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Historically, many Western nations have subsidized public and affordable housing with public grants and government-backed loans. However, in response to declining housing affordability and high land and development costs, various national governments are now introducing tax-based housing incentives to promote affordable housing production by private actors. Understanding the broader implications of this shift to tax subsidy and private investment, this review reflects on the market outcomes of arguably the most documented tax-based housing program in the Western world: the low-income housing tax credit program (LIHTC) in the United States. Although LIHTC remains a unique and distinctive instrument, some valuable lessons can be learned from it. In comparative terms, the program offers stricter affordability requirements than its counterparts introduced in countries like Australia, Chile, Colombia, France and Germany. Furthermore, it is accompanied by stronger regulations to commit investors and developers to the housing cause on a more long-term basis. However, despite potential benefits, tax-incentivized housing production does not necessarily result in efficient or equitable housing solutions. In non-American contexts, its increased importance coincides with the emergence of market-oriented social welfare systems where affordable rents are set higher and where tenure is more flexible and heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analysed the total words and emotion words, narrative styles, and narrative content of low-income parent–child conversations about past emotions in Taiwan. We recruited 38 low-income parents and their children (20 boys and 18 girls); the parents were recorded in their homes as they discussed past events with their children. The average age of the children was 72 months. The results highlighted the absence of gender differences in the number of words, narrative styles, and narrative content in the low-income parent–child emotion talk. The parents favoured a low-elaborative style with minimal conversational turns. Our analysis revealed that the physical discipline of low-income parents was a notable emotional theme prompting negative emotions, particularly anger, in children. In terms of emotional resolution, the parents in our sample did not provide moral lessons; moreover, when managing children's negative emotions, these parents did not adopt resolution, reassurance, or reestablishment strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of neoliberalism, community leisure practitioners have access to fewer resources, which requires adopting the business-like practices of private sector organizations. To ensure access for low-income families, practitioners incorporate economic-based access policies. Despite these efforts, many low-income families are still unable to access community-based leisure provisions. Drawing on data from a case study of a nonprofit organization that supports low-income families' access to leisure activities, we found that community leisure provisions had rigid program structures, subsidy programs, registration processes, and volunteer obligations that hindered rather than helped parents' ability to enroll, facilitate, and maintain their children's leisure participation. Our findings indicate that top-down programming resulted in not meeting families' needs due to program options, despite being designed for low-income families, the leisure access provisions prevented rather than cultivated participation in leisure activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature suggests many victims of housing loss due to disaster need emergency shelter, and low-income individuals are at risk of becoming chronically homeless without assistance in the transition to conventional housing. In response, FEMA provides Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) to victims of housing loss. However, the extent to which sheltering needs are met by TSA has not been investigated, especially among low-income households. Analyzing FEMA's administrative data including all damaged housing units in Harris and Galveston counties (N = 283,085), we found that low-income victims of housing loss not only had greater sheltering needs but also were less likely to access TSA than their counterparts not of low-income status. When both groups were in need of shelter, the chance of obtaining TSA for low-income victims of housing loss was much lower than that for their counterparts. Our study highlights the critical sheltering needs of low-income households in a natural disaster, and advocates for a broader and more equitable distribution of TSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on interviews with low-income, Israeli mothers about their experience supporting children's remote-learning during COVID, this study offers theoretical insights about the accomplishment of natural-growth. The accomplishment of natural-growth is a theoretical concept coined by Lareau to describe the logics of low-income childrearing. Though concerted cultivation, which describes the logics of middle-class childrearing has garnered theoretical elaboration, little research has elaborated on practices for accomplishment of natural-growth. This study elaborates on these practices as they were revealed in mothers' narratives of adjustment to difficulties placed by remote-learning. The women described practices by which they sought to bind themselves and their children into a social network and to bridge out and utilize resources within and beyond this network. The analysis reveals that these practices work through social as opposed to cultural capital, revealing a childrearing logic based in a different type of capital than that of concerted cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonprofit networks that oversee housing accessibility within urban neighbourhoods emerge as crucial arenas for inducing transformative shifts in policy and practice in the United States. However, civil society actors are subject to considerable critique in the discourse on radical planning theory. They are often alleged to be hand in glove with state and market actors in enabling displacement and dispossession of marginalised groups. This study challenges some of these entrenched positions and provides important counter-narratives on the transformative roles of civil society. Delving into the roles of various institutions that facilitate low-income homeownership, community building, and neighbourhood stabilisation, the study reveals that civil society actors present opportunities for subaltern expression, disruptive activism, and structural transformation in power relationalities. Their strategies respond to wealth-building pathways through housing and address intersectional challenges related to identity, citizenship, and access, thus reaffirming their transformative potential in the urban planning discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing policy for low-income renters seeks to deconcentrate poverty by moving the poor to neighborhoods offering opportunities for safety, good education, and gainful employment. Federal law compels communities to take affirmative steps to promote racial and ethnic integration. We argue that it is not possible for a community to effectively deconcentrate poverty unless it actively engages in racial and ethnic integration. This research evaluates the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) in terms of both poverty deconcentration and racial integration. It asks if the LIHTC program is helping move low-income families to neighbourhoods offering high levels of opportunity categorized by the dominant racial and ethnic group. Given the lack of high-opportunity tracts among minority concentrated tracts, there is effectively no mechanism through which the LIHTC program can locate developments in minority dominated high-opportunity tracts and achieve movement to opportunity. If the LIHTC program is to further poverty deconcentration through movement to high-opportunity areas, it must also affirmatively further fair housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article demonstrates how two different, but related processes converge in the Ciudad Kennedy neighbourhood, built by the Instituto de Credito Territorial (ICT) on the outskirts of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, at the beginning of the 1960s. The ICT, the Colombian state agency responsible for building low-income housing, sought various means of addressing a housing crisis that had been exacerbated since the 1950s by significant rural migration into the country's urban centres. In this context, the ICT collaborated closely with the Inter-American Housing and Planning Center (CINVA). In tandem, the U.S. government approved budgeting for the programme Alliance for Progress. This programme for foreign aid and regional cooperation cemented the U.S. effort to consolidate its influence in Latin America as part of its Cold War geostrategy. Housing being one of the Alliance's primary means of achieving its goals, Ciudad Kennedy represented the measure by which the success of American foreign policy in Latin America could be assessed. By considering housing produced by the ICT in Colombia as a geopolitical tool in the 1960s, Ciudad Kennedy illustrates how the U.S. enhanced its relationships with Latin America through U.S. technicians and foreign aid programmes, such as the Alliance for Progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carsharing programs—subscription-based car rentals—allow users to purchase only the automobility that they need. These programs may benefit low-income travelers by increasing access at lower prices than private auto ownership. Most carshare programs, however, disproportionately serve higher-income drivers. To assess carsharing's potential to address the accessibility needs of disadvantaged households, we interviewed members of BlueLA, an electric carsharing program in central Los Angeles (CA) that offers both subsidized and regular memberships. We found few differences in how travelers with different membership types used BlueLA. They both used the service to complement travel by other modes like public transit and ridehail. In addition, members cited the benefits of gaining car access without the financial burden of car ownership or the unpredictability of ridehail fares. Neighborhood context, including residential density and the availability of non-automobile transportation options, also increased BlueLA's appeal. However, due to limited and unreliable vehicle availability, most users did not rely on BlueLA for time-sensitive trips. BlueLA both eased and increased access to destinations outside of the commute and complemented public transit for subsidized and regular members. Services like BlueLA cannot meet all transportation needs. However, subsidized electric carsharing—particularly targeted to central-city neighborhoods—may address some accessibility needs of low-income households without imposing the burdens of automobile ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential dissatisfaction occurs due to a discrepancy between residents' expectations and their residential environment. This phenomenon appears in a confrontation process, mostly in low-income families who cannot afford to relocate, calling for extracting their lived experiences. This study aimed to extract the consequences of residential dissatisfaction so that residents' various coping strategies were narrated. This narrative was achieved through transcendental phenomenology and semi-structured interviews. The residents of Mehr housing scheme contributed to expressing the mentioned narrative through purposive sampling of Minudasht, Iran. Meanwhile, transcriptions were divided into three categories: revision of needs, change in the physical environment and relocation. The results included eight themes that residents showed to residential dissatisfaction. Residents' strategies for dealing with residential dissatisfaction were also structured by an analytical framework encompassing individual/family, social, internal and external aspects. This article provides fresh insights into residents' responses to residential dissatisfaction both in theory and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although peer support is documented as a predictor of adolescents' prosocial behavior, the influencing mechanism of peer support on prosocial behavior among adolescents from low-income families has not been fully researched. The current research conducted two studies to examine the influencing mechanism of peer support on prosocial behavior among adolescents from low-income families. Study 1 (N = 579) investigated the influencing mechanism of peer support on prosocial behavior with a longitudinal dataset. Study 2 (N = 228) investigated the effect of peer support priming on money donation with an experimental approach. The results of Study 1 and Study 2 consistently demonstrated that communal social goals mediated the association between peer support and prosocial behavior among adolescents from low-income families, and cumulative family risk moderated this indirect link. The positive effect of peer support on prosocial behavior through communal social goals might be weakened if adolescents experience more risk factors in the family context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-income populations are disadvantaged in a car-dependent society despite car ownership and could be using walking and cycling to reduce their travel costs. This study explores how low-income households with and without cars living in various geographies disproportionately use walking and cycling to save money in comparison to higher-income households. Data from the 2017 National Household Travel Survey is used to investigate the variation in walking and cycling behavior among three groups of households: (1) carless low-income households, (2) low-income households with cars, and (3) higher-income households. Generalized ordered logistic regression models are estimated to examine how the probability of using active travel to save money varies by household type, location (urban, suburban, rural) and other socioeconomic attributes. We find that low-income households are more likely to walk or cycle to save money on transportation compared to higher-income households. Carless low-income households present a higher probability to use active travel to decrease travel costs in comparison to car-owning low-income households. Our results also indicate that on average, urban residents are more likely to travel actively to reduce expenses compared to suburban and rural residents. The lowest spatial variation is found for carless low-income households, demonstrating their higher disadvantage compared to those with cars. Low-income people of color are more likely to use active travel to save money while being a female, older, or having children are attributes associated with a lower probability to use active travel to reduce travel expenses in low-income households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The livestock sector in low- and middle-income countries could contribute significantly to reduce the rate of growth and/or the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions required to achieve the 1.5 °C target of the Paris Agreement. Yet, the sector is also expected to contribute to food and income security in these countries. Using an extensive dataset on the Ethiopian livestock sector, we assessed the potential of selected interventions to increase supply of animal source protein (ASP) and reduce GHG emissions intensity or absolute emissions at national level. The business as usual (BAU) scenario was modelled by extrapolating the historical trends observed during the base years (i.e. 2010 – 2020) to the period between 2021 and 2030. Four scenarios were modelled including structural changes in cattle herd (S1) and chicken flock (S3) composition, increased milk yields of dairy cattle (S2), and a combination of all strategies (S4). We found that the total ASP produced and supplied per capita, as well as total GHG emissions increased between 2021 and 2030 across all scenarios while emission intensities per unit ASP produced decreased. However, by 2030, the total GHG emissions in S1 (i.e. 146.7 MtCO2e) were lower than in the BAU scenario (i.e. 149.0 MtCO2e) while the total ASP supplied per capita was higher in the former (i.e. 6.84 kg) than the latter (i.e. 6.24 kg). These findings suggest that structural changes at herd level could reduce total GHG emissions and concomitantly increase ASP supply. Therefore, structural transformation could be a highly relevant policy option for low- and middle- income countries, where the livestock sector must address multiple goals including food and income security, and global climate commitments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence suggests that enrollment in a health insurance scheme is associated with higher levels of formal healthcare utilization among older adults, especially those with low income in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), including Ghana. This study examines the prevalence of formal healthcare utilization and associated factors among older adults with low income and health insurance subscription enrolled in a social intervention program (known as the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty [LEAP] program) in Ghana. Cross-sectional data were obtained from an Aging, Health, Lifestyle and Health Services Survey conducted in 2018 among 200 older adults aged 65 years and above enrolled in the LEAP program. The results showed that almost 9 in 10 (87%) older adults utilized formal healthcare services for their health problems. Older adults who received family support, rated themselves to be physically active and had non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were more significantly likely to utilise formal health care services than their counter parts. We recommend that health policies and programs for older adults with low income and health insurance subscription under the LEAP program should consider the roles of family support, physical activeness and NCDs in influencing their use of formal healthcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a post hoc analysis and critical reflection of an unplanned methodology change made in the face of the unforeseen disruption brought by Covid-19 pandemic to a longitudinal study on children (N=462) from low-income families in Singapore. The research team was thrown into a state of intense ambivalence between waiting for life to come back to normal so that face-to-face survey could be resumed or to reformulate the methods and keep to the designed time intervals. This paper documents the framework that guided the urgent decision made for the change of data collection methods from f2f to video call survey, the trade-offs, implications on ethics and implementation results. Corroborating mixed post-hoc analysis methods of five qualitative focused group discussions with 39 survey interviewers who implemented the video-call survey, and statistical analysis of the consistencies of survey results over 3 time points, it was found that utilizing video call methodology did not lead to substantial difference in survey quality. The findings of this paper underscore the need for social science researchers to recognize the inevitability of uncertainties in the research fields and the need to strengthen one's preparedness for change while closely attending to the possible ethical implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 profoundly and uniquely impacted people with HIV. People with HIV experienced significant psychosocial and socioeconomic impacts, yet a limited amount of research has explored potential differences across gender and racial/ethnic groups of people with HIV. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine psychosocial and socioeconomic stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic among a diverse sample of people with HIV in South Florida and to determine if the types of stressors varied across gender and racial/ethnic groups. Methods: We analyzed data from a cross-sectional survey with Miami-Dade County, Ryan White Program recipients. Outcomes included mental health, socioeconomic, drug/alcohol, and care responsibility/social support changes. Weighted descriptive analyses provided an overview of stressors by gender and racial/ethnic group and logistic regressions estimated associations between demographics and stressors. Results: Among 291 participants, 39% were Non-Hispanic Black, 18% were Haitian, and 43% were Hispanic. Adjusting for age, sex, language, and foreign-born status, Hispanics were more likely to report several worsened mental health (i.e. increased loneliness, anxiety) and socioeconomic stressors (i.e. decreased income). Spanish speakers were more likely to report not getting the social support they needed. Women were more likely to report spending more time caring for children. Conclusions: Findings highlight ways in which cultural and gender expectations impacted experiences across people with HIV and suggest strategies to inform interventions and resources during lingering and future public health emergencies. Results suggest that public health emergencies have different impacts on different communities. Without acknowledging and responding to differences, we risk losing strides towards progress in health equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on in-depth interviews with 45 low-income students at a four-year commuter university in Metropolitan Detroit, U.S. and a longitudinal analysis of their academic transcripts six to eight years later, this study examines the obstacles experienced by low-income postsecondary students in order to shed light on the reasons why some complete their degrees while others drop out. Among low-income students, we find that those who persist to degree completion have even lower incomes and report more severe financial obstacles than dropouts, including homelessness and material hardship. Yet educational debt was a strategy that ultimately led to success: low-income graduates took out more educational loans and perceived loans as a future investment, whereas dropouts were loan-averse. While both groups experienced academic obstacles such as poor performance, those who completed their degrees pursued a variety of approaches to barriers, including developing study and test-taking strategies, and seeking out assistance when needed. In contrast, dropouts were more likely than graduates to express discouragement when faced with academic challenges; they were less likely to report developing new strategies, and ultimately had lower Grade Point Averages when they dropped out. Implications for retention will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While positive impacts of recovery capital and social capital in facilitating substance use disorder (SUD) recovery is increasingly documented, research has shown that low-income and marginalized individuals have lower social capital and may rely on different networks. A more comprehensive approach is needed to understand the social capital of low-income individuals with SUD and how these relationships impact their treatment and recovery. Qualitative data were gathered through semi-structured interviews and analyzed employing thematic analysis. Participants included individuals with SUD (n = 10), clinicians (n = 12), and policy leaders (n = 13). Three themes emerged: 1) Patients' positive and negative interpersonal relationships with friends and family influenced decisions to seek treatment; 2) strong patient-provider relationships, often defined by the quality of SUD providers and treatment settings, were perceived as crucial for staying in treatment; and 3) justice involvement facilitated treatment access yet deteriorated treatment engagement. Themes emphasized social and structural factors that inhibit patients from fostering support and treatment engagement. Our study underscores the importance of interpersonal relationships in SUD treatment-seeking and recovery and the need for positive interactions across the care continuum within broader social networks. Opportunities for positive interpersonal relationships include increasing access to language-concordant treatment; provider training to enhance cultural humility and patient-provider relationships; and mechanisms that improve interpersonal relationships between patients, parole officers, and other justice system members. Accentuating the role of interpersonal relationships and expanding social support interventions can pave the way for structural changes that improve recovery by harnessing different types of social capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDigital financial inclusion initiatives in developing countries have gained salience because of their potential to improve the socioeconomic condition of marginalized groups such as low-income women. However, persistent challenges remain in overcoming the digital divide in developing countries and enhancing access and participation of women in digital financial services. Despite the growing scholarly attention, little is known about how digital technologies might be designed to enable financial inclusion of women in developing countries. Using the technology affordances approach, we extend previous theorizing on inclusive information system, and introduce a relational approach to designing for inclusion. Specifically, we conduct a case study of a digital finance initiative in Ghana involving the design of an interactive voice response system (IVR) for low-income women where systemic barriers to technology adoption and use are pervasive. We show the significance of user feedback, environmental factors, and affordances for more inclusive information system design. We contribute a theoretically grounded framework that takes holistic account of the sociotechnical context of IS design for inclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the effective factors on low-income housing (LIH) stigma is the facade features. This study examines the effect of facade features (details, material, window size, balcony existence, and greenery) on three attitudinal aspects including affective appraisal, cognitive judgment, and behavioral tendencies and preferences. By reviewing the literature, facade attributes were extracted and the levels of each were categorized based on LIH cases of Iran. Then, 24 profiles were selected for evaluation using orthogonal design. The experimental method was used with the participation of 70 non-residents in LIH. The results of regression analysis showed that the facade protrusion, balcony existence, greenery, and window size have the highest effect on perceived stigma, respectively; the material with the lowest effect is only in the cognitive aspect and sense of safety in the last rank. The effect of familiarity on the attitudes of outsiders was also investigated and it was found that one's 'experience' affects all aspects of attitudes and preferences and one's 'knowledge' only affects the two emotional and behavioral aspects of attitudes and preferences. These findings can be taken into attention in LIH design and decrease its stigma, as well as in the planning and design of mixed-income communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from Proyecto SALTO, a 15-year follow-up study of a cohort of Mexican American women in a low-income community in San Antonio, Texas, this study examines emerging patterns of current methamphetamine (MA) use, including opioid co-use, among this understudied population. A bivariate analysis compared individuals with and without current MA use and identified sociodemographic correlates and co-occurring mental health and substance use. A secondary analysis compared those with current MA use, opioid use, and concurrent MA and opioid use. Nineteen percent of the sample had current MA use. MA use was associated with having a lower income (OR = 7.04–1.93, SE = 1.59–5.46), residential instability (OR = 5.19, SE = 1.99), and suicidal ideation (OR = 2.62, SE = 0.93). Participants with MA use had more than four times the odds of using opioids than those without MA use. Women with concurrent MA and opioid use differed in sociodemographics and behavioral risks compared to those with only MA or only opioid use. These findings explore the social, mental health, and structural inequities that exacerbate risks and harms associated with high-risk substance use among marginalized Latino populations. Prevention and intervention strategies should adopt a holistic approach that considers and addresses polysubstance use, mental health, and the sociocultural contexts in which individuals live. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social phenomenon of extended working age has been subject to broad scholarly and social policy interest, as part of such trends as the aging of the population, increased life expectancy, shortage of the labor force, and policy debates on pension reforms. A major question about extending working age, or working after retirement, is whether it is a matter of choice, taking control of one’s later life, or is coerced, part of entering the precariat. This study provides a nuanced examination of the social processes that direct labor market participation among older workers by conducting an analysis of in-depth interviews with 42 low-income older workers in Israel. The study exposed several institutional constraints that increase their economic vulnerability, demonstrating how interrelated structural factors related to the labor market, gender, and immigration shape the precarity of the life of older workers and coerce their continuous labor market participation. We conclude by emphasizing the responsibility of governments to ensure that older workers’ labor market participation truly represents their “choice and control,” rather than being a matter of coercion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solid waste constitutes one of the most pressing environmental problems, requiring urgent action from urban managers to find appropriate management mechanisms. The rapid increase in municipal solid waste generation is undoubtedly due to the accelerated population growth rate triggered by massive rural-to-urban migration. This paper analyses solid waste management challenges in low-income communities in South Africa, using a case study from Alexandra, Johannesburg. Using qualitative and quantitative research approaches, findings revealed that solid waste is not reliably collected and transported in low-income communities in South Africa. The main obstacles include the scarcity of resources and equipment necessary for waste treatment. To widely involve residents of Alexandra Township in the waste management process, the municipal council should embark on a public awareness campaign. The findings further encourage effective waste sorting techniques, such as separating biodegradable from non-biodegradable waste, so that valuable goods can be taken to the local government recycling centre. The results further encourage the involvement of the homeless and unemployed in the recycling and waste management process, thereby reducing the shortage of human resources and creating jobs. These issues are analysed within the context of evolving arguments that focus on developing a pro-poor approach in solid waste management that may present an opportunity for achieving sustainable solid waste management in Johannesburg, South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following stroke, individuals who live in a low-income or are at risk of living in a low-income situation face challenges with timely access to social services and community resources. Understanding the usual care practices of stroke teams, specifically, how they support this access to services and resources, is an important first step in promoting the implementation of practice change. A qualitative multiple-case study of acute care, inpatient, and outpatient rehabilitation stroke teams in an urban area of Canada. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires about the workplace context were conducted with 19 professionals (social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech-language pathologists) at four sites. In their usual practice, stroke teams prioritized immediate care needs. The stroke team professionals did not address income or resources unless it directly affected discharge. Usual care was influenced by factors such as time constraints, lack of knowledge about services and resources, and social service system limitations. To better support post-stroke access to social services and resource for low-income individuals, a multidisciplinary approach, with actions beginning earlier on and extending throughout the continuum of care, is recommended, in addition to system-level advocacy. Access to social services and community resources for people with stroke and living in a low-income situation is not consistently addressed in acute care or rehabilitation settings. Supporting access to social services and community resources is influenced by the professionals' availability of time and resources, as well as knowledge about services and resources and the limitations of the social service system. Using a multidisciplinary approach, extending over the continuum of care from acute care to rehabilitation program may be a way forward to better support people with stroke and low income to access services and resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Living at or near poverty can be isolating for individuals and their families. Using the ecological perspective with emphasis on transactions across systems, we examine the social and community capital of urban, low-income individuals to understand the broader terrain that shapes and is shaped by some of their choices, and suggest the implications that our findings might have for anti-poverty initiatives. Data are from interviews with 181 urban residents involved in a federally funded workforce development training, a particular type of social support programming that endeavors to increase the human capital of participants so that they can compete more effectively in the labor market. Findings indicate that respondents have small, homogenous networks, live in resource depleted communities, and have limited sources of social support. We frame this as being caught in "urban silos," in which transactions to more resource-robust systems are minimal to non-existent. While the development of one's human capital is essential, because of these silos, it may not be sufficient for moving an individual and their family out of poverty. Job training, and other anti-poverty initiatives, need to intentionally assist participants in network building so they can better access opportunity pathways that provide jobs and other economic and social resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses the group-based nature of financial vulnerability in the low-income environment. Adopting a highly flexible stochastic dissemination model, we assess the impact of insurance on the resilience of a low-income group to wealth shocks. For this purpose, the transient wealth of a group of interacting uninsured and insured agents is considered. The model is extended to capture four types of transaction events: external arrivals, internal redistributions, wealth losses and premium payments. Risk-sharing mechanisms, mitigating the impact of financial losses that are otherwise uninsured, are widespread in low-income communities. Our modelling of redistribution events captures the wealth transactions associated with these mechanisms, alongside the purchase of commodities and services from within the group. Through this set-up, we present a method for incorporating the high level of wealth interaction characteristic of the low-income setting in the assessment of the effectiveness of insurance. The model is underlined by an exogenously evolving Markov background process that represents the state of the economy. To analyse the distribution of wealth jointly with the state of the background process, a system of coupled differential equations for the joint transient distribution of agent wealth is derived, and is reduced to a linear system of differential equations through consideration of the moments of agent wealth. Sensitivity analysis is performed to establish the impact of the system's structure and stochastic dynamics on the wealth of the group. The probability of falling below the poverty line is then determined through application of a normal approximation and the impact of insurance in reducing this probability considered under varying levels of subsidisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Toddlers from low-income and language-minority immigrant families are at risk for language difficulties due to early disparities in the quality of their home language environment. The present longitudinal study extends previous research by investigating nursery teachers' communicative modalities and functions, and their relations with the conversational responsiveness and vocabulary of 42 (50% F) equivalent low-income monolingual and bilingual toddlers. Communicative modalities and functions were coded from videotaped interactions between teachers and small groups of toddlers at 18, 24, and 30 months at nursery school. Vocabulary in the majority or societal language (Italian) was assessed at 30 months using teachers' reports. The results showed that teachers used bimodal utterances (gesture + speech) more with bilinguals than monolinguals from 18 to 30 months while the reverse was true for unimodal spoken utterances. Bimodal utterances and language scaffolding strategies promoted toddlers' communicative initiatives in both groups and were longitudinally associated with children's vocabulary at 30 months. These results show that the school context may act as a protective proximal environment for stimulating and favoring majority language acquisition from the earliest stages of development in children from low-income and language-minority families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn recent decades, there has been a global policy shift away from supply-side housing assistance towards demand-side cash subsidies. However, there has been insufficient empirical evidence on whether cash transfer has a critical advantage over the direct supply of subsidised housing in alleviating low-income renters’ immediate housing difficulties. This paper examines and compares the effects of supply- and demand-side housing subsidies on multidimensional housing problems among the lowest-income households in South Korea using longitudinal survey data. Our difference-in-differences analyses combined with propensity score matching demonstrate that public rental housing improves the recipients’ housing quality while it exacerbates housing cost burden and overcrowding. Meanwhile, the cash subsidy failed to enhance the recipients’ housing quality or lessen their housing cost burden, but it aggravated overcrowding. The study showed that different types of housing subsidies have different immediate housing outcomes, suggesting that the rationale for the ongoing global policy redirection towards demand-side subsidies needs to be reconsidered in the local context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the association between youth antisocial behavior outcomes and predictors including individual factors (youth attitudes) and interpersonal factors (friends and parents) in a low income, immigrant, and ethnic community in Pomona, California USA. Social cognitive theory is used in a cross sectional design to perform correlation and multiple regression analysis on survey data from 2,693 high school students. While factors related to youths and their best friends were associated with youth antisocial behavior outcomes, parental factors did not show any association with youth antisocial behavior outcomes in both correlation and regression analysis. These results conflict with dominant trends in the literature and underscore the need for at risk communities such as Pomona to develop their own community data so that intervention programs can respond to their unique circumstances. The following intervention strategies are recommended for youth program designers in Pomona: prioritize individual youth and friends in intervention activities; develop intervention strategies to grow parental influence on youth antisocial behavior such as integrating engagement tools which immigrant, minority, and low income parents could use to counter antisocial risk factors and enhance protective factors. Future research should investigate the factors that drive the influence of best friends on youth antisocial behavior particularly how these trump parental influence in Pomona and other disadvantaged environments. The research findings should shape the intervention strategies recommended above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances knowledge of the ways in which criminological research can assist the courts in rendering legal decisions. To do so, we examine case examples from premises security litigation involving low-income housing developments. We describe the investigative tasks of a premises security lawsuit, address the challenges of examining and explaining a criminal assault, and show how criminological scholarship can point to the importance of place management in suppressing or facilitating crime in low-income housing developments. We examine three preponderant relationships – offender and victim, security standards and proximate causation, and place management and crime opportunities – to provide insight into the translation of criminological knowledge into actionable legal outcomes. We address the nexus of environmental criminology and premises security litigation to strengthen the scientific foundation of criminological research and improve the quality of forensic social scientific research in the legal system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-income women of color are disproportionately more likely to contract HIV, struggle with treatment adherence, and have compromised health as a result of HIV infections in comparison to White and more affluent women. The current study is a secondary analysis aimed at examining the association between stress, symptoms of depression, trauma exposure, healthcare engagement, and adherence self-efficacy, among low-income women of color with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Structural equation modeling is used to identify latent mental health symptoms that may influence one another, as well as outcomes involving treatment engagement. Participants contributing to this dataset (n = 134) were low income, women of color (primarily African American) living with HIV or AIDS, receiving care at a major medical center in the northeastern United States. Findings indicate significant indirect associations between perceived stress and the outcome of medical appointment attendance. Significant mediators of this indirect relationship include depressive symptoms, parenting stress, and adherence self-efficacy. Implications for health and behavioral health practice and policy interventions are drawn. Areas in need of future research are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We evaluate the impacts of small high schools on youth risky behaviors and mental health in New York City, using a two-sample-instrumental-variable approach to address endogenous school enrollment. We find heterogeneous effects. School size, overall, has little effect. Among students most likely to attend small schools opened after an educational-achievement-oriented reform, however, diagnoses of violence-associated injuries and mental health disorders increased. Among students most likely to attend traditional small schools opened prior to the reform, pregnancy rates and diagnoses of mental health disorders declined. School focus is more important than school size as a determinant of student well-being outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing emphasis on affordable housing and the sharp increase in its supply in Indian cities over the past two decades is characterised by two features that diminish the inclusive and integrative role of affordable urban housing. The first is the move toward constructing new housing stock rather than upgrading existing stock. Second, most of this new housing, increasingly in the form of multi-storied tenement buildings, is located on urban peripheries in isolated or poorly connected sites. In focusing on the peripheralisation of formal low-income housing, this paper adds a new dimension to studies of peripheral urbanisation in India, which have hitherto focused on high-end speculative developments or informal settlements of the poor. Drawing on mixed-method field studies of four formal low-income settlements in Ahmedabad and Chennai, this paper argues that residents of these settlements experience a multifaceted dynamic of disconnection, not only from the city but also from other peripheral developments, rendering them outsiders in the periphery. Three dynamics of disconnection are studied: first, the allocation of fully built housing units disconnects residents from processes of housing production. Second, spatial dislocation constrains their mobility, both physical and socioeconomic. Third, these two dynamics, combined with substandard infrastructure and housing conditions, alienate residents from the new settlements, and curtail their engagement in processes of place-making or the production of neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the influence of entrepreneurial education on the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and its antecedents of low-income students. It verifies the effects of entrepreneurial education as a moderating variable in the connection between intention and its antecedents. Our findings provide a theoretical contribution by showing that entrepreneurial education exerts no moderating effect on the relationship between entrepreneurial intentions and its antecedents on students coming from low-income contexts. It contributes to practitioners by highlighting the importance of entrepreneurial education curricula comprising hands-on activities which present real-life entrepreneurship situations to low-income students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Young minority men from low-income neighbourhoods are often perceived as a uniform, disaffected group with antipathy towards mainstream education and occupations, while their own experiences are generally overlooked. Through in-depth interviews, we investigated how 14 minority young men (aged 16-23) from low-income neighbourhoods experience and navigate the impact of the neighbourhood social environment on their educational and occupational aspirations. Despite facing several challenges, the men felt that those conditions did not strongly affect their aspirations. Their narratives provided a nuanced picture of how the neighbourhood facilitated connections that influenced their aspirations and how this social environment was navigated by the young men in different and dynamic ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on low-income Roma mothers in the Czech Republic. Drawing upon long-term fieldwork and qualitative interviews with these mothers, we show how mothering is formed, negotiated, and reproduced in the context of poverty. In particular, we analyze three characteristics of mothering that we identified in the research: othermothering, the creation of multigenerational households, and teen motherhood. We illuminate how low-income status is reproduced through motherhood and argue that while mothering is a highly individualized and subjective experience, it is also an experience that is substantially shaped by the welfare state and by structural forces and processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mismatch between the fast-growing urban population and limited urban infrastructure has become a challenge in many emerging cities. The lack of affordable housing leads to burgeoning informal settlements and Manohara informal settlement in Kathmandu is not an exception. This study aims to investigate the current situation in Manohara informal settlement and examine the feasibility of floor area ratio (FAR) incentive in providing affordable housing. A household survey in Manohara informal settlement and simulation analyses of FAR incentive found the followings. Firstly, given the limited budget and little control over the land of Kathmandu by the government, a planning tool focusing on development gain is a suitable option for housing provision for low-income households. Secondly, FAR incentive simulation of land size of 50,000 sq. ft. in Kathmandu shows that 50%p incentive allowance can add 33–93% extra profit to the developers in a housing project, which can be secured for affordable housing for public interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While research acknowledged the challenges faced by students during the COVID-19 pandemic, a critical gap existed in understanding the specific experiences of low-income Latinx youth. This study explored how these students navigated the transition to remote learning through a culturally responsive critical literacy program that incorporated their cultural backgrounds and lived experiences into the learning process. Findings from nine rural Latinx youth revealed a lack of motivation and anxieties surrounding both the remote learning format and the economic hardships their families faced due to the pandemic. Despite these challenges, strong community and family support (bridging & bonding) emerged as a crucial factor in fostering resilience. This research underscores the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) that validates Latinx culture and knowledge. It argues against standardized curricula, advocating for a re-envisioned CRP that integrates community-driven initiatives and prioritizes language considerations. Implications for practice are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture has gained prominence in enhancing food security and sustainability in cities globally. This research explores the dynamics of urban agriculture (UA), focusing specifically on home gardens, which are often overlooked despite their potential to contribute to sustainability in urban environments. UA involves the cultivation of crops and agricultural products within urban and periurban areas, ranging from small-scale gardens to larger individual urban farms. Its benefits span environmental, social, and economic dimensions. This research addresses a notable gap in the existing literature by highlighting the importance of sustainable practices within home gardens, particularly in low-income communities. By examining the role of civil society actors and innovative approaches employed by home gardeners, this study aims to inspire and provide insights to promote sustainable UA, even within constrained urban spaces. The significance of sustainable practices in home gardens is underscored by their potential to improve local food nutrition, reduce waste, and minimize the environmental impact of food transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the influence of perceived norms on health behavior has been well researched, the sources of normative perceptions remain understudied. Drawing on the theory of normative social behavior, this study investigated factors shaping descriptive norms associated with child corporal punishment among a sample of low-income Black, Hispanic, and White parents (N = 260). Hierarchical regression results showed that childhood experiences of corporal punishment, direct observation, and interpersonal communication valence were significantly associated with descriptive norms. Path analysis confirmed the direct association between descriptive norms and behavioral intentions, as well as the mediating role of descriptive norms in linking the norm sources and behavioral intentions. Results also revealed that interpersonal network size and interpersonal communication valence jointly affected descriptive norms among parents who talked to others in their proximal networks about applying this disciplinary measure. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe discussion regarding the relationship between housing and care within the general field of housing studies has generated a broadening of the field in many ways. One of such is the reciprocal relationship between the numerous forms of housing transformation and care, particularly for low-income communities in the Global South. We suggest that the main drive to transform housing incrementally is care. Following the work of Power and Mee (2019), we consider housing as an infrastructure of care and therefore, the incremental transformation of housing as part of a set of practices, which produce a sociomaterial assemblage that is constitutive of care. Under these practices, not only does housing pattern care relations, but care relations also pattern housing and therefore housing transformations. This relational way of seeing housing and care is increasingly relevant in the implementation of housing transformation programmes and policies, as this would impact incremental housing design, programme, operation, funding, and implementations, particularly in the context of an increasing incorporation of multiple alternatives of housing transformation and improvement in public housing in the Global South. We show this through ethnographic work on housing transformation for care purposes in the city of Alto Hospicio, Chile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social well-being and health of the occupants of low-income housing depends not just on improved infrastructure and security of tenure but also on neighbourhood and apartment design characteristics. This study compares 14 best-practice habitat design models for low-income mass housing in nine Indian states, with Dharavi slum and slum rehabs in Mumbai paying particular attention to the drivers of natural ventilation which impacts the spread of airborne and aerosol-borne diseases and thermal comfort amongst other drivers of occupant health and subjective well-being. Simulations of neighbourhood and indoor airflow reveal the significance of built-environment parameters that should serve as prerequisites for well-being in low-income mass housing in forthcoming slum rehab housing planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing affordability continues to capture national attention with housing shortages estimated to persist in the coming years. This article presents a new barrier to housing affordability by connecting recent predictive analytics techniques in the insurance industry to general liability insurance for low-income housing. Specifically, this article seeks to broaden awareness and serves as a call for more empirical research into the impact of crime score modeling on low-income housing supply, land values, operating costs, and resident services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is aimed to investigate the effects of the trade policy uncertainty (T.P.U.) on the trade flow of 113 emerging economies and low-income developing countries to 143 destination countries. It further investigates the effects of T.P.U. based on income heterogeneity. Moreover, it considers the effects of T.P.U. on trade flow between developing countries' pair and non-manufacture trade. The two-step Heckman sample selection model is applied to run the structural gravity model of trade using three-year intervals for the period 2004–2019. The analysis is repeated using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (P.P.M.L.) model for the robustness test. The results imply that the extensive and intensive margin of trade flow of emerging economies and low-income developing countries are adversely affected by the T.P.U. of destination countries. However, the T.P.U. of origin has an adverse effect on the extensive margin of trade. It also negatively affects the trade flow between developing-developing pairs. We also conduct a counterfactual simulation analysis to convert the effect of T.P.U. on trade flow to distance equivalent. To sum up, the findings of this study imply that T.P.U. is a more important barrier to trade for emerging economies and low-income developing countries. Policy implications are forwarded based on the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do people make decisions on where, when, and how to commute? And how did the pandemic crisis affect their commuting patterns? Based on exploratory interviews in Lima and family chronicles collected in Bogotá during 2020; and a second round of interviews in six low-income areas in the peripheries of these two cities during 2021, this article offers a panoramic view of the changes experienced in low-income neighbourhoods and their families during these recent years of pandemic. These changes bring to light the role of intra-household arrangements regarding mobility and accessibility. We suggest that mobility and accessibility can better be understood on a more systemic level (influenced by intra-household arrangements), as a collective phenomenon (based on the household’s resources and the household’s needs), and even as a collective decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School districts have increasingly adopted weighted student funding (WSF) formulas that allocate dollars, rather than staff positions, to schools in the name of equity and flexibility. While research to date has studied equity in some of these districts, there is no research that examines the entire cohort of WSF districts together. This paper examines how equitably 20 WSF districts distribute dollars to their schools measured against a cohort of 20 comparable districts that use a traditional, centralized staffing model. We find that while a majority of all 40 study districts drive more dollars to low-income students, low-income students in WSF districts are more likely than their peers in other districts both to receive additional dollars and to receive a greater share of district expenditures. We also find that WSF districts that have had their formula in place for longer are more equitable than recent adopters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been shown to benefit stroke patients when implemented three months post-stroke. This study examined HIIT's feasibility and clinical effectiveness in the early post-stroke stage in Benin. This was a prospective interventional study comprising an HIIT programme executed on a recumbent bike, three times/week, 20–30 min/session for 6 weeks, added to a conventional physiotherapy. The primary outcomes were feasibility, credibility and expectancy assessed with credibility and expectancy questionnaire. A maximal exercise test, 6-min walking test (6MWT), 10-m walking test (10mWT), Berg balance scale (BBS) and five repetitions sit-to-stand test (5 R-STS) were performed before and after the training programme. Ten outpatients, with a median age [P25-P75]: 63.5[56.7–71.2] years; time since stroke: 15.0[9.7–21.0] days, started and completed all training sessions without serious adverse events. High scores were observed on the Credibility subscale at admission (27.0[25.7–27.0]), which remained so after intervention (26.5[25.7–27.0]). Expectancy subscale scores were high at admission (25.5[24.0–27.0]) and post-training (25.5[24.5–27.0]). Peak workload (p < 0.001), BBS (p < 0.001), 6MWT (p < 0.001), 10mWT (p < 0.001) and 5 R-STS (p = 0.004) were all improved. HIIT is feasible and safe in the early subacute post-stroke stage and is perceived by patients as highly credible, meeting their expectations of recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In the United States, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is the main way that the federal government subsidizes place-based housing for low-income individuals including those with experiences of homelessness. Although these communities are at risk of criminal justice involvement (CJI), the relationship between living in LIHTC housing and CJI remains underexplored. This study analyzed data on a retrospective cohort of LIHTC supportive housing residents to examine changes in CJI after move-in and how residents with CJI and without CJI after move-in differed. Compared to the time period before move-in, arrests, convictions, and time sentenced to confinement decreased significantly after move-in. Age, sex, and more extensive criminal history were significantly associated with CJI after move-in. Using negative binomial regression, increasing time in housing was associated with decreasing arrests, convictions, and time sentenced to confinement after move-in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we explore whether more complex economies are better shielded against exogenous shocks. We contribute to the literature on determinants of output volatility with a relatively new index on productive capabilities of export goods, the Economic Complexity Index (ECI), developed by Hausmann et al. [Hausmann, R., C. A. Hidalgo, S. Bustos, M. Coscia, A. Simoes, and M. A. Yildirim. 2014. The Atlas of Economic Complexity: Mapping Paths to Prosperity. MIT Press]. The ECI measures the productive capabilities of countries by explaining the knowledge accumulated in a population based on the goods produced and exported and to which countries they export. Therefore ECI captures diversification as well as the technology embedded in the products. Using panel data analysis for a cross section of countries from 1984 to 2016, we find variations in the effects of ECI on output volatility between high and low income countries. For high income countries, increases in ECI reduce output volatility in the short to medium term with a longer delay in output volatility moderation for low income countries. Findings suggest that low income countries have less diversified and less complex export goods which leave them open to external shocks and reduce their ability to adjust quickly to the shocks. Furthermore, disaggregation by regions reveals that economic complexity in Asia is relatively more effective at reducing output volatility than in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Housing instability remains a persistent problem in the United States. While physical and gun violence negatively affect communities, little is known about whether and how they are associated with the risk of housing instability. This study uses structural equation modelling to explore these relationships and examine how they may be mediated by other neighbourhood social and physical factors. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a sample of mostly low-income urban women, we find that witnessing violence is positively associated with the risk of experiencing housing instability. Also, having a deadly gun shooting in proximity of the home was only indirectly associated with housing instability. These findings underlie links between neighbourhood violence and housing instability that were previously understudied. This exploratory study provides some potential new avenues of investigation regarding neighbourhood safety, urban housing policy, and social inequity reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]