童犯罪行为直接侵犯了妇女儿童的人身权利,间接危害了社会的稳定.刑法第二百四十条规定,拐卖妇女、儿童罪是指以出卖为目的,拐骗、绑架、收买、贩卖、接送或者中转妇女、儿童的行为.条文虽然对什么是“拐卖”行为予以详细解释,但在司法实践中如何准确地认定本罪仍有很多需要深入探讨的问题.论者将从处理拐卖妇女儿童犯罪实践中出现的新问题出发,探究包含“拐卖妇女、儿童的行为是否以违背被害人意志为前提”等八个典型问题,重点剖析拐卖妇女儿童罪与相近罪名或相似行为的区别,以统一和完善司法认定的标准.     

The sandwich generation copes with elder care

The "sandwich generation" refers to the demographic age group of individuals who are caring for young children and elder parents at the same time. The increasing number of employees who must care for children and parents alike is a trend that is projected to continue. This is a burdensome responsibility that can cause stress and result in loss of productivity, accompanied by higher cost, to employers. The author discusses elder-care services that employers can offer to enhance productivity and gives case examples of companies that are making elder-care benefits available to employees.     

Child Health and Economic Crisis in Peru

The effect of macroeconomic crises on child health is a topicof great policy importance. This article analyzes the impactof a profound crisis in Peru on infant mortality. It finds anincrease of about 2.5 percentage points in the infant mortalityrate for children born during the crisis of the late 1980s,which implies that about 17,000 more children died than wouldhave in the absence of the crisis. Accounting for the precisesource of the increase in infant mortality is difficult, butit appears that the collapse in public and private expenditureson health played an important role.     

Child Labor: Lessons from the Historical Experience of Today's Industrial Economies

Child labor was more prevalent in 19th-century industrializersthan it is in developing countries today. It was particularlyextensive in the earliest industrializers. This pattern maybe a source of optimism signaling the spread of technologiesthat have little use for child labor and of values that endorsethe preservation and protection of childhood. Today and historically,orphaned and fatherless children and those in large familiesare most vulnerable. Efficient interventions to curb child laborinvolve fiscal transfers to these children and active policiestoward street children. Changes in capitalist labor markets(including technology), family strategies, state policies, andcultural norms are examined to shed light on the causes, chronology,and consequences of child labor.     

Taxation and parental time allocation under different assumptions on altruism

This paper examines the effects of labor income taxation on parental time allocation in an OLG model in which child care arrangements, that is the combination of parental and non-parental time, matter for human capital accumulation. We show that the sign of the impact of labor income taxation on parental time with children and on growth critically depends on the assumption on the altruistic motives behind the choice of devoting time to children.     

“新农保”政策下农民养老观初探

在中国传统观念中,养育子女不仅是一种责任和义务,更是为了老有所养。随着现代化进程的推进和社会变迁的加速,农村传统"养儿防老"观念已同社会现实明显不相适应。因此,引导农民改变养老观念是社会和谐、社会建设的重要内容,也是国家现代化的内在要求。本文以邵阳市"新农保"改革试点收益对象为调研主体,调查研究国家养老政策的改变对当地农民养老观念的影响,旨在探讨农村养老观念的改变对于建立和健全现代化中国农村社会养老保障体系具有的现实意义。     

我国现行艾滋孤儿救助安置问题及对策研究

艾滋孤儿面临父母得病的痛苦、家庭结构缺失、经济贫困、歧视和排斥,给他们的身心造成了严重影响,艾滋孤儿由此成为"多重弱势群体",这既是个新的社会问题,又是个亟待解决的社会难题。本文在分析我国现行对这一群体实施的救助政策、救助模式存在的问题的基础上,为孩子的生存与发展,提出针对孩子的职业技能培训、多部门联动互助及救助安置网的建立等相关对策与措施。     

Investing for the old age: pensions, children and savings

In the last century, most countries have experienced both an increase in pension spending and a decline in fertility. We argue that the interplay of pension generosity and development of capital markets is crucial to understand fertility decisions. Since children have traditionally represented for parents a form of retirement saving, particularly in economies with limited or nonexistent capital markets, an exogenous increase of pension spending provides a saving technology alternative to children, thus relaxing financial (saving) constraints and reducing fertility. We build a simple two-period OLG model to show that an increase in pensions is associated with a larger decrease in fertility in countries in which individuals have less access to financial markets. Cross-country regression analysis supports our result: an interaction between various measures of pension generosity and a proxy for the development of financial markets consistently enters the regressions positively and significantly, suggesting that in economies with limited financial markets, children represent a (if not the only) way for parents to save for old age, and that increases in pensions amount effectively to relaxing these constraints.     

Compensation for the child and old-age dependency burdens in a declining population: a discussion paper

Current problems in population and family policy center around social security provisions for the aged in view of a declining birth rate. The financial burden for children and aged are not 2 aspects of the same problem but should be viewed as 2 separate problems. In the so-called "generation contract" the aged are supported by the current crop of wage-earners who in turn will be supported by the next generation. This puts the current wage earners at a disadvantage since they also must produce the next generation. With today's system there will be a maldistribution; the system favors childless couples and discriminates against childbearing women who spend less time in the labor market, hence have fewer pension contributions. The solution of future problems must be sought with today's parents. This solution should maintain self-responsibility of the insured through the "generation contract," whereby the pension contribution should be tied to the net income, future pensions should be taxed. Contributions from wage earners should be proportionate; i.e., tied to the number of children per family, whereby childless couples contribute a larger percentage than those with 2 or more children. This system would have an automatic stabilizing action. Some kind of compensation, in the form of a pension during child rearing years, could be provided to mothers. The correct amount of child support is also a problem. It should not be tied to income; all families should receive equal child support but income should be taxed in normal fashion. Rather than direct support the state should consider goal-directed aid to children. Besides state aid for education and child health care such aid should consider vocational education to prepare children for their later societal responsibilities. Protection against child abuse and child-oriented traffic regulations make more sense than global increase in child support to families. Compulsary school attendance, improved standards for preschool teachers and financing of work exemption for mothers with young children are all more productive measures than monetary aid.     

Future for food education of children

Food plays an important role in the daily life and wellbeing of children. Childhood food experiences are important guides to eating behaviour in adults. Food is full of properties that we perceive with our senses of smell, touch, hearing, sight and taste. We live in individual sensory worlds, and our food perception processes are also individual. Children actively investigate food during eating and cooking. By encouraging their excursion into the world of food culture and food activities, we support them in expanding their food preferences. This paper is based on the “Future for food education” workshop in the Future for Food Conference and focuses on the knowledge applied to the sensory-based food education for children. Examples of food education practices from Finland and Denmark are presented. The learning café method was used for the workshop attendees to outline the food education possibilities. The key issues were discussed in groups and included such topics as: “Who should perform the food education activities?” and “Who will benefit in the future from food education?” The workshop presentations and discussions indicate that there is a need for the advancement and research of food education for children.     

Experiencing risk: the effect of the experiential life-skills centre ‘Warning Zone’ on children’s risk perception

This study examined the psychological effects of the Warning Zone experiential life-skills centre on risk perception. The aim of Warning Zone is to educate children about dangers and risks they may encounter in everyday life, with a view to preventing injury. To evaluate changes in risk perception, a quasi-experimental study was undertaken in which children’s risk perception was measured before, after, and one month after the Warning Zone experience. This research also examined children from different types of schools, in order to assess socio-economic factors. Children’s risk perception increased significantly after Warning Zone, and this significant increase was retained one month later. Differential effects of Warning Zone were found between children from different school types, as were pre-existing differences in risk perception between these groups. Children from more deprived backgrounds had better understanding of risks prior to their visit to Warning Zone and a month later had better retained the message of Warning Zone about risks. We conclude that Warning Zone is effective at raising children’s perceptions of risk.     

Transfers and bequests: a portfolio analysis in a Nash game

This paper develops a two-stage non-cooperative Nash game framework of parental–children interactions to explain the equal division puzzle in bequests. In the analysis, a portfolio approach is adopted for characterizing how altruistic parents allocate their inheritable wealth between inter-vivos transfers and post-mortem bequests. The model includes elements of strategic altruism, exchange of family-specific merit goods, transfer-seeking behavior by competing siblings, and parents’ “post-mortem reputation” in bequest division. Allowing for children’s heterogeneity and interactions, we find that inter-vivos transfers are unevenly distributed between the children, despite an equal degree of parental altruism. Moreover, we show the compatibility of unequal inter-vivos transfers and equal bequests, regardless of earnings differentials across children.      

Why do parents who usually vaccinate their children hesitate or refuse? General good vs. individual risk

This study examines vaccination hesitancy or refusal following the 2013 polio outbreak in Israel, based on two theoretical models. The first is Sandman’s theoretical model, which holds that risk perception is comprised of hazard plus outrage. The second model is the affect heuristic that explains the risk/benefit confounding. It aims to expose the barriers that inhibited parental compliance with OPV vaccination for their children. The study employed mixed methods – a questionnaire survey (n = 197) and content analysis of parents’ discussions in blogs, Internet sites, and Facebook pages (n = 2499). The findings indicate that some parents who normally give their children routine vaccinations decided not to give them OPV due to lack of faith in the health system, concerns about vaccine safety and reasons specific to the polio outbreak in Israel. Some vaccinated due to a misunderstanding, namely, they believed that OPV was supposed to protect their children, when it was actually for overall societal well-being. This study highlights the difficulty of framing the subject of vaccinations as a preventive measure, especially when the prevention is for society at large and not to protect the children themselves. The findings of this study are important because they provide a glimpse into a situation that can recur in different places in the world where a disease considered to have been ‘eradicated’ returns, and the public is required to take measures which protect the public but which might put individuals at risk. The conclusions from the analysis of the findings of this study are that the public’s risk perception is based on a context-dependent analysis, which the communicating body must understand and respect.     

中部欠发达地区城镇居民养老模式选择行为实证分析——基于江西省的调查数据

利用江西省300份调查问卷数据,运用多元Logit模型实证分析影响中部欠发达地区城镇居民养老模式选择行为的因素。结果表明:相对于家庭养老模式,中部欠发达地区城镇居民社区居家养老及社会机构养老模式选择行为受城镇居民居住地、是否原住民、文化程度、健康状况、对养老模式的了解情况、城镇居民年龄、月均收入、子女个数、与子女居住相隔距离及子女的孝敬程度等因素影响。     

Child Farm Labor: The Wealth Paradox

This article is motivated by the remarkable observation thatchildren of land-rich households are often more likely to bein work than the children of land-poor households. The vastmajority of working children in developing economies are inagricultural work, predominantly on farms operated by theirfamilies. Land is the most important store of wealth in agrariansocieties, and it is typically distributed very unequally. Thesefacts challenge the common presumption that child labor emergesfrom the poorest households. This article suggests that thisapparent paradox can be explained by failures of the marketsfor labor and land. Credit market failure will tend to weakenthe force of this paradox. These effects are modeled and estimatesobtained using survey data from rural Pakistan and Ghana. Themain result is that the wealth paradox persists for girls inboth countries, whereas for boys it disappears after conditioningon other covariates.