The reversal of the gender gap in education has reshaped the U.S. marriage market. Drawing on data from the 1980 U.S. Census and the 2008–2012 American Community Surveys, the author used log-linear ...models to examine gender asymmetry in educational and income assortative mating among newlyweds. Between 1980 and 2008–2012, educational assortative mating reversed from a tendency for women to marry up to a tendency for women to marry down in education, whereas the tendency for women to marry men with higher incomes than themselves persisted. Moreover, in both time periods, the tendency for women to marry up in income was generally greater among couples in which the wife's education level equaled or surpassed that of the husband than among couples in which the wife was less educated than the husband. The author discusses the implications of the rising female advantage in education for gender change in heterosexual marriages.
Economic and social disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic have important implications for gender and class inequality. Drawing on Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey, we document trends in ...gender gaps in employment and work hours over the pandemic (February–October 2020). Our findings highlight the importance of care provisions for gender equity, with gaps larger among parents than people without children, and most pronounced when care and employment were more difficult to reconcile. When employment barriers eased, so did the gender–employment gap. The pandemic could not undo longer-standing cultural and structural shifts motivating contemporary mothers’ employment. The pandemic also exacerbated educational inequalities among women, highlighting the importance of assessing gendered impacts through an intersectional lens.
La pandémie de COVID-19 a radicalement changé la vie active. À l’aide des données de l’Enquête sur la population active, les auteures montrent que les écarts entre les sexes au chapitre de l’emploi ...chez les parents de jeunes enfants se sont considérablement creusés entre février et mai 2020, abstraction faite des différences dans les fonctions et les caractéristiques personnelles. Les écarts entre les sexes se sont amplifiés davantage chez les parents d’enfants fréquentant l’école primaire que chez les parents d’enfants du préscolaire, ainsi que chez les parents moins scolarisés. Pour faciliter le rétablissement après la pandémie et se prémunir contre les perturbations à venir attribuables aux ravages de la pandémie, les décideurs devraient se concentrer sur la constitution d’un secteur de santé publique accessible et solidement financé et sur la mise en oeuvre de politiques souples en matière de congés au-delà de la période de la petite enfance, afin d’aider les parents qui travaillent à gérer les exigences de leur rôle familial de manière équitable.
Working life in Canada has changed dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Labour Force Survey data, we show that gender employment gaps among parents of young children widened considerably between February and May 2020, net of differences in job and personal characteristics. Gender gaps grew more for parents of elementary school-aged children rather than preschoolers, and among less educated parents. To aid postpandemic recovery and prepare for future disruptive disasters/pandemics, policy-makers should focus attention on fostering an accessible, well-funded public care sector and implementing flexible leave policies beyond the period of infancy to help working parents manage caregiving demands equitably.
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed every facet of society. In addition to directly affecting population health, the economic impact of this social shock has begun to be palpable at the individual ...level. Situated in this context, this research note draws on data collected from Mainland China in March–April, 2020 to examine the individual-level economic toll of the COVID-19 outbreak. We investigate how individuals’ income (when surveyed) has changed relative to before the outbreak, and pay particular attention to the potentially unequal distribution of economic vulnerability based on structural (dis)advantages and COVID-19 related conditions. We show that education, family economic status, Communist Party membership, state-sector employment, and urban hukou—all long-standing status markers in China—mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on individuals’ income losses. In addition, people who live in families or regions that were hit harder by COVID-19 are more likely to experience income losses. Taken together, this study shows that the COVID-19 pandemic not only exacerbates pre-existing social inequalities but also creates new forms of disparities. Therefore, instead of acting as a great equalizer, the pandemic may well magnify the social distribution of economic vulnerability. To alleviate inequality and aid post-pandemic recovery, public policies need to be oriented toward vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Research on stigma and discrimination during COVID-19 has focused on racism and xenophobia in Western countries. In comparison, little research has considered stigma processes, discrimination, and ...their public health implications in non-Western contexts. This study draws on quantitative survey data (N = 7,942) and qualitative interview data (N = 50) to understand the emergence, experiences, and mental health implications of stigma and discrimination during China’s COVID-19 outbreak. Given China’s history of regionalism, we theorize and use a survey experiment to empirically assess region-based stigma: People who lived in Hubei (the hardest hit province) during the outbreak and those who were socially associated with Hubei were stigmatized. Furthermore, the COVID-19 outbreak created stigma around people labeled as patients by the state. These stigmatized groups reported greater perceived discrimination, which—as a stressor—led to psychological distress. Our interview data illuminated how the stigmatized groups perceived, experienced, and coped with discrimination and stigma.
Although online dating tools have become increasingly diverse over the decades, little is known about the search strategies of individuals or their choices of using certain dating platforms. Based on ...interviews with 29 heterosexual, highly-educated daters conducted in Shanghai, we examine their strategies for finding a partner online. Online daters can be categorized into three distinct dating types depending on their mating goals and mate preferences: dating, xiangqin (matchmaking), and mixed. We investigated the underlying gendered factors that drove them to specific dating types and guided their choices of online dating platforms. Despite the heterogeneity in dating types, online dating exhibited homophily effects, which may reinforce social inequality in China’s marriage market. While existing research often contrasted online dating with “traditional venues” and used online dating to symbolize modernity, we illustrate the subtlety between xiangqin and dating, thereby challenging the widely-used dichotomy of traditionality and modernity in conceptualizing family-related behaviors.
Cover crops play an increasingly important role in improving soil quality, reducing agricultural inputs and improving environmental sustainability. The main objectives of this critical global review ...and systematic analysis were to assess cover crop practices in the context of their impacts on nitrogen leaching, net greenhouse gas balances (NGHGB) and crop productivity. Only studies that investigated the impacts of cover crops and measured one or a combination of nitrogen leaching, soil organic carbon (SOC), nitrous oxide (N2O), grain yield and nitrogen in grain of primary crop, and had a control treatment were included in the analysis. Long‐term studies were uncommon, with most data coming from studies lasting 2–3 years. The literature search resulted in 106 studies carried out at 372 sites and covering different countries, climatic zones and management. Our analysis demonstrates that cover crops significantly (p < 0.001) decreased N leaching and significantly (p < 0.001) increased SOC sequestration without having significant (p > 0.05) effects on direct N2O emissions. Cover crops could mitigate the NGHGB by 2.06 ± 2.10 Mg CO2‐eq ha−1 year−1. One of the potential disadvantages of cover crops identified was the reduction in grain yield of the primary crop by ≈4%, compared to the control treatment. This drawback could be avoided by selecting mixed cover crops with a range of legumes and non‐legumes, which increased the yield by ≈13%. These advantages of cover crops justify their widespread adoption. However, management practices in relation to cover crops will need to be adapted to specific soil, management and regional climatic conditions.
Cover crops significantly (p < 0.001) decreased N leaching and significantly (p < 0.001) increased soil organic carbon sequestration without having significant (p > 0.05) effects on direct N2O emissions. Cover crops could mitigate net greenhouse gas balance by 2.06 ± 2.10 Mg CO2‐eq ha−1 year−1. One of the potential disadvantages of the cover crops identified was the reduction in grain yield of the primary crop by ≈4%, compared to the control treatment. This drawback could be avoided by selecting legume–non‐legume mixed cover crops. However, cover crop management need to be adapted to specific soil, management and regional climatic conditions.
A palladium‐catalyzed reductive difluorocarbene transfer reaction that tames difluorocarbene to couple with two electrophiles has been developed, representing a new mode of difluorocarbene transfer ...reaction. The approach uses low‐cost and bulk industrial chemical chlorodifluoromethane (ClCF2H) as the difluorocarbene precursor. It produces a variety of difluoromethylated (hetero)arenes from widely available aryl halides/triflates and proton sources, featuring high functional group tolerance and synthetic convenience without preparing organometallic reagents. Experimental mechanistic studies reveal that an unexpected Pd0/II catalytic cycle is involved in this reductive reaction, wherein the oxidative addition of palladium(0) difluorocarbene (Pd0(Ln)=CF2) with aryl electrophile to generate the key intermediate aryldifluoromethylpalladium ArCF2Pd(Ln)X, followed by reaction with hydroquinone, is responsible for the reductive difluorocarbene transfer.
A new mode of difluorocarbene transfer reaction that tames difluorocarbene to couple with two electrophiles via palladium catalysis has been developed. This reaction overcomes the intrinsic limitations of electrophilic difluorocarbene and allows difluoromethylation of various aryl bromides and aryl triflates. Experimental mechanistic studies revealed that a palladium(0/II) pathway is responsible for this reductive reaction.
MXene, as a new 2-dimensional (2D) material, has excellently potential applications in the field of electrochemistry owing to its high conductivity and fast charge transporting speed. Especially, ...MXene/polymer composites have attracted widely attentions due to their extensive application in the area of multi-functional materials. Herein, the composites of Ti3C2Tx MXene/polyaniline (PANI) with different PANI contents have been successfully prepared. The microwave absorption mechanism of these materials was investigated. Attributing to the multiple layer structure, the dielectric property of Ti3C2Tx MXene and PANI, and the synergistic effect between the Ti3C2Tx and PANI, the as-prepared composites possessed a specific microwave absorbing behavior. With a proper content of PANI, the MXene/PANI composites in a paraffin matrix exhibited a maximum reflection loss of −56.30 dB at 13.80 GHz with the thickness of 1.8 mm. In addition, the effective absorption bandwidth (>90%) ranged from X-band (8–12.4 GHz) to Ku-band (12.4–18 GHz) with the tunable thickness ranging from 1.5 to 2.6 mm. The results indicate that MXene/PANI composites has great potential to be used in the field of microwave absorption.
The application of abundant and inexpensive fluorine feedstock sources to synthesize fluorinated compounds is an appealing yet underexplored strategy. Here, we report a photocatalytic radical ...hydrodifluoromethylation of unactivated alkenes with an inexpensive industrial chemical, chlorodifluoromethane (ClCF2H, Freon-22). This protocol is realized by merging tertiary amine-ligated boryl radical-induced halogen atom transfer (XAT) with organophotoredox catalysis under blue light irradiation. A broad scope of readily accessible alkenes featuring a variety of functional groups and drug and natural product moieties could be selectively difluoromethylated with good efficiency in a metal-free manner. Combined experimental and computational studies suggest that the key XAT process of ClCF2H is both thermodynamically and kinetically favored over the hydrogen atom transfer pathway owing to the formation of a strong boron–chlorine (B–Cl) bond and the low-lying antibonding orbital of the carbon–chlorine (C–Cl) bond.
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