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Before COVID-19, Kenya was among the countries in sub-Saharan Africa already dealing with high Gender-Based Violence (GBV) issues. Kenya had experienced prior convoluted emergencies and endemics, which had an inordinate impingement on women and girls that heightened their vulnerability to GBV. The Kenyan Ministry of Public Service and Gender reported that in 2020, there was an increase of 36% in GBV cases (Roy et al., 2021). COVID-19 had a devastating effect in rural communities, whereby women were most impacted. This study aims to understand the lessons learned from public leaders in implementing policies that could address GBV through better leadership approaches.

This is an exploratory-qualitative study in which six participants comprised of policymakers or government representatives that were interviewed in semi-structured interviews.

The qualitative narratives provided evidence that suggests a complex relationship between the COVID-19 lockdowns and movement restrictions policies and played a direct factor in the rise in GBV in vulnerable populations. The individual country policies and sectoral policies varied in how vulnerable women's needs were addressed, which led to diverse socioeconomic and health consequences.

This research delineates the impacts of the failure of Kenyan leaders to implement gender focused COVID-19 policies and guidelines that considered the physical, mental, violence and the economic impact such emergencies have on women and girls in rural communities.

Fertility aspirations shape family planning behavior of a couple. Desire to have certain number of children is linked with various micro- and macro-level factors such as individuals’ characteristics, sociocultural contexts and unconscious personal motivations. Fertility aspirations are an important component of fertility decision-making and a major predictor of childbearing. In India, Uttar Pradesh (UP) is the most populated state with historically high levels of fertility rates as compared to national average. This research is a qualitative exploration of the perspectives and practices of women with respect to their fertility aspirations and family planning behavior in an urban setting. A cross-sectional study was conducted between August 2017 and July 2018 among married women and men of the reproductive age group of 17–49 years using qualitative methods. The study was done in Pakbara, a Census Town (has a minimum population of 5,000) in the district of Moradabad, situated in western UP. It was found that along with personal motivations of having a quality life change in objective circumstances has led to changes in the fertility aspirations of the participants, particularly women. Increasing education, more mobility in public spaces, aspirations for a quality life, exposure to mass media and new job opportunities generate revision of parental aspirations. Couples, particularly from middle and upper-middle classes, limit their family size to attain upward social mobility. Couples from lower economic class have realized that rise of household income has not been commensurate with rise in prices. Thus, restricted childbearing is one way to cope with the situation.

“The latest available cross-country data presented in the PEPPER V Report (Lowitzsch and Hashi, 2024) can be viewed by examining EFP in and of itself as an isolated subject or it can be viewed in a much wider set of contexts. Widening the lens in order to examine EFP in the context of the concentration of capital ownership and the concentration of capital income can help observers establish EFP’s span of relevance. In particular US data on capital income show that policy makers need to be aware that EFP can have an important role in narrowing the income and wealth gap for the working middle class when the concentration of capital ownership and capital income is high and when real wage growth is low.”

“Against this background, this article makes a very straightforward observation that the relevance of EFP in an economic system, in a country, and for the average employee in a country is related to the trend in the concentration of capital ownership and capital income. Interest in the idea is potentially increased or decreased by trends in real wages. Atkinson, who many consider the founder of modern wealth concentration scholarship, “focuses on the increasing share of capital incomes a source of income inequality among individuals” (Cirillo et al., 2017, p. 1). Indeed, we consider the difference between labour’s share and capital’s share to be a critically important fundamental problem of political economy. This essay asserts that when this concentration is high and real wages are flat, other things being equal, EFP may be more relevant. When the concentration of capital ownership and capital income is high, this means that ownership and income on that ownership is thinly spread in the population. When real wages are flat, this means that the rate at which fixed wages can replenish wealth is decreasing. As a result, both trends would make EFP more relevant.”

The conceptual model suggested for this article asserts that the relevance of EFP can be viewed as a function of narrowing income and wealth options for the working middle class when the concentration of capital ownership and capital income is high and when real wage growth is low. Does this relevance change across economic systems? There is no question that the future understanding of these issues requires adding metrics to the statistical methodologies of different regions and countries and adding to existing reports and analyses that focus on both the dynamics of and trends in capital income (property income in the EU) and on the EUR and USD value of EFP at the mean and at the median for different income levels of the population

This article presents – for the first time – a society-wide measure of the impact of EFP on one economy, namely, the US For further research, it makes sense to build on the comparable data available on the distribution of capital ownership and have similar research on the distribution of capital income for both the EU and the US along with measures of the EUR and USD values of EFP.

This study explores whether targeted microcredit can effectively alleviate households’ multidimensional relative poverty (MdRP) in rural China in the new era following the poverty elimination campaign and discusses it from a gendered perspective.

This study applies a fixed-effects model, propensity score matching (PSM) and two-stage instrumental variable method to two-period panel data collected from 611 households in rural western China in 2018 and 2021 to explore the effects, mechanisms and heterogenous performance of targeted microcredit on households’ MdRP in the new era.

(i) Targeted microcredit can alleviate MdRP among rural households in the new era, mainly by reducing income and opportunity inequality. (ii) Targeted microcredit can promote women’s empowerment, mainly by enhancing their social participation, thereby helping alleviate households’ MdRP. The effect of the targeted microcredit on MdRP is more significant in medium-educated women households and non-left-behind women households. (iii) The MdRP alleviation effect is stronger in villages with a high degree of digitalization.

Learn from the experience of targeted microcredit. Accurately identify poor groups and integrate loan design into financial health and women empowerment. Particularly, pay attention to less-educated and left-behind women households and strengthen coordination between targeted microcredit and digital village strategies.

This study clarifies the effect of targeted microcredit on women’s empowerment and households’ MdRP alleviation in the new era. It also explores its various effects on households with different female characteristics and regional digitalization levels, providing ideas for optimizing microcredit.

The purpose of this paper is to test if the digital economy improves the quality of life of our residents. Furthermore, if this finding is confirmed, what would be the mechanism behind its effect? Does the impact of the digital economy on quality of life vary according to its level of development?

A comprehensive index of the digital economy, income gap and quality of life was constructed empirically based on data from 220 cities in China from 2011–2020. A multi-dimensional empirical analysis was conducted in this paper.

The analysis of the pathways of action shows that narrowing the income gap is an important mechanism through which the digital economy actively contributes to the quality of life. The results of the threshold model show that the “marginal effect” of the digital economy on quality of life is non-linear and increasing. The results show that after a series of robustness tests, including instrumental variables, the digital economy still significantly enhances people’s quality of life.

This paper reveals the intrinsic link between the digital economy and quality of life and provides a theoretical basis for further improving people’s well-being.

Encouraging the development of the digital economy is a useful way to improve the quality of life by narrowing the income gap.

Data analysis of the digital economy from 2011–2020 in China to get an insight into what would be the mechanism behind the digital economy improving the quality of life of our residents.

This study investigates how enhancing slum dwellers' capabilities influences their entrepreneurship development and contributes to urban poverty reduction, providing insights for social policy design.

A quantitative research design is adopted applying structural equation modeling to survey data from 585 beneficiaries of social welfare schemes across Indian slums.

Educational, economic and sociocultural capabilities positively impact quantitative and qualitative dimensions of slum entrepreneurship development, which reduces urban poverty, supporting the hypothesized relationships grounded in the Capability Approach.

The cross-sectional data limits causal inference. Wider sampling can improve generalizability. Capability antecedents of entrepreneurship merit further investigation across contexts.

Integrated policy initiatives focused on education, skill building, access to finance and markets can leverage entrepreneurship for sustainable urban poverty alleviation.

Enhancing slum dweller capabilities fosters entrepreneurship and empowerment, enabling people to shape their own destinies and reduce deprivations.

The research provides timely empirical validation of the Capability Approach and evidence-based insights to inform social policy aiming to alleviate urban poverty via entrepreneurship in developing countries.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-07-2023-0514.

Scholars, activists, and policymakers have paid increasing attention to housing instability, especially where eviction is a cause. Housing instability is a dynamic process rather than a discrete catastrophic event, and eviction imposes vulnerability on consumers. Even the threat of it can trigger the onset of a crisis. In this project, we deepen the understanding of eviction by exploring its use in property management practice. We begin by summarizing its definition and causes from a cross-disciplinary and still-evolving literature. We then provide an extended example of how eviction can be used to pursue strategic and financial goals using rental markets in Arkansas as an example. Arkansas is characterized by a quintessentially laissez-faire regulatory environment that imposes few restrictions on property owners. We conclude by posing questions that should be at the forefront of a vulnerability-focused, policy-oriented research agenda on eviction.

A pronounced rise in postpandemic immigration is creating consumption opportunities and challenges for countries worldwide. Past research has shown that immigrant homeownership indicates advanced consumer acculturation. However, critical factors which differentiate immigrant decisions to purchase a home remain underexplored. This study aims to examine the importance of different identity resources in determining homeownership gaps between immigrant groups in Spain during a dynamic decade.

A mixed methods research design with triangulation was used. First, the critical “historical research method” is used to empirically assess 15,465 household-level microdata files from the National Immigrant Survey of Spain. Second, the analysis is corroborated through informant interviews, an evaluation of digital news archives and other historical traces such as relevant advertisements in Spain from 2000 to 2009.

Results provided an account of immigrant homeownership whereby foreign-born consumers leveraged resources to promote social identities aligned with an advanced level of acculturation through housing investment during this period. Furthermore, marketing focused on specific targets of ethnic minority consumers coupled with government policies to promote immigrant homeownership reinforced the “Spanish Dream” as a new paradigm for housing market integration.

Spain provides an unprecedented historical context to explain marketing-related phenomena due to a perfect storm of immigration, job availability and integration supports. Contrary to popular wisdom, immigrant consumer homeownership gaps are not solely a result of differences in income and economic mobility, but rather an advanced acculturation outcome driven by personal and social investments in resources that lead to consumer identities.

This study aims to evaluate the influence of institutions on the probability of becoming a social entrepreneur and the effect of this choice on individual economic well-being. The authors also analyze the effects of gender (male versus female entrepreneurism) and type (traditional versus social entrepreneurism).

Institutional economics framed the analysis, and hypotheses were tested using two-stage probit least squares models in a sample of 69,236 individuals from 57 countries during the 2010–2014 wave from the World Values Survey.

The results showed that, for most variables, institutions significantly explained the probability of becoming a social entrepreneur. The analyses also indicated that social entrepreneurship is highly associated with individual economic well-being.

This research brings insights into the discussion of the social and economic benefits of socially oriented entrepreneurs. Likewise, the modeling approach overcomes the interplay between entrepreneurship and economic outcomes, in which institutions become key factors.

Este estudio evalúa la influencia de las instituciones en la probabilidad de convertirse en un emprendedor social y el efecto de esta elección en el bienestar económico individual. También se analizan los efectos del género (emprendimiento masculino versus femenino) y del tipo (emprendimiento tradicional versus social).

La economía institucional es el marco para el análisis e hipótesis, las cuales se evaluaron utilizando modelos probit de mínimos cuadrados de dos etapas (2SPLS) en una muestra de 69.236 personas de 57 países durante la ola 2010–2014 de la Encuesta Mundial de Valores.

Los resultados mostraron que, para la mayoría de las variables, las instituciones explicaron significativamente la probabilidad de convertirse en un emprendedor social. El análisis también indicaró que el emprendimiento social está altamente asociado con el bienestar económico individual.

Esta investigación aporta información sobre el debate alrededor de los beneficios sociales y económicos de los emprendedores con orientación social. Asimismo, el enfoque de modelización resuelve la interdependencia entre el emprendimiento y variables económicas, en la que las instituciones son factores claves.

Este estudo avalia a influência das instituições na probabilidade de se tornar um empreendedor social e o efeito desta escolha no bem-estar económico individual. Os efeitos do género (empreendedorismo masculino versus feminino) e do tipo (empreendedorismo tradicional versus social) também são analisados.

A economia institucional é a estrutura para a análise e hipóteses, que foram avaliadas usando modelos probit de mínimos quadrados em dois estágios (2SPLS) em uma amostra de 69.236 pessoas de 57 países durante a onda 2010–2014 dos Valores Mundiais Pesquisa.

Os resultados mostraram que, para a maioria das variáveis, as instituições explicaram significativamente a probabilidade de se tornar um empreendedor social. A análise também indicou que o empreendedorismo social está altamente associado ao bem-estar económico individual.

Esta investigação fornece informações sobre o debate em torno dos benefícios sociais e económicos dos empreendedores de orientação social. Da mesma forma, a abordagem de modelização resolve a interdependência entre o empreendedorismo e as variáveis económicas, nas quais as instituições são fatores-chave.

In the Global South where humanitarian responses to disasters are often hampered by systemic gaps, community-based humanitarian actors play a crucial but underexplored role in mediating aid to vulnerable populations. This study explores the everydayness of humanitarian action through the lived experiences of urban community leaders during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines. Specifically, it sheds light on their engagement with national-level responders, the typologies of humanitarian activities they undertook and the contextual factors influencing their decision-making.

Using a qualitative approach, this study presents interviews with 35 community-based humanitarian leaders in urban poor areas of Metro Manila, Philippines. Analytical themes were developed inductively from the transcripts.

Due to mobility restrictions from quarantine protocols, the typologies of humanitarian action shifted to accommodate arising challenges from pandemic management. Engagement with formal humanitarian actors were premised on pre-existing relationships. The study further reveals that, despite lacking formal training, community leaders utilized preexisting networks of care while subscribing to Filipino communal values of bayanihan (working together), malasakit (care) and pagkakaisa (unity). The findings underscore the need for discourse on the realities faced by community leaders and highlight the importance of holistic and gendered capacity building for effective disaster response in vulnerable communities.

This study contributes to understanding the intricate dynamics of humanitarian coordination, particularly in areas where community leaders act as critical intermediaries between their constituents and external support providers and concludes with critical take on localization as a form of community resilience to disaster events.