http://www.hivmapper.com/

Related to this is an HIV Spatial Data Repository:

http://www.hivspatialdata.net/

Both of these links can be found from the main DHS website:

http://www.measuredhs.com/

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) invites R01 applications for research examining the neurobiological and genetic foundations and correlates of social behaviors and social relationships of relevance to aging, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms and pathways linking social behaviors and social relationships to the physical health, functionality, and psychological well-being of middle-aged and older adults.

Newton International Fellowships
The Newton International Fellowship scheme will select the very best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world, and offer support for two years at UK research institutions.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor reports that in 2007:

* Twenty percent of employed persons did some or all of their work at home on days that they worked, and 87 percent did some or all of their work at their workplace.
* On an average day (which includes all 7 days of the week), 83 percent of women and 66 percent of men spent some time doing household activities, such as housework, cooking, lawn care, or financial and other household management.
* Watching TV was the leisure activity that occupied the most time, accounting for about half of leisure time, on average, for both men and women.

Full report (PDF)

Abe Fellowship
Application Deadline: September 1, 2008
The Abe Fellowship supports professional research in the social sciences and related disciplines on contemporary policy-relevant issues, especially those which promote a new level of intellectual cooperation between Japan and America. Applicants must be citizens of the U.S. or Japan (or be able to demonstrate serious affiliations with research communities in the U.S. or Japan) and hold the terminal degree in their field by the start of their fellowship term.

Dissertation Proposal Development Fellowship - Faculty Opportunities
Application Deadline: October 3, 2008
The DPDF Program, which supports early-stage graduate students in formulating successful doctoral dissertation proposals, invites applications from faculty teams for research fields. Proposed research fields should be subdisciplinary and interdisciplinary domains with common intellectual questions and styles of research. Applications have to be submitted by two tenured faculty from different US universities and, as relevant, different disciplines. Awardees serve as research directors for a group of 12 students that meet in two workshops in late spring and early fall 2009. The stipend is $10,000; the five research fields will be announced early November 2008.

ACLS offers fellowships and grants in more than a dozen programs for research in the humanities and related social sciences at the doctoral and postdoctoral levels.

AAS China and Inner Asia Council (CIAC) Small Grants
AAS Council of Conferences (COC) Outreach Grants
AAS Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) Japan Studies Grants
AAS Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) Distinguished Lecture Series on Japan
AAS Northeast Asia Council (NEAC) Korean Studies Grants
Korea Foundation Fellowship for Graduate Studies, Korean Studies Scholarship Program

Kids' Share 2008, a second annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2007, this trend continued, as children's spending did not keep pace with GDP growth. Absent a policy change, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

Excerpt; Full Report (PDF)

Using questionnaire and transcript data collected in 1972, 1980, 1982, 1992, and 2004, this report presents information on five cohorts of high school seniors. The analysis addresses overall trends, as well as trends within various subgroups defined by sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status (SES). Key findings of the report include the following: The proportion of Black seniors who were in the highest SES quartile doubled from 1972 to 1992 (from 5 percent to 10 percent), and increased overall from 5 percent in 1972 to 14 percent in 2004. The percentage of seniors enrolling in calculus during their senior year grew from 6 percent to 13 percent between 1982 and 2004. The percentage of seniors taking no mathematics courses during their senior year declined from 57 percent to 34 percent over this time period. Seniors increased their senior-year enrollment in advanced science courses (chemistry II, physics II, and advanced biology) from 12 percent in 1982 to 25 percent in 2004. In each class of seniors, most of those who planned further schooling intended to attend four-year postsecondary schools, with the proportion of students planning to attend four-year schools rising from 34 percent in 1972 to 61 percent in 2004. In all years, higher percentages of Asian high school seniors, and lower percentages of Hispanic seniors (except in 1992), compared to other racial/ethnic groups, planned attendance at four-year institutions No difference was observed between 1972 and 2004 between the percentage of seniors expecting a bachelor’s degree as their highest level of education. Instead, growth between these two time points was greatest in expectations for a graduate or professional degree: 13 percent of seniors expected to attain this level of education as their highest in 1972, compared to 38 percent of seniors in 2004. In 1972, males expected to earn a graduate degree as their highest educational level in greater proportions than did females (16 percent versus 9 percent); however, in 2004, females expected to earn a graduate degree more often than males (45 percent versus 32 percent). Seniors increasingly expected to work in professional occupations (growing from 45 percent of seniors in 1972 to 63 percent of seniors in 2004 expecting to work in a professional field).

Full Report (PDF)

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life today released its second report on the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, which finds that while many Americans are highly religious, most are not dogmatic in their approach to faith. This new analysis examines the diversity of Americans’ religious beliefs and practices as well as their social and political attitudes. It follows the first report of the Landscape Survey, which was published in February 2008 and detailed the size, internal changes and demographic characteristics of major religions in the United States.

Summary; Full Report (PDF)

Report #1 on Religious Affiliation may be found here.

As families across the nation face financial hardships and economic insecurity, states continue to lead the way in developing solutions to help families ensure their economic well-being. These efforts are highlighted in a new Issue Brief from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) titled State Strategies to Reduce Child and Family Poverty.

The brief examines the long-term social and economic costs of poverty for children and families, communities and states. In addition, State Strategies to Reduce Child and Family Poverty explores several policy and program options helping to reduce the negative consequences of poverty for children and increase opportunities for families to achieve economic success.

Press Release; Full Document (PDF)

Although gay marriage is legal in Massachusetts and California, census officials say that same-sex partners in both states who list themselves as spouses will be recorded as "unmarried partners" -- just as they were in the 2000 census.

Census Bureau spokesman Stephen Buckner cited the Defense of Marriage Act, approved by Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing as a marriage the union of anyone but a man and a woman.

You can comment on the measurement of such demographic concepts as relationship, race/ethnicity, origins, marital status, income/poverty/status, education, labor force, health insurance/health care. You can also suggest other concepts for inclusion.

Link to Demographic Concepts Survey

The comment period ends August 1, 2008.

If you would like to find out more about the project or how to be involved in it, contact Dr. Carol M. Hamilton at chamilton@phenx.org.

The Demographic Working group contact is Michael Phillips from RTI (mjp@rti.org).

Survey reveals wide variations and unexpected patterns of substance use and mental illness across more than 340 localities across the United States

Mental health and substance abuse problems affect every local community throughout America – but in unique, and sometimes surprising ways, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The report offers highly detailed analyses of the substance abuse and mental health problems occurring within these smaller geographical areas.

For example, one of the smaller geographical (or substate) areas in the survey --Utah’s Salt Lake and Weber-Morgan Counties – have among the nation’s highest levels of persons aged 12 or older using painkillers for non-medical reasons. In these two counties, levels were as high as 7.92 percent. In contrast, areas of the District of Columbia had some of the nation’s lowest levels of this type of substance abuse, as low as 2.48 percent in parts of the city.

Yet the exact same communities in Utah had the among the nation’s lowest levels of underage binge alcohol use in the past month (as low as 8.72 percent of those age 12 to 20). The District of Columbia had equally low levels in some parts of the city, but other parts had some of the nation’s highest levels (as high as 39.01 percent among this age group).

“The findings reveal that the nation’s substance abuse and the mental health problems are fundamentally local in character and might be addressed directly most effectively at that level,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D. “This report provides local public health authorities sharper insight into the nature and scope of the substance abuse and mental health problems affecting their communities.”

The report, Substate Estimates from the 2004-2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, measures and analyzes 23 substance abuse and mental health-related behavior levels in 345 substate regions representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia. In most states, the substate regions are defined in terms of counties or groups of counties. In a few states, these areas are defined in terms of census tracts. The results were based on the combined data from the 2004 to 2006 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and involved responses from 203,870 people age 12 or older throughout the United States.

Report:

* PDF format (recommended for printing)
* HTML format (contains additional tables not found in printed or PDF versions)

The world's two most populous countries, China and India, are undergoing dramatic demographic, societal, and economic transformations. However, the health status of residents of China and India still lags behind relative to other populations, and the health gains in each country have been uneven across subpopulations. Although they have achieved substantial advances in life expectancy and disease prevention since the middle of the 20th century, the Chinese and Indian health systems provide little protection against financial risk, and patient satisfaction is a lower priority than it should be. This paper compares the health systems of China and India to determine what approaches to improving health in these two countries do and do not work. In particular, the authors compare the health systems in China and India along three dimensions: policy levers, intermediate outcomes, and ultimate ends. The authors conclude that both countries must (1) restructure health care financing to reduce the burden of out-of-pocket medical care costs on individual patients; (2) increase access to care, especially in rural areas; (3) reduce dependence on fee-for-service contracts that promote overutilization of medical care; (4) build capacity for addressing and monitoring emerging diseases; and (5) match hospital capabilities with local needs.

Full Document (PDF)