Search Results (8)

Common prosperity is the fundamental driving force of rural revitalization, as well as the foundation for achieving sustainable economic development. The e-commerce to the countryside policy has energized the rural economy, helping to improve household economic resilience and reduce income stratification, thereby promoting the inclusive and sustainable development of the digital economy. Drawing on panel data collected from rural fixed observation points in Henan Province during 2009–2022, this study employs a staggered difference-in-differences (DID) approach to evaluate the impact of China’s e-commerce to the countryside policy on farmers’ income and income inequality. The empirical results reveal that the rural e-commerce policy significantly increases farmers’ income while mitigating income inequality. The underlying mechanisms function through three synergistic pathways: industrial structural upgrading, manifested through tri-sector integration driven by rural enterprise development; factor allocation restructuring, evidenced by productivity gains from optimized labor–capital reallocation; and enhanced market inclusion through digital technology empowerment that lowers participation barriers. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the e-commerce to the countryside policy exhibits pro-poor characteristics, with its income-enhancing and equalizing effects being particularly pronounced in agricultural areas, traditional villages, county-level civilized villages, underdeveloped regions, registered poverty-stricken villages, and households with low human, physical, and financial capital endowments. These findings confirm the inclusive development efficacy of rural e-commerce among vulnerable populations. Consequently, the study provides a replicable policy implementation framework for achieving common prosperity objectives. Full article

Epidemiological data indicate that Mexico holds the 19th place in cumulative cases (5506.53 per 100,000 inhabitants) of COVID-19 and the 5th place in cumulative deaths (256.14 per 100,000 inhabitants) globally and holds the 4th and 3rd place in cumulative cases and deaths in the Americas region, respectively, with Mexico City being the most affected area. Several modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors have been linked to a poor clinical outcome in COVID-19 infection; however, whether socioeconomic and welfare factors are associated with clinical outcome has been scanty addressed. This study tried to investigate the association of Social Welfare Index (SWI) with hospitalization and severity due to COVID-19. A retrospective analysis was conducted at the Centro Médico Nacional “20 de Noviembre”—ISSSTE, based in Mexico City, Mexico. A total of 3963 patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, registered from March to July 2020, were included, retrieved information from the Virology Analysis and Reference Unit Database. Demographic, symptoms and clinical data were analyzed, as well as the SWI, a multidimensional parameter based on living and household conditions. An adjusted binary logistic regression model was performed in order to compare the outcomes of hospitalization, mechanical ventilation requirement (MVR) and mortality between SWI categories: Very high (VHi), high (Hi), medium (M) and low (L). The main findings show that lower SWI were independently associated with higher probability for hospital entry: VHi vs. Hi vs. M vs. L-SWI (0 vs. +0.24 [OR = 1.24, CI_95% 1.01–1.53] vs. +0.90 [OR = 1.90, CI_95% 1.56–2.32] vs. 0.73 [OR = 1.73, CI_95% 1.36–2.19], respectively); Mechanical Ventilation Requirement: VHi vs. M vs. L-SWI (0 vs. +0.45 [OR = 1.45, CI_95% 1.11–1.87] vs. +0.35 [OR = 1.35, CI_95% 1.00–1.82]) and mortality: VHi vs. Hi vs. M (0 vs. +0.54 [OR = 1.54, CI_95% 1.22–1.94] vs. +0.41 [OR = 1.41, CI_95% 1.13–1.76]). We concluded that SWI was independently associated with the poor clinical outcomes in COVID-19, beyond demographic, epidemiological and clinical characteristics. Full article

China launched the “critical battle against poverty” nationwide in 2012. As its main battlefield, Yunnan province promulgated the “triple medical security” (TMS) policy in 2017. This study, based on the pooled cross-section database of 2015–2020 of registered poor households in Yunnan province, employed the logit model to examine the effect of TMS on the vulnerability as expected poverty (VEP) of these households. It found that increasing the reimbursement rates for overall medical expenses and inpatient expenses and decreasing the proportion of out-of-pocket medical payment to income reduced the VEP; increases in the number of sick people in the family increased its VEP, and although the increase in the reimbursement rate for overall medical expenses or for inpatient expenses partially offset the VEP caused by the increase in the number of chronically ill people in the family, the VEP caused by the increase in the number of critically ill people would increase in the short term with the increase in the reimbursement rate for overall medical expenses or for inpatient expenses. The findings help improve policies concerning the medical security and health of the rural poor population, providing theoretical reference and practical guidance for future research. Full article

To address the problem of subjectivity in determining the poverty-returning risk among registered poor households, a method of monitoring and analyzing the poverty-returning risk among households based on BP neural network and natural breaks method was constructed. In the case of Yunyang District, Hubei Province, based on the data of the poverty alleviation and development system, we constructed a monitoring system for the poverty-returning risk for the registered poor households. The spatial distribution pattern of households under the poverty-returning risk was analyzed from two scales of district and township, respectively, by combining Geographic Information Science, and the influence degree of indicators on the poverty-returning risk using mean impact value (MIV). The results show that: (1) The spatial distribution of the poverty-returning risk among the registered poor households in the study area basically coincides with the local natural poverty-causing factors and the degree of social and economic development. (2) The Poverty-Returning Risk Index for each township represents a globally strong spatial dependence with a Moran’s I coefficient of 0.352. (3) The past poverty identification status of registered poor households is the main factor to reduce the poverty-returning risk, and the past policy should remain unchanged for a period of time. (4) Improving the quality of education within households and focusing on helping households with older average age can further reduce the poverty-returning risk. Full article

(1) Background: The aim of the study was to analyse the structure of registered fatal violent crimes against children under 5 years of age and to identify the main characteristics and risk factors of fatal violence against children in order to discuss the possibilities and limits of prevention of these crimes. (2) Methods: Mixed-method design: 1. retrospective statistical analysis of data extracted from Czech statistics about crime. 2. qualitative analysis of autopsy reports and construction of serial case study. The data were pooled from two different sources: 1. Statistics about crime against children aged 0 to 5 (n = 512). 2. Autopsy reports (n = 52) of children up to the age of five. (3) Results: The following indicators and risk factors were identified: mental disorder or cognitive deficits in parents, parents’ immaturity, poor parenting skills, inadequate parenting practices, absence of a deep emotional bond with the mother, lack of parents’ interest in catering to the children’s needs, parents’ addiction, an unprotected, hazardous environment and surroundings, household falling apart, incidence of suspected domestic violence, incidence of multiple bruises and untreated injuries, aggressively dominant parents, poverty, absence of adequate health care, medical neglect of a child, poor health of the child and failure to thrive. (4) Conclusions: The task for the state is to make effective use of all accessible mechanisms to improve the situation in families. Particularly in the context of the newly emerging situation of increasing uncontrolled violence in families in the context of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic, this demand is more than urgent. Close attention should be paid to children who are not registered with pediatricians and fail to attend regular medical examinations. It is also vital to follow families in which violence has already been suspected in the past. Full article

Chinese economic development has led to a significant rise in internal migration over the last 20 years, including large numbers of elderly. When elderly Chinese people migrate, they still register their residency to their place of origin and often do not register with the new administrative office at the destination due to the household registration (hukou) system in China. Thus, most of these migrant elderly do not receive full social services, possibly leading to poor subjective well-being. This study aims to qualitatively examine the level of subjective well-being and its determinants among migrants and local elderly in Dongguan City of Guangdong province, one of the most rapid economically developing areas in China. We also present the results of in-depth interviews among 27 elderly, 15 elderly migrants and 12 local elderly living in Dongguan. The results reveal that the overall subjective well-being of the two groups were good. Most migrants believed their well-being had remained stable or even improved over time due to family reunion and a better physical environment. Elderly’s most valuable needs and the main reason of migration is family reunion; however, inadequacy of social support, including community support and government support (e.g., gift during holiday season, free health examination, healthcare expenditure reimbursement), cannot be neglected for maintaining a good level of well-being. The well-being of migrant elderly can be further enhanced by promoting social services and welfare, recreational activities, and enhancing healthcare reimbursement in their new home. Full article

Poor family relationships during childhood have been shown to have long-term negative effects on an offspring’s health. However, few studies have followed the offspring to retirement age, and relatedly, knowledge about the link between poor family relationships and premature death is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the association between poor family relationships in adolescence and the risk of premature death, even when considering other adverse childhood conditions. Prospective data from the Stockholm Birth Cohort study were used, with 2636 individuals born in 1953 who were followed up until age 65. Information on family relations was based on interviews with the participants’ mothers in 1968. Information on mortality was retrieved from administrative register data from 1969–2018. Cox proportional hazards regressions showed that poor family relationships in adolescence were associated with an increased risk of premature death, even when adjusting for childhood conditions in terms of household social class, household economic poverty, contact with the child services, parental alcohol abuse, and parental mental illness (Hazard Ratio (HR), 2.08, 95% Confidence Interval (CI), 1.40–3.09). The findings show that poor family relationships in adolescence can have severe and long-lasting health consequences, highlighting the importance of early interventions. Full article

The Sodium Screener© (SS©), as developed by NutritionQuest (Berkeley, CA, USA), was designed to reduce the burden of repeated dietary or urinary sodium measurements, but the accuracy of daily sodium intake estimates has not been reported. Associations were examined between sodium intakes derived from the SS© scores and repeated 24-h recalls (24DR) in two studies with different administration modes. In one study, 102 registered dietitians (RD) completed three Automated Self-Administered 24DRs (ASA24©), version 2014, followed by the SS©; both were self-administered and web-based. In the second sample, (the Study of Household Purchasing Patterns, Eating, and Recreation or SHoPPER), trained dietitians conducted 24DR interviews with 69 community-dwelling adults in their homes; all the community adults then completed a paper-based SS© at the final visit. In the RD study, SS© -predicted sodium intakes were 2604 ± 990 (mean ± Standard deviation (SD)), and ASA24© sodium intakes were 3193 ± 907 mg/day. In the SHoPPER sample, corresponding values were 3338 ± 1310 mg/day and 2939 ± 1231 mg/day, respectively. SS©-predicted and recall sodium estimates were correlated in the RD study (r = 0.381, p = 0.0001) and in the SHoPPER (r = 0.430, p = 0.0002). Agreement between the SS© and 24-h recalls was poor when classifying individuals as meeting the dietary sodium guidelines of 2300 mg/day or not (RD study: kappa = 0.080, p = 0.32; SHoPPER: kappa = 0.207, p = 0.08). Based on repeated 24DR either in person or self-reported online as the criterion for estimating daily sodium intakes, the SS© may require additional modifications. Full article