by chika on
May 09, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Article: DiMaggio, Paul and Bart Bonikowski. 2008 (April). “Make Money Surfing the Web? The Impact of Internet Use on the Earnings of U.S. Workers.” American Sociological Review 73: 227-250.
Summary: Web users earn more than those of nonusers, but it is not simply the high-tech skill or work productivity that makes it possible. Computer users have advantage when workers are connected to networks, the best earnings show among those online at work and at home, according to Paul DiMaggio and Bart Bonikowski (American Sociological Review, April 2008).
Between 2000 and 2001, U.S. workers using the Internet increased their earnings at a faster rate than those offline. The study analyzed the net use and wage effects of 9,446 American adult workers with the Current Population Survey, Bureau of Census. The earnings of web surfers grew more than those who don’t. Particularly intriguing is that those online “at work and home in both years” and “at work or home in 2000 but both locations in 2001” did even better than connected only at work.
DiMaggio and Bonikowski say some web skills and behaviors were rewarded in the labor market. Internet users may have benefited from their access to better job information or from signaling effects from using fashionable technology. Digital divide is not just an access gap. Apparently, the split creates income inequality and beyond doubt a lot more. -C.S.
by heather on
May 09, 2008 at 12:46 am
Article: Attitudes Toward gay Marriage in States Undergoing Marriage Law Transformation. Journal of Marriage and Family, May 2008.
Summary: The battle over gay marriage has been waging on in American society, with some individuals and organizations fighting to preserve the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, and others attempting to expand this right to gays and lesbians. Stacey Brumbaugh, Laura Sanchez, Steven Nock, and James Wright (Journal of Marriage and Family, May 2008) examine attitudes surrounding gay marriage in three states that have considered “covenant marriage legislation,” designed to preserve marriage by establishing more strict marriage requirements.
While others have examined who is most likely to oppose gay marriage, this study uses survey data from Louisiana, Arizona, and Minnesota to examine directly “the relationship between willingness to strengthen marriage for heterosexuals and opposition to gay marriage.” In line with past findings, blacks and men are more disapproving of gay marriage than whites and women. Not surprisingly, more religious and politically conservative individuals were also more opposed. While Louisianans were generally more disapproving of gay marriage than Minnesotans, this state-level effect was not significant when religious, political, and social attitudes were taken into consideration.
by heather on
May 08, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Article: Religiousness and Infidelity: Attendance, but not Faith and Prayer, Predict Marital Fidelity, Journal of Marriage and Family (May 2008)
Summary: It’s no surprise to hear that religiousness is linked to a decreased likelihood of marital infidelity. But David Atkins and Deborah Kessel (Journal of Marriage and Family, May 2008) look a little closer at this relationship and ask what exactly about religion keeps spouses from coveting their neighbors’ wives. Contrary to what some may expect, the authors found that religious attendance, but not faith and prayer, predict marital fidelity.
Using data from the 1998 General Social Survey, the authors constructed nine different ways of measuring religiousness: nearness to God, attendance, prayer, viewing religion as a problem, transformation, doubts, forgiveness, faith, and a punitive view of God. The authors found that religious attendance was the only measure that significantly predicted rates of infidelity. Individuals who rarely if ever attend services are about four times more likely to have an affair compared to those who attend religious services with great frequency. Higher education, extreme high ($110,000 or more) or low (under $10,000) income, previous divorce, and marital unhappiness were also predictors of infidelity.
These findings go against the idea that personal beliefs are just as powerful as public religious attendance, at least when it comes to fidelity. Moreover, the authors find that “endorsing religion as being very important without the behavioral component of attending services was positively associated with infidelity.” The authors argue religious attendance prevents infidelity because it is often a shared activity among spouses, implying shared values, and opens up cheaters to shame and embarrassment from a community if revealed. It appears that dragging your spouse to church on Sunday morning may do more than restore their faith in God.
by ryan on
May 01, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Article: Hagan, Jacqueline, Karl Eschbach, and Nestor Rodriguez. 2008. “U.S. Deportation Policy, Family Separation, and Circular Migration.” International Migration Review 42(1): 64-88.
Summary:
Stringent immigration laws and increasing deportation of non-citizens may have many more social consequences than Americans realize—just ask the deportees.
Over the past two decades the U.S. has passed a series of immigration reforms that make it easier and quicker to deport noncitizens, increasing the number of deportees from 40,000 a year in the early 1990s to 208,000 in 2005. To understand the effect of increasing deportation, Hagan, Eschbach, and Rodriguez (International Migration Review 2008) draw on a random sample of 300 Salvadoran deportees in their home communities. They find current U.S. immigration policy pose dire social costs for deportees and their families.
Other than the obvious psychological costs of leaving long-established family and work ties, many deportees also noted the financial burden placed on their families. On the one hand, deportees are likely to have families and dependents in the U.S. Since 95% of deportees are male, this takes away the main breadwinner from the family and may lead to a greater reliance on the state. On the other hand, 72% of deportees remit to extended family (especially parents) in El Salvador. Remittances in the small isthmus nation surpass national exports as a source of foreign exchange and many families rely on the cash flow for survival. When noncitizens are deported, they put both families in jeopardy.
While contention over immigration will not be solved anytime soon, it would serve us well to remember Emma Lazarus’ words inscribed on the statue of liberty, “Give me your tired, your poor…”
by ryan on
May 01, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Article: Keister, Lisa A. 2008. “Conservative Protestants and Wealth: How Religion Perpetuates Asset Poverty.” American Journal of Sociology 113(5): 1237-1271.
Summary:
Praying may have been found to have positive psychological benefits, but it may not necessarily bring you wealth—especially if you are a conservative Protestant (CP).
According to Lisa Keister (American Journal of Sociology 2008), conservative protestant maintain specific cultural values that limit asset accumulation over the life course. Lower educational achievement expectations, early fertility, large family size, and limited labor force participation are partially responsible for curbing wealth.
Religious beliefs also lower accumulation among conservative Protestants. Because adherents believe that money belongs to God, they seek divine guidance in managing their wealth and avoid amassing more than they need. Doing so reduces accumulation over time as CPs don’t reap the benefits of compounding interest and reduces the wealth inherited by the next generation.
Along with beliefs, Keister found that the longer a person was a member of the church [church membership duration], the more likely they were to have lower assets. Conservative Protestants raised and maintained their faith had the lowest wealth; those who were raised as CP and subsequently left the church had the second lowest wealth; and those who only joined the faith as an adult were least disadvantaged. More exposure to this value set left member’s with less resources.
Known for its high levels of inequality and religiosity, the U.S. offers an important case study in understanding how religion may inadvertently cause poverty.