Search results for "Poverty"

Getting support in polarized societies: Income, social networks, and socioeconomic context

2013

AbstractThis paper explores how unequal resources and social and economic polarization affects the size of social networks and their use to access resources. We argue that individual resource position generates divergent expectations with regard to the impact of polarization on the size of networks on one hand, and their usefulness for accessing resources on the other. Social and economic polarization encourages reliance on informal networks, but those at the bottom of the social structure are forced to rely on more extensive networks than the wealthy to compensate for their isolated and underprivileged position. At the same time, social and economic polarization limits the resources the po…

Excluding the Poor : globalisation and educational systems

2002

02062; International audience; The article starts from the fact that one billion adults are illiterate world-wide, that more than 100 million children of school age are not schooled, and that the democratisation of the access to education is often only rhetorical. On the basis of available statistics it tackles successively three questions. First, who finances education and how much do they spend? Secondly, what resources or means are devoted to the education of an individual, and how can these data be evaluated. And finally, do the inequalities between individuals, social groups or nations tend to de- or increase with respect to education access. It will be shown that, for example, in deve…

Argentina’s Economic Development and Life Satisfaction Revisited – 1984–2012

2014

At the end of 1983, Argentina returned to democracy. Between 1983 and 2012, Argentina brought better economic and development results as wells as an improvement in the levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Although the macroeconomic cycle was characterized by high volatility, the country GDP per capita was 74 % higher in 2012 compared to 1983, implying an average annual growth rate of 1.9 %, much higher than the average Latin American country. Poverty and income distribution as well as health and education ones notably improved after time intervals of decadence.

Focus on Women in Microfinance Institutions

2013

Abstract We provide empirical evidence on focusing on women in microfinance and its consequences for microfinance institutions (MFIs). Based on a global dataset, the results indicate that a focus on women is associated with group-lending methods, international orientation, smaller loans, and non-commercial legal status. We find that a focus on women significantly improves repayment but does not enhance overall financial performance because of higher relative costs. Moreover, the higher relative costs do not stem from servicing women per se but from the smaller loans offered to women and the group-lending methodology practised by MFIs focusing on women.

The effectiveness of rural versus urban nonprofit organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo

2017

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country with high natural resources, but it has suffered from decades of civil wars and social turmoil, being heavily aid-dependent. In the DRC, several Nonprofit Organisations (NPOs) are major players in fighting poverty and enhancing welfare. This research aims to analyse the effectiveness of small NPOs in improving poor peoples’ lives through health, education, and economic activities. Two NPOs working in the DRC, one in a rural and the other in an urban area, are compared by researching the aid sites and surveying 201 households (aid beneficiaries). Our case observations and the survey results facilitate analysing the mission accomplishment, e…

Work places with stipend programme and its impact on poverty risk decrease: Case of Latvia

2012

The aim of the paper is to analyze theoretical concepts of poverty risk and to estimate the impact of the Workplaces with Stipend Programme (hereinafter WWS) on poverty risk decrease in Latvia. In order to assess the effects of the WWS three different surveys were carried out: of households with WWS participants, of experts in Latvian labour market issues, and of municipality representatives. The results were analyzed, together with analysis of statistical data. The paper concludes that in general the WWS has a very positive impact on WWS participants? household budgets (more than 95% of the WWS participants in all Latvian regions noted a significant impact of the WWS on their household bud…

Finanzierungsproblematik von Kontrazeptiva bei Frauen in Armut

2012

A Review of “Risk, vulnerability and tourism in developing countries: the case of Nepal”

2013

Risk, Vulnerability and Tourism in Developing Countries aims at synthesizing a wide range of concerns with respect to global warming, sustainability, poverty and the existing material conditions th...

Romanian Households Dealing with Precariousness: A life-course approach

2016

This paper addresses the main pathways through which households avoid slipping into poverty in Romania by employing a life-course approach. Recent researches on social stratification found that in every country we can delineate a particular social layer composed of households living just above the poverty threshold, whose members struggle to reach a more secure prosperity while facing constant threats of downward mobility. Drawing on recent precarious prosperity research, and based on in-depth interviews carried out in 2013 with 25 households situated in between poverty and prosperity from a Romanian city (Cluj-Napoca), we use a life-course approach in order to account for the main routes i…

Fasting During Pregnancy and Children's Academic Performance

2011

Conventionally studied educational interventions tend to be costly and may be subject to “fade out”. In contrast, experiences during the prenatal period can have large and persistent effects on academic performance, even when quite brief. In this paper, we consider a relatively mild and commonly-experienced prenatal exposure – that occasioned by daytime fasting during the lunar month of Ramadan. In register data from England, we find that test scores at age seven are approximately .05 to .08 standard deviations lower for Pakistani and Bangladeshi students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. We argue these “intent to treat” estimates are downward biased relative to fasting’s effect due to…