Amanda Ross (p), Erik Johnson , Laura Razzolini

We examine schools in Alabama to see how the removal from desegregation orders has affected segregation in public schools. In 1954, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka overturned the doctrine of “separate, but equal” and consequently pushed the United States toward integration of its public facilities. Court ordered desegregation was commonly achieved by merging schools and busing students in from a wider range of neighborhoods and school districts were bound to achieve “unitary status” (i.e. a single, rather than segregated school system). At the same time, in an attempt to circumvent integration, the South saw a rise in private schools catered to wealthy white families, commonly referred to as “segregation academies.” While these private schools remained segregated, public schools were becoming integrated. This system remained in place for the next thirty years, until school districts began to achieve unitary status, at which point the district could have the desegregation court order removed. While the schools must show that they have met and are in compliance with various factors, once the court desegregation order is lifted the school districts behave with more freedom. This study looks at how the public schools behave once the desegregation order has been lifted, how residents react, and how public and private enrollment changes as a result.

The main area of focus of this research is how to properly measure segregation while taking into account yearly variations in private enrollment and school boundaries, which otherwise convolute segregation measures. We begin by examining how the most common segregation indices, the dissimilarity index and the exposure index, are affected by changes in the student population through a comparative statics. Then, we consider how private schools and public school boundaries changed after unitary status was achieved. This research is important to the area of regional development, as education is important for local economic growth.

Ana Camões, Marta Ferreira Dias (p), Marlene Amorim

In recent years, the social economy is increasingly seen as a viable means to address social problems. Social enterprises, as well as public projects and initiatives targeted to meet social purposes, offer organizational models that assume heterogeneity, flexibility and adaptability to the ‘real world and real problems’. Despite the growing popularity of social initiatives, decision makers still face a paucity in what concerns the available models and tools to adequately assess its sustainability, its impacts, notably the nature of its contribution to economic growth. This study was carried out at the local level, by analyzing the social impact initiatives and projects promoted by the Municipality of Albergaria-a-Velha (Câmara Municipal de Albergaria-a-Velha -CMA), a 25.000 inhabitants municipality in the central region of Portugal. This work focuses on the challenges related to the qualifications and employability of citizens, which stands out as one of the key concerns in Portuguese economy, particularly expressive in the context of small-scale cities and inland territories.
The study offers a characterization of the Municipality, its socio-economic structure and challenges, followed by an exploratory analysis of multiple sourced data, collected from the CMA's documental sources as well as from privileged informants. The purpose is to conduct detailed analysis of the CMA's social projects, aimed at characterizing its potential impact for the model of qualifications and employability of the citizens of the Municipality. The study encompasses a discussion of the socio-economic profile of the municipality, notably its asymmetries, the analysis of the social projects and initiatives, as well as of data derived from inquiry actors involved in the implementation of the social projects and its beneficiaries. Finally, the results obtained with the Index Better Life will be included. This study makes it possible to ascertain if what is implicit in the literature goes to the encounter of what one experiences in reality.

Thomas Streifeneder (p), Valentina Cattivelli , Verena Gramm

Many famers live in buildings with unused but usable accommodations. These facilities do not correspond to specific standards of a certified agritourism or other types of countryside tourism, but have a basic infrastructure and could be occupied without any or larger modifications by undemanding people. The farmer did not furbish up rooms or apartments to develop a B&B or an agritourism for reasons such as a missing familiarly support, possible return of the children or lacking funding. Furthermore, many old and solitarily living farmers in rural areas often feel lonely and are seeking for more social contacts.
Urban citizens are increasingly interested in spending an active free time in nature to counterbalance the stress in the city. This holds true especially for families. At the same time even ordinary tourist accommodations, such as agritourism, B&B and pensions in rural areas are getting more and more expensive due to high quality standards. This makes it difficult for citizens with low income to realize a frequent stay in a rural and nature-based setting in their holidays.
The contribution presents the conceptual framework and first empirical data of Farm4Exchange, which is an innovative approach aiming at overcoming this mismatch between offer and demand. The project represents a new type of co-living and social interaction between farmers and citizens, which aims at a reciprocal satisfaction of their actual social, economic and ecological needs. The farmers make the vacant facilities available to the citizens who pay a low monthly rent. In accordance with the farmer, the guests may also use other facilities such as the factory or create a kitchen garden. In return, the guests help the farmers in simple farming activities and keep the farmer company (e.g. through common meals). Farm4Exchange is a social innovative model of upscaling in the sharing economy, which positively contributes to the well-being and human/personal health of farmers and citizens, to the environmental education and socio-economics of the region. The unification of the right people plays a crucial role. Hence, Farm4Exchange aims at the development of a coordination platform for a successful combination of the two target groups.
The contribution presents the key characteristics of Farm4Exchange and compares this kind of farm stay with other existing concepts like agritourism, social agriculture, community supported agriculture and woofing. Finally, the author discusses the challenges for the implementation (assurances, taxes) and possible solutions.

Edel Walsh (p), Aileen Murphy

As society changes and adapts it is important to consider the impact of social roles on life satisfaction. One role that has changed substantially is that of parenthood. International evidence on the role of parenthood on life satisfaction is mixed but recent literature has demonstrated there is a gap in happiness /emotional well-being between parents and nonparents in Ireland. This study aims to examine if having children is a significant factor in explaining life satisfaction in Ireland.

Using data from European Social Survey (2016), a regression analysis is performed to investigate the impact on individual life satisfaction of having children living at home. Matching techniques are then used to investigate if factors influencing life satisfaction differ between parents and non-parents. Socio-demographic, economic and family characteristics are controlled for, including family composition and employment status, as well as region (N=2,817).

Average life satisfaction amongst the sample is 7.2 (measured on a scale from 0 -10). 36 per cent of respondents have children living at home and of these 61% are female and approximate 60 per cent are in paid work. At national level average life satisfaction amongst parents is 7.3. Some regional differences are evident, for example, amongst those living in Dublin life satisfaction is 7.2 amongst those with children compared to 6.7 for those without children.

Preliminary analysis demonstrates that having children living at home lowers life satisfaction. Regional differences are statistically significant, for example, lower life satisfaction is evident in the mid-east and Dublin regions. All other results as expected: life satisfaction decreases with age, is higher amongst those that are married and females.

Policies to improve parental life satisfaction have been successful in other jurisdictions, and have been successful in improving general well-being. Such initiatives are important to reduce the burden borne by parents and consequences of same. While other developed countries have contended with aging populations for some time, it is a recent phenomenon in Ireland. Understanding the impact of parenthood on well-being is an important step towards designing policies that improve life satisfaction amongst parents and mitigate against future dependency crises.