Social Network - KG | Kaberi Gayen

Sustaining a Regime of Low Fertility

Pratik Sengupta Pratik Sengupta — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 10:21:15 +0000

In several developing countries, notably Bangladesh, fertility rates fell dramatically in the later part of the twentieth century and have sustained at low levels. Traditional socioeconomic models do not fully explain the profile of fertility fall especially for rural areas where well-being has not sufficiently improved. This paper offers a supplementary explanation that mass media facilitated the diffusion of contraceptive knowledge, leading to an ideological shift to value small families, and social networks especially reciprocal encouragement about contraception practice among network members has helped to sustain this shift. To investigate the role of encouragement of immediate network members in their family planning behavior, data was gathered using an interview-based survey of 694 women of fertile ages in seven rural Bangladeshi villages. Findings give support to the importance of social networks in maintaining achieved low fertility levels. When there is strong reciprocal encouragement of network members about practicing contraception then using contraception is more likely. This we propose may offer an explanation to why a low fertility regime has endured in Bangladesh. From this study policy recommendations are made to sustain low fertility.

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The Social Networks of Older Workers

Pratik Sengupta Pratik Sengupta — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 10:12:47 +0000

Over the next 25 years, the UK’s workforce is projected to significantly age. However, Disney et al (1997) observed that half of men and one third of women of aged over-50 leave work before state pension age in the UK and the literature suggests that, even in relatively buoyant local labour markets, older workers are at a disadvantage due to factors such as qualifications, job search strategies and perceived age discrimination (McQuaid and Lindsay 2002, 2005). A number of recent policy proposals partly seek to, or will have the effect of, increasing the number of older workers (those aged over 50 years in this study) in remaining in or re-entering the labour force (e.g. changing pension ages, reducing numbers on Incapacity Benefits etc.) (Hollywood et al 2003). It is argued that over 50 year old men who are not employed, in particular, have poorer social networks than those in work, younger people and women.

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Cohesive subgroups and drug user networks in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Pratik Sengupta Pratik Sengupta — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 09:49:22 +0000

The purpose of this paper was to explore group drug taking behaviour in a slum area of Dhaka, Bangladesh. We set out to examine the relationships between those who met, at least weekly, to take illegal drugs together, and how these relationships might shape their drug behaviour. Sociometric and behavioural data were collected using questionnaires via semi-structured interviews. We found that the likelihood of injecting drugs and sharing needles increased with age, duration of group membership and length of drug use. Drug users were classified into two clusters: one was more cohesive and comprised longer-term users, who were more likely to inject drugs and had poorer physical and mental health. The other cluster comprised younger, better educated members who were more transient, less cohesive, less likely to inject drugs and had better health. Qualitative data suggested that members of the first cluster were less accepting of outsiders and confirmed more to group norms. We conclude that emotionally bonded cohesive subgroups acquire norms, which reinforce problematic drug-using behaviour. Thus, health initiatives need to consider group relationships and norms and those initiatives which work with networks may be more effective and more appropriate for low-income countries.

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Social networks, accessed and mobilised social capital and the employment status of older workers: A case study

Pratik Sengupta Pratik Sengupta — Sat, 26 Feb 2022 09:40:03 +0000

Those older people who were unemployed and, returned to employment (reemployed) had a higher proportion of contacts with higher prestige jobs, their job searching methods were mainly interpersonal and the rate of finding their last job via their social networks was higher than those who remained unemployed. Both groups mobilised social capital (MSC), but those reemployed accessed higher “quality” social capital. “Strong ties”, rather than “weak ties”, were found to be important in accessing and mobilising social capital for the older workers who returned to employment.

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Social networks, age cohorts and employment

fahim — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:24:00 +0000

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association of social networks with being in work, contrasting those under age 50 with those over 50 years. Design/methodology/approach – A case study is undertaken of a local labour market in Scotland. Data were collected by interview using a semi-structured questionnaire from 194 people divided into four groups. Data include information on individuals’ socio-economic characteristics and on their networks. A four-way comparison is made by age and employment status. Findings – Those in work have denser social networks populated with members with higher social and human capital. For those over 50 years, the more contacts one has with higher prestige employment positions (a proxy for social capital), and the stronger the ties with these contacts, the more likely that one is to be in employment. For those under 50 years, their own qualifications and the number of contacts are important. Research limitations/implications – This work adds to both research on employability and social networks. Social implications – The over 50s tend to be the age group that is most likely to be not in employment and as populations age there is a need to ensure that barriers to employment against those over 50 are reduced. Finding routes to reduce unemployment will also help combat social exclusion. Originality/value – This is in the combination of a social network approach with age cohort analysis to give insight into how social capital is associated with being in employment.

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Social networks and contraception practice of women in rural Bangladesh

fahim — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 16:18:02 +0000

This paper analyzed the association of social networks with contraceptive use using both structural and attitudinal properties of social networks. Data were collected from seven villages in rural Bangladesh by face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire (N = 694). Sociometric data and the centrality positions of women in their social networks were analyzed as proxies for structural properties, and the perception of network members’ approval and encouragement towards family planning as attitudinal properties. The perception of network members’ attitude towards family planning and power within networks was found to be positively associated with contraception use. The strong association of the social network members’ encouragement of contraception and the significance over both in-degree (number of nominations received by the participant from other village women) and out-degree centrality (number of nominations given by a participant) provides further confirmation that immediate network members’ attitude is important to explain current contraceptive use of women in rural Bangladesh.

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