Karen C. Holden

Prevalence of sensitivity to sulfiting agents in asthmatic patients

Ingestion of sulfiting agents can induce wheezing in some asthmatic patients. However, neither the prevalence of sulfite sensitivity nor the clinical characteristics of the affected asthmatic population are known. In a prospective single-blind screening study, 120 non-steroid-dependent and 83 steroid-dependent asthmatic patients underwent challenge with oral capsules of potassium metabisulfite. Five non-steroid-dependent and 16 steroid-dependent asthmatic patients experienced a greater than 20 percent reduction in their one-second forced expiratory volume within 30 minutes following the oral challenge. Twelve of these sulfite reactors were rechallenged with metabisulfite capsules in a double-blind protocol. Under these conditions, only three of seven steroid-dependent patients had a positive response. Moreover, only one of five non-steroid-dependent patients had a response to double-blind challenge. On the basis of this challenge study, the best estimate of the prevalence of sulfite sensitivity in the asthmatic patients studied is 3.9 percent. This population, however, contained a larger number of steroid-dependent asthmatic patients than would be found in the general asthmatic population. It is concluded, therefore, that the prevalence of sulfite sensitivity in the asthmatic population as a whole would be less than 3.9 percent and that steroid-dependent asthmatic patients are most at risk.

The Timing of Falls Into Poverty After Retirement and Widowhood

A major concern of workers, even those financially prepared for retirement, is that a small risk of poverty may grow over time. Cross-sectional data showing that older cohorts have higher poverty rates substantiate this concern. Using data from the Retirement History Study, we analyze changes in the hazard of entering poverty as a cohort of elderly couples retire and age and the wives are widowed. The initial fall into poverty among those who were not poor before the husband retired is more closely linked to the event of retirement or widowhood than to the slowly eroding household income over the period of retirement and widowhood. The death of her retired husband puts a wife in economic jeopardy whether this shock occurs one year after his retirement or some years later.

Sensitivity to sulfited foods among sulfite-sensitive subjects with asthma

Eight individuals with asthma who had been diagnosed as sulfite sensitive on the basis of double-blind capsule-beverage challenges were subjected to challenges with various sulfited foods, including lettuce, shrimp, dried apricots, white grape juice, dehydrated potatoes (as mashed potatoes), and mushrooms. Four of these patients failed to respond to challenges with any of the sulfited foods. The other four patients experienced a decrease in pulmonary function on double-blind challenges with sulfited lettuce. Two of three of these patients reacted to challenges with dried apricots and white grape juice; the fourth patient has not yet been challenged with these products. Only one of these four patients reacted to challenges with dehydrated potatoes and mushrooms, and, in this case, the response to double-blind challenges with dehydrated potatoes was not consistent. None of the sulfite-sensitive subjects with asthma responded to challenges with sulfited shrimp. It is concluded that sulfite-sensitive subjects with asthma will not necessarily react after ingestion of sulfited foods. The likelihood of a reaction is dependent on the nature of the food, the level of residual sulfite, the sensitivity of the patient, and perhaps on the form of residual sulfite and the mechanism of the sulfite-induced reaction.

Marital disruption and poverty: the role of survey procedures in artificially creating poverty.

The economic well-being of widows is a growing public concern. Though widowhood undoubtedly precipitates major changes in economic well-being we show that its role in increasing poverty especially in the short term may be seriously overstated by traditional data-collection methods. Using longitudinal [U.S.] data that allow us to follow women as wives and widows we find that the income of husbands is systematically excluded from the income reported by women widowed during or after the income reference year. This exclusion not only exaggerates the rise in poverty immediately following widowhood but also overstates the percentage of widows who leave poverty in the next reporting period. (EXCERPT)

Measures comparing living arrangements of the elderly: an assessment.

The ability to evaluate differences in living arrangements across countries in terms of the relative importance of culture or socioeconomic factors depends in part on the measure used and whether it takes into account demographic conditions and cultural biases. This note discusses 4 measures that have been adopted for measuring the living arrangements of the elderly and using data from Latin America Asia Northwest Europe and North America evaluates them in terms of their usefulness in comparative studies. The authors recommend the use of a classification scheme that recognizes major life-course factors while employing few categories. (authors)

Nonmetropolitan Elderly Women: A Portrait of Economic Vulnerability

Women are a majority of elders in America, and they face a greater risk of being poor. This article examines the poverty status of elders, paying special attention to the circumstances of elderly women in nonmetropolitan areas. The oldest women, minorities, divorced or separated women, and widows are particularly likely to be or become poor in old age in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. Nonmetropolitan women, however, report higher poverty rates and have lower incomes, placing them at greater risk offalling into poverty should unexpected events occur. By examining various levels and sources of income available to metropolitan and nonmetropolitan women the authors found that nonmetropolitan women have lower wage and salary income, receive less Social Security, and have lower total own income than do metropolitan women. It is suggested that higher poverty incidence among nonmetropolitan than among metropolitan women is linked to a legacy of poorer economic opportunities in nonmetropolitan areas as well as to the apparently greater costs for women of expenencing nontraditional life cycle patterns (e.g., divorce or separation) in nonmetropolitan areas.

Economic Security in Retirement: How Changes in Employment and Marriage Have Altered Retirement‐Related Economic Risks for Women

We examine across birth cohorts the consequences for inter‐ and intra‐gender equality of changing patterns of womens work, earnings, and marriage. While over time work participation rates, average earnings, and pension coverage for women have become increasingly similar to those for men, inequality among women has grown. As the economic opportunities for college‐educated women have improved, women with only a high school education or less are increasingly disadvantaged in the labor and marriage markets. The effects of employment changes on the future retirement security of women can either be told simply—on average the gender gap in labor force participation, wages, and pension coverage is closing—or be told with attention to the growing inequality among women in employment, pension coverage and benefits. In the presence of greater gender equality, inequality among women is becoming the future retirement security challenge for women and policy makers.

Economic Status of the Aged

Publisher Summary Measures of satisfaction, consumption, and resources capture different aspects of the economic well being of an individual. Income remains the most frequently reported measure of economic status, primarily because it is most easily and therefore most frequently and uniformly gathered in national surveys. Income measures of well being, however, are increasingly expanded to include assets and in-kind benefits. This chapter presents the asset data of the United States showing gains in older American economic status over time, both comparing across age groups and over time for individual cohorts. Assets are highly skewed toward higher income households, and their inclusion does not much alter conclusions about the relative poverty risk. In part it appears that the income in assets is due to both older and younger populations taking advantage of opportunities for asset growth through equity investments. Assets ownership and value have grown among the young and old, though at a slower pace at older ages. Although this is consistent with lifecycle asset accumulation/decumulation patterns and with advice to reduce holdings of risky assets at older ages, the slower growth among older cohorts may also be due to the fact that tax deferred retirement accounts were introduced fairly late in their working lives.

The changing economic status of disabled women, 1982–1991 Trends and their determinants

In this paper, we provide an assessment of the intertemporal economic well-being of a representative sample of females who became new Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiaries in 1982. We compare their economic circumstances over the 1982 to 1991 period with those of both disabled men who became new SSDI beneficiaries in 1982, and a matched sample of nondisabled females who had sufficient work experience for benefit eligibility should they have become disabled. In 1982, the new SSDI women beneficiaries were a relatively poor segment of U.S. society. One quarter of them lived in poverty, and 48 percent had incomes below 150 percent of the poverty line. Over the subsequent decade, some of those married in 1982 lost husbands and the income contributed by their husbands. Yet, as of 1991, over one half of these disabled women lived in families with income below 150 percent of the poverty line. Social Security benefits to disabled women have played an important, and growing, role in sustaining economic status. Nevertheless, the level of well-being of these women lies substantially below that of the comparison groups, and for some groups of the women, well-being trends were negative both absolutely and relative to the comparison groups. We statistically relate the poverty status of these new female recipients to sociodemographic factors that would be expected to contribute to low well-being, and simulate the effect of Social Security benefits in reducing poverty and replacing earnings. We suggest a number of SSDI-related policy changes that could, at low cost, reduce poverty among those women with the highest incidence rates.

Cognitive Development and Children’s Understanding of Personal Finance

We argue that the efficacy of early childhood financial education requires understanding of children’s cognitive abilities to grasp complex relationships and reason about the several dimensions of objects and situations. We review the implications of three major theories of cognitive development (Piaget, theory-theory, and brain/executive function) for financial literacy programs targeted to young (K-2) children.