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- Angelin, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Have Nordic welfare regimes adapted to changes in transitions to adulthood? Unemployment insurance and social assistance among young people in the Nordic welfare states
- 2014
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In: Young people and social policy in Europe. - Basingstoke : Palgrave Macmillan. - 9781137370525 - 9781137370518 ; , s. 169-188
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Entering adult life consists of several transitions that are related to finding a source of income, establishing an independent household and creating new family formations. This stage of ‘becoming’ entails a move from needing others to living as an autonomous and economically independent citizen (France, 2008; Smeeding and Philips, 2002). This key life stage, where several major transitions and life-course events take place concurrently (Anxo et al., 2010; Müller and Gangl, 2003), results in increasing vulnerability to poverty (Moore, 2005). In the Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden and Norway), economic autonomy has become quite difficult to obtain for many young people; continued financial support from either parents or social assistance is a reality for many. Poverty is central in understanding if and how young people can transition effectively into adulthood. Within the populations of the Nordic countries today, young people are among those most likely to be economically vulnerable.1 Despite being relatively affluent compared with young people in many eastern and southern European countries, it is evident that this life phase is associated with increasing vulnerability in the Nordic countries.
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- Kauppinen, Timo, et al.
(author)
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Social background and life-course risks as determinants of social assistance receipt among young adults in Sweden, Norway and Finland
- 2014
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In: Journal of European Social Policy. - : Sage Publications. - 0958-9287 .- 1461-7269. ; 24:3, s. 273-288
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We analyse the determinants of social assistance receipt among young adults in three Nordic countries, focusing on social-background and life-course events during early adulthood. We ask whether they are related differently to short-term and long-term receipt. Short-term poverty could be more individualized than long-term poverty which can be expected to be more strongly related to social background. We applied generalized ordinal logit modelling to longitudinal register-based data. Both social-background and life-course factors were found to be important, but our results did not confirm the hypothesis of social background predicting mostly long-term receipt and life-course factors predicting mostly short-term receipt. Leaving the parental home early and parental social assistance receipt were important determinants of social assistance receipt, and both factors predicted longer duration of receipt as well. We found some differences between the countries, which may be related to differences in youth unemployment and social welfare systems.
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- Laitera, Tiina, et al.
(author)
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Increased gamma-Secretase Activity in Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Patients with beta-Amyloid Pathology
- 2014
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 9:4, s. e93717-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The potential similarity between the brain pathology of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) and Alzheimer disease (AD) is intriguing and thus further studies focusing on the underlying molecular mechanisms may offer valuable information for differential diagnostics and the development of treatments for iNPH. Here, we investigated beta- and gamma-secretase activities in relation to amyloid-beta (A beta) pathology in the brain tissue samples collected from iNPH and AD patients. beta- and gamma-secretase activities were measured from the frontal cortical biopsies of 26 patients with suspected iNPH as well as post-mortem tissue samples from the inferior temporal cortex of 74 AD patients and eight subjects without neurofibrillary pathology. In iNPH samples with detectable A beta plaques, gamma-secretase activity was significantly increased (similar to 1.6-fold) when compared to iNPH samples without A beta plaques (p=0.009). In the AD samples, statistically significant differences in the gamma-secretase activity were not observed with respect to disease severity (mild, moderate and severe AD according to neurofibrillary pathology). Conversely, beta-secretase activity was unaltered in iNPH samples with or without A beta plaques, while it was significantly increased in relation to disease severity in the AD patients. These results show for the first time increased gamma-secretase but not b-secretase activity in the biopsy samples from the frontal cortex of iNPH patients with AD-like A beta pathology. Conversely, the opposite was observed in these secretase activities in AD patients with respect to neurofibrillary pathology. Despite the resemblances in the A beta pathology, iNPH and AD patients appear to have marked differences in the cellular mechanisms responsible for the production of A beta.
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- Lorentzen, Thomas, et al.
(author)
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Unemployment and economic security for young adults in Finland Norway and Sweden : from unemployment protection to poverty relief
- 2014
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In: International Journal of Social Welfare. - : Blackwell Munksgaard. - 1369-6866 .- 1468-2397. ; 23:1, s. 41-51
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this study, we investigated if there has been a displacement in the type and coverage of welfare services available for young unemployed adults in Finland, Norway and Sweden over the last two decades. This question is important because a number of studies have argued that the generous unemployment benefits and extensive labour market intervention found in the Nordic welfare states shield young people from the most severe consequences of economic inactivity. In this article, we instead show that during this period, less generous means-tested unemployment and social assistance benefits have become the most important form of income protection for young people. In evidence, earnings-related unemployment benefits now cover only 10 per cent of unemployed Swedes and Finns and 45 per cent of unemployed Norwegians aged 24 years or younger. This development marks a significant change in our understanding of unemployment protection for young people in Nordic countries.
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- Minas, Renate, et al.
(author)
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Rescaling inequality? Welfare reform and local variation in social assistance payments
- 2014
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In: Social policy review 26. - Bristol : Policy Press. - 9781447315568 ; , s. 239-258
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Social assistance and other means tested benefits are the last resort in national social protection systems and variation in benefit receipt are in part a direct consequence of differences in means and needs. Variation may however also be related to local discretion over implementation of national legislation, implying inequality unintended by legislators. Such discretion is generally believed to have increased following decentralizing reforms in the 1990s, an international trend frequently referred to as devolution. More recent reforms have instead often implied recentralization and/or involved institutional cooperation of welfare agencies located at different vertical levels. Little is however known regarding the extent to which shifting divisions of power influences benefit receipt. Using individual level register data, multi-level modelling and a difference-in-difference approach we attempt to link changes in legislation to changes in inter-municipal differences in social assistance payments in the Nordic countries during the period 1990 to 2010. Somewhat simplified, the assumption is that the more detailed the regulation the less variation is possible and vice versa. The results show the changes in inequality in the wake of the reforms to be heterogeneous, both in accordance with and contradictory to the starting hypothesis. Although some of the unexpected results are difficult to account for, others may be explained by the character or implementation of the reforms.
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- Natunen, Teemu, et al.
(author)
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Effects of NR1H3 Genetic Variation on the Expression of Liver X Receptor alpha and the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease
- 2013
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In: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:11, s. e80700-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been postulated to involve defects in the clearance of amyloid-beta (A beta). Activation of liver X receptor alpha (LXR alpha) increases the expression of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) as well as cholesterol transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1, leading to augmented clearance of A beta. We have previously shown that the C allele of rs7120118 in the NR1H3 gene encoding LXR alpha reduces the risk of AD. Here, we wanted to assess whether the rs7120118 variation affects the progression of AD and modulates the expression of NR1H3 and its downstream targets APOE, ABCA1 and ABCG1. We utilized tissue samples from the inferior temporal cortex of 87 subjects, which were subdivided according to Braak staging into mild, moderate and severe AD groups on the basis of AD-related neurofibrillary pathology. APOE epsilon 4 allele increased soluble A beta 42 levels in the tissue samples in a dose-dependent manner, but did not affect the expression status of APOE. In contrast, the CC genotype of rs7120118 was underrepresented in the severe group, although this result did not reach statistical significance. Also, patients with the CC genotype of rs7120118 showed significantly decreased soluble A beta 42 levels as compared to the patients with TT genotype. Although the severity of AD did not affect NR1H3 expression, the mRNA levels of NR1H3 among the patients with CT genotype of rs7120118 were significantly increased as compared to the patients with TT genotype. These results suggest that genetic variation in NR1H3 modulates the expression of LXR alpha and the levels of soluble A beta 42.
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