Home economics education in Canadian schools

In the current climate of educational reform two central questions for educators are what is and what should be home economics? This article explores the first question through examining home economics curricula documents from each province in Canada and comparing the general title, the dominant view of home economics and the conceptual areas of study in the programmes offered. Considerable conceptual confusion and disagreement are evident in each of these three dimensions of programmes. Suggestions for developing clarity and integration in curricula are outlined.     

Mandatory Retirement and Faculty Retirement Decisions

As a result of the 1986 Age Discrimination in Employment Act, colleges and universities were no longer allowed to impose mandatory retirement on faculty members at age seventy after 1994. This paper estimates the change in retirement rates of faculty before and after the ending of mandatory retirement using data from the University of North Carolina (UNC) system. The analysis reveals a sharp decline in the probability of faculty at UNC retiring at age seventy once the university was unable to impose forced retirement.     

Retail Stores in Poor Urban Neighborhoods

This paper examines several hypotheses about access to different types and sizes of retail establishments by residents of poor and non-poor urban neighborhoods, using Chicago as a case study. As expected, poor zip code areas in Chicago have fewer and smaller retail outlets overall than nonpoor areas, including fewer supermarkets, banks, and large drug stores. After controlling for purchasing power, poor areas still lack large drug stores but, surprisingly, not banks and supermarkets. Residents of poor neighborhoods must travel more than two miies to have access to the same numbers of supermarkets, large drug stores, banks, and other types of stores as residents of nonpoor areas.     

The Ohio Banking Crisis: A Lesson in Consumer Finance

This paper reports the results of a survey taken on April 14, 1985, at a meeting of the depositors in Home State Savings Bank, the Cincinnati-based savings and loan association that had closed in early March because of losses suffered in government securities transactions. The results for the 578 depositors surveyed show a high percentage of depositors over 55 years of age and retired, with a high school education or less. Although the majority of those surveyed are low- to middle-income consumers, over 50 percent have more than $20,000 on deposit in Home State Savings Bank, which, for most of them, represents over 50 percent of their total savings. A large number of depositors also appear to have limited or incorrect information about Home State's deposit insurance and financial condition.     

Information Sensitive Consumers and Market Information

Past research on consumer information has emphasized the effects of informed consumers on the provision of goods by sellers. These comprise supply-side effects. This paper examines the effects of informed consumers on other consumers’ product choices. These are demand-side effects. Directions for research are outlined.