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This study ¹ examined the relationship between chronic conditions, disabilities, and labor force participation (LFP) and earnings for those aged 50 and above.

Using the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS), we analyzed LFP rates and earnings among disabled and nondisabled older Americans by type of disability. The analysis included both descriptive statistics and a two-staged multivariate analysis.

We found that disabilities had a negative impact on LFP and earnings and that this impact varied significantly by type of disability. Older labor force participants often have only one of the six ACS-defined disabilities, but many have multiple disabilities, or co-occurrences. The particular ACS disability, or set of disabilities, is likely to have different effects on LFP as people age. Additionally, certain kinds of chronic medical conditions increase the likelihood of disability co-occurrence.

Our results inform the development of programs and policies aimed at improving the health of American workers in ways that extend the years in which they are able to remain in the labor force. For example, if older workers remain in the labor force, their economic contribution to the American economy, combined with a lower rate of reliance on public health subsidies, may result in significant cost savings.

Uses qualitative data to explore how contemporary religious beliefs mark conceptions of work, particularly with regards to the beliefs of conservative protestant women. Compares liberal protestant women and men as well as conservative men against this group. States that conservative women consider motherhood as their most important work yet they are also most likely to feel “called” to their paid work. Cites that this has important implications for the sociological literature on gender and work. Builds on the original work of Max Weber.

This paper aims to determine household perceptions of disaster recovery plan development and implementation, and to identify groups that may be less aware of the recovery planning process to provide recommendations to officials for improving participation in planning and resident support of implementation priorities.

Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 194 residents of a US Atlantic coast county impacted by Hurricane Irene. Respondents were selected via a two-stage cluster sampling method automated through the use of a Geographic Information Systems toolkit.

Although few households reported participation in the county’s recovery planning process, a majority felt that the plan would be better if it incorporated input from a wide range of stakeholders. The number one reason residents did not participate was the lack of knowledge that they could. Some vulnerable populations were less aware of the recovery plan, including the elderly and those living in poverty, while others were more aware, including those with children and those without access to a working vehicle. Respondents prioritized recovery activities around infrastructure and public safety, yet ranked activities related to public information and housing as less important.

This paper highlights potential successes of emergency management outreach and identifies groups that are not being reached during recovery planning. The paper provides insight on resident priorities for recovery after disaster.

There has been little research on the implementation of recovery plans and few studies that have examined the behaviors and opinions of households with regard to recovery plan development and implementation.

The authors aims to use stigma theory to predict and test a model wherein a person’s stage of pregnancy influences their workplace outcomes associated with pregnancy concealment behaviors.

The authors tested the model using two separate survey studies, examining these relationships from the perspectives of both the pregnant employees and their supervisors.

The authors find support for the model across both studies, showing that concealment of a pregnant identity predicts increased discrimination, but only for those in later stages of pregnancy.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine how one’s stage of pregnancy impacts identity management outcomes. This is important given that pregnancy is an inherently dynamic stigma that becomes increasingly visible over time.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of microfinance on women-owned microenterprises’ (WMEs) performance in Indonesia. It especially observes how financial, human and social capital influences performance of enterprises.

Data were collected from a survey conducted in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, covering more than 100 WMEs. The ordered probit technique is applied to estimate the performance vis-à-vis financial, social and human capital relationships.

This study finds a negative relationship between performance and financial capital, and positive relationships between performance-human capital and performance-social capital. However, with respect to human capital, the level of education has a marginally significant relationship with performance.

Microcredit for the purposes of enhancing business performance might not necessarily be a good idea, if it is unable to generate higher returns. As a business develops, the volume of microcredit should be reduced, and replaced by owners’ own savings and retained profits. Regarding the non-financial factors, it might be useful for policy makers to contemplate providing incentives for spouse involvement in microenterprises run by women, and to consider them in designing credit policies. Group meetings activities should be extended to facilitate members to engage in business-related conversations and to develop social relationships. The ability of loan officers and group leaders to facilitate such conversations appears important.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study provides the first in-depth understanding of the role of microfinance programmes in the case of performance of WMEs in Indonesia, one of the world’s most populous economies.

This paper aims to describe how public librarians can better address complex information needs. First, librarians should classify the degree of complexity of the need by using Warner’s classification model; then they can use Popper’s three world theory to anticipate and respond to complex information needs by following specific steps.

After examining the information science literature, appropriate models were selected to support public librarians. Our information science scholarship, coupled with our practical experience, informed our search and selection.

This paper details specific steps that public librarians can take to anticipate and respond to individual information needs. Doing so is imperative as the information needs of the public continue to become increasingly complex.

This paper improves information practice because it offers specific steps to aid public librarians to anticipate and respond to complex information needs. It draws upon an existing model and theoretical framework. This paper also highlights selected examples of how public librarians across the USA have anticipated information needs, and developed partnerships with organizations external to the public library to address complex information needs.