Asian Social Work and Policy Review最新文献

This study examines the effects of the pro-work reforms to South Korea's North Korean Defectors Settlement Support System (NKDSSS) on the economic adjustment of North Korean Defectors (NKDs) in the country. It analyzes data from the 2010 National Survey of Domestic Violence: NKDs, using a regression discontinuity design. The study finds that the reforms did not affect changes in the economic adjustment of NKDs, measured by employment, household income level, a rate of cash transfer as the main source of income, and welfare receipt. The findings of this study suggest that there are no significant differences in the economic adjustment outcomes of Unconditional Cash Transfers and Conditional Cash Transfers. It also implies that for the pro-work reforms to be effective to meet the changing needs, there should be rigorous policy evaluations for its reforms to improve the NKDSSS.

This study seeks to broaden the understanding of socioeconomic health disparities among Korean adolescents. Specifically, we examine the pathways from objective SES and subjective SES to physical health through a psychosocial perspective. To this end, stress and self-efficacy, which have been identified as critical psychosocial factors associated with SES, and physical activity, one of the most representative health behaviors during this period, are included as mediating variables in the research model. We utilize data from the 3rd year survey of the Seoul Education and Health Welfare Panel (2016), which consists of responses from 680 adolescents and parents. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the responses. The results show that sSES is directly associated with the physical health of adolescents. Meanwhile, oSES is indirectly associated with physical health and has two distinct psychosocial pathways to physical health according to whether or not the effect is mediated by sSES. Finally, we discuss the implications of the study findings.

Migration is an essential livelihood strategy in rapidly developing, low-income contexts. However, this article seeks to analyze occupation choices and the struggle for livelihood among laborers. This study carried out both secondary and primary data; the primary survey was conducted in the Udupi district of Karnataka. Detailed information was gathered from both individual and household levels. According to National Sample Survey data, construction offers the main occupation for short duration migrants, absorbing 36.2% of total short duration migration. However, the field survey findings indicated that at the destination, the construction sector migrants are more vulnerable and struggle for their lives and livelihood in the urban labor segments—poverty and rural unemployment a significant reasons to push the laborers into the construction segment.

Using a nationally representative sample in Korea, this study examined the association of information and communication technology (ICT) utilization level and the life satisfaction of people with disabilities and the variations by disability type. Data were obtained from the second wave of the 2021 Survey on the Digital Divide, administered by the Korean National Information Society Agency (N = 2200 persons with disabilities). Study findings reveal that ICT utilization level has a significant association with the life satisfaction of people with disabilities, regardless of the disability type. In addition, the level of disability was related to the life satisfaction of people with physical disabilities only, while income was associated with the life satisfaction of people with physical disabilities and brain lesion disabilities. Based upon these results, this study discussed practical and policy implications for people with disabilities, particularly focusing on the methods to increase to increase the level of ICT utilization.

This study used data from 1871 college students across China to examine the relations among volunteering and PWB in 2020. Results of regression analysis indicate that volunteering had positive effects on the PWB of the students. Students whose motivation to volunteer was public interest had greater PWB, regardless of the degree to which they also reported private gain as a motivation. The significant interaction results indicate that students whose volunteer motivation included both public interest and private gains and who had high frequency of volunteering were more likely to have higher PWB. Policy and practice implications were discussed.

Social enterprises are hybrid organizations that combine for-profit, market-based practices with nonprofit goals. Social enterprises in China face specific political and institutional challenges that negatively affect their development. This study explores how a Government-Organized Non-Government Organization (GONGO) overcomes institutional challenges at different stages of social enterprise development by engaging strategies, which eventually lead to the establishment of a sustainable social enterprise. The GONGO applies social entrepreneurship in the three major aspects of identifying challenging social problems, implementing innovative market-based solutions, and initiating long-term institutional changes to tackle the stubborn social issue. This study demonstrates a unique top-down social enterprise model and shows that in an authoritarian context, the GONGO could potentially take up the role of developing new social enterprise. This study initiates a deeper conversation between social entrepreneurship and China's socio-political development.

India has made considerable progress towards tackling child malnutrition since the launch of the ICDS scheme in 1975, with currently 1.3 million centres across the country. The latest NFHS-5 data (2018–20), however, shows limited improvement in the percentage of stunted, wasted, and underweight children, at 36%, 19%, and 32%, respectively. Given the persistent state of malnutrition in India, we probe, are there more nuances and unexplored dimensions to malnutrition issue that can add to the existing literature and support policy making? Demographic and Health Survey (2015–16) data of 70,618 children between the age of 2 and 5 years, from underprivileged communities in India, were investigated using the Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory Model. Three malnutrition outcome measures were calculated as per WHO standards, namely, height-for-age, weight-for-height, and weight-for-age. Binary and multinomial logistic regression models brought out two noteworthy results, namely, the importance of vaccination and the paradox of maternal working status. Vaccination status positively impacts the outcome measures, and maternal working status demonstrates a paradoxical situation. The children of non-working mothers had better health statistics, indicating positive impact of a higher amount of time spent on direct childcare. However, working women in poor households bring economic capital to the house, indirectly bringing positive impacts on family health and nutrition. The results also confirmed the significance of maternal and child health status, access to healthcare, and need for dietary diversity. The importance of vaccination, especially in the context of COVID-19, has been emphasized by policymakers. The policymakers need to relook at the existing welfare programs like ICDS and Creche Scheme to incorporate better-supporting structures for working mothers for health access and childcare activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had negative impacts on vulnerable populations worldwide. This study aimed to examine the association between the health worries of urban older people in Thailand and covariates related to income and non-income poverty, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), and metabolic risk factors (MRFs). The study utilized the 2021 Survey on Housing and Support Services for Poor Older Adults, which sampled lower-income urban adults aged at least 55 years from five national regions. Bivariate analyses were performed to determine the relationships of NCDs and MRFs with the covariates. Then, binary logistic regression was used to analyze outcomes of perceived health risks including becoming infected with COVID-19, declining health status, and being unable to access health care. Higher educational attainment and income levels were observed to be negatively correlated with worse health status and the inability to access health care. Subjective household crowding consistently had a positive association with the three health concerns. Having MRFs was related only to concerns about health status and access to health care during the pandemic. Welfare and health policies need to improve their responsiveness to the needs of the older population, especially for protection from socioeconomic shocks such as those seen with the current pandemic.