The influence of inequality on the standard of living: Worldwide anthropometric evidence from the 19th and 20th centuries

We provide empirical evidence on the existence of the Pigou–Dalton principle. The latter indicates that aggregate welfare is – ceteris paribus – maximized when incomes of all individuals are equalized (and therefore marginal utility from income is as well). Using anthropometric panel data on 101 countries during the 19th and 20th centuries, we determine that there is a systematic negative and concave relationship between height inequality and average height. The robustness of this relationship is tested by means of several robustness checks, including two instrument variable regressions. These findings help to elucidate the impact of economic inequality on welfare.

Cultural and Genetic Influences on the “Biological Standard of Living”

This study suggests an improvement of a popular measure of living standards, namely the biological standard of living. One influence on it is a population's consumption pattern. Since there are different dietary patterns all over the world, researchers estimate the influences of national diets on final average male height. These habits are predominantly related to income, but also to genetics, cultural history, and decisions regarding whether to trade or consume high-quality foodstuffs. Systematic differences are found when analyzing protein-consumption habits among 51 countries between the 1960s and the 1980s. The author calculates metric correction values which can facilitate international comparisons of male average height. While the proposed correction values make a little difference on average, they can be valuable in a comparison of countries with markedly different dietary patterns.

Trends in Economic Stress and the Great Recession in Ireland: An Analysis of the CSO Survey in Income and Living Conditions (SILC)

Since 2008, Ireland has experienced the most severe economic and labour market crisis since the foundation of the State. These economic and labour market changes have had a stark impact on the standard of living across the Irish population. The rapid deterioration in the labour market, the rising level of household indebtedness and stringent austerity measures to plug the public finance deficit have had a widespread impact yet there is debate about where the heaviest burden has fallen and where the economic stress has been felt most. The paper analyses data from the Survey of Income and Living Conditions for the period 2004 to 2011. The aim of the paper is to develop and test a measure of economic stress, which will capture some of the aspects of the rapid change in economic fortunes on Irish households that are not picked up by income alone. This includes tapping into features of the recession such as debt problems, unsustainable housing costs, and other difficulties associated with managing on reduced household income in a period of uncertainty. In testing such a measure we examine trends over time from boom to bust in the Irish economy and consider how economic stress is distributed across different socio-economic groups. The paper explores the distribution and level of economic stress across income class groups, social classes and the life-course and tests the thesis of ‘middle class squeeze’.

I can't get a breath: experiences of living with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

This study aims to explore the potential for palliative care among people living with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Individual semi-structured interviews (n=13) were conducted with people who had a diagnosis of advanced COPD and were on optimal tolerated drug therapy, with their breathing volume (forced expiratory volume at less than 30%) or were on long-term oxygen therapy or non-invasion ventilation. Participants raised concerns about the uncertain trajectory of the illness and reported unmet palliative care needs with poor access to palliative care services. For most people, palliative care was associated with end of life; therefore, they were unwilling to discuss the issue. There was a wide acceptance that, medically, nothing more could be done. Findings also suggest that patients had unmet palliative care needs, requiring information and support. The research suggests the need for palliative care to be extended to all (regardless of diagnosis), with packages of care developed to target specific needs.

Surviving but stigmatised:Making sense of living with Burkholderia cepacia

Infection control policies recommend segregation of people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) according to bacterial status. This involves isolating those people with cepacia from all other CF patients in order to prevent additional infection. These policies are reliant on the understanding and adherence of those colonised with cepacia. Service user reports suggest that emotions like anxiety and anger are aroused when those with cepacia are faced with cross infection measures (UK CF Trust, 2009). No studies to date investigate this anecdotal emotional reaction. This research was conducted to ask what it is like to live with cepacia, using in depth interviews. A phenomenological approach was used. Three themes that appeared to characterise the experience of living with cepacia were identified: (1) Lost Identity: cepacia can challenge one’s self identity, and along with cross infection measures lead to feeling objectified and even alienated from the CF group identity. (2) Status: Condemned: being colonised with cepacia brings with it knowledge of a certain type of restricted future, and an imagined death. There is loss of normality and hope. (3) I Am Cepacia: making decisions about preventing cross infection is influenced by medical knowledge as well as human emotions and social information; therefore adherence to these measures is fluid and contextual. These themes have real world clinical implications for all CF services, where preventing the spread of cepacia is paramount. Responsibility for cross infection is a burden and requires knowledge and understanding from both those living with and without cepacia. We need to see beyond the bacteria to the person.

Why are you tall while others are short? Agricultural production and other proximate determinants of global heights

We analyze the proximate determinants of the biological standard of living from a global perspective, namely high-quality nutrition and the disease environment during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Until the mid-twentieth century, the local availability of cattle, meat, and milk per capita and the local disease environment mainly determined the stature of the population – and, by implication, how long they lived and how healthy they were. During the late twentieth century, the trade of agricultural products and health-promoting technologies increased in relative importance; hence, the local availabilities became less decisive in explaining height differences.

Predictors of Strength of In-Group Identity in Northern Ireland: Impact of Past Sectarian Conflict, Relative Deprivation and Church Attendance

Social identity in Northern Ireland is multifaceted, with historical, religious, political, social, economic, and psychological underpinnings. Understanding the factors that influence the strength of identity with the Protestant or Catholic community, the two predominate social groups in Northern Ireland, has implications for individual well-being as well as for the continuation of tension and violence in this setting of protracted intergroup conflict. This study examined predictors of the strength of in-group identity in 692 women (mean age 37 years) in post-accord Northern Ireland. For Catholics, strength of in-group identity was positively linked to past negative impact of sectarian conflict and more frequent current church attendance, whereas for Protestants, strength of in-group identity was related to greater status satisfaction regarding access to jobs, standard of living, and political power compared with Catholics; that is, those who felt less relative deprivation. The discussion considers the differences in the factors underlying stronger identity for Protestants and Catholics in this context. 

The Modern Ordinary: Changing culture of living in Egypt’s traditional quarters at the turn of the twentieth Century

Having experienced social and political structures of the 19th century Europe, Western- educated Egyptian elite used public institutions to force legislative structures and procedures that ruled out traditional housing forms and spatial systems. This essay detects direct and indirect impact of these changes that informed the spatial change of modern living in Egypt in the first quarter of the twentieth century. It offers analysis of socio-spatial practices and change in ordinary Cairenes’ modes of everyday living, using social routine and interaction to explain spatial systems and changing house forms during the first quarter of the 20th century. In doing so, the essay utilized archival documents, accounts, formal decrees, and novels of the time as well as conducting survey of house forms and spatial organizations in Old Cairo.

Max Weber and the First World War: Protestant and Catholic living standards in Germany, 1915-1919

We assess informal institutions of Protestants and Catholics by investigating their economic
resilience in a natural experiment. The First World War constitutes an exogenous shock to living standards since the duration and intensity of the war exceeded all expectations. We assess the ability of Protestant and Catholic communities to cope with increasing food prices and wartime black markets. Literature based on Weber (1904, 1905) suggests that Protestants must be more resilient than their Catholic peers. Using individual height data on some 2,800 Germans to assess levels of malnutrition during the war, we find that living standards for both Protestants and Catholics declined; however, the decrease of Catholics’ height was disproportionately large. Our empirical analysis finds a large statistically significant difference between Protestants and Catholics for the 1914-19 birth cohort, and we argue that this height gap cannot be attributed to socioeconomic background and fertility alone.

Diabetes Distress: Understanding the Hidden Struggles of Living with Diabetes and Exploring Intervention Strategies

Diabetes Distress is a rational emotional response to the threat of a life-changing illness. Distinct from depression, it is rooted in the demands of diabetes management and is a product of psychological adjustment. Diabetes distress has been found to be significantly associated with HbA1c and self-care, which demonstrates its clinical use in treatment outcomes. Interpersonal factors such as perceived support and protectiveness of partners significantly contribute to elevated distress, suggesting that these are valued areas of focus for interventions. Pioneering large-scale research, DAWN2, gives voices to the families of those with diabetes and reaffirms the need to consider psychosocial factors in routine diabetes care. Structured diabetes education programmes are the most widely used in helping individuals cope with diabetes, but they fail to consider the psychological or interpersonal aspects of diabetes management. Psycho-educational approaches are found to be effective in reducing diabetes distress while also improving HbA1c. Certain limitations in the current literature are discussed, along with future directions. Of utmost importance is the need for health practitioners, irrespective of background, to demonstrate an understanding of diabetes distress and actively engage in discussion with individuals struggling to cope with diabetes; to normalize this and integrate it into routine diabetes practice.