Longer lives and fertility far below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman are leading to rapid population aging in many countries. Many observers are concerned that aging will adversely affect public finances and standards of living. Analysis of newly available National Transfer Accounts data for 40 countries shows that fertility well above replacement would typically be most beneficial for government budgets. However, fertility near replacement would be most beneficial for standards of living when the analysis includes the effects of age structure on families as well as governments. And fertility below replacement would maximize per capita consumption when the cost of providing capital for a growing labor force is taken into account. While low fertility will indeed challenge government programs and very low fertility undermines living standards, we find that moderately low fertility and population decline favor the broader material standard of living

discretionary time, free time, leisure, time pressure, time use,

Ever since the appearance of Vanek's pioneering article in 1974, there has been a controversy about whether 'labour saving' domestic appliances actually save labour time. Vanek argued that time spent in housework had barely changed since 1926, despite the diffusion of practically every known domestic appliance over this period. Gershuny and Robinson challenge Vanek's 'constancy of housework' thesis, arguing that, between 1965 and 1985, domestic technology has significantly reduced the weekly hours of women's routine housework. Although there is much talking past each other, none of the protagonists in this dispute have any direct data about which households own or do not own domestic appliances. Instead, they all rely on the passage of the years as a proxy for ownership of domestic appliances, since a higher proportion of contemporary households now own domestic appliances. The Australian 1997 Time Use Survey (Australian Bureau of Statistics 1998b) is rare among official surveys, as it simultaneously provides detailed information on time spent in housework and an inventory of household appliances. The analysis of this data show that domestic technology rarely reduces women's unpaid working time and even, paradoxically, produces some increases in domestic labour. The domestic division of labour by gender remains remarkably resistant to technological innovation.

The health, postrelease movements, and behavior of mass stranded Atlantic white‐sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus acutus) and short‐beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, were evaluated. Health was assessed through physical examination and blood analysis. Eleven dolphins (eight white‐sided dolphins and three common dolphins) were relocated, outfitted with satellite transmitters, and released during seven mass stranding events. Five transmitters recorded only location, and six also included a time‐depth recorder. Transmission duration ranged from 8 h to 218 d, with a mean of 117 d (median = 118 d, SD = 82 d), after release. All dolphins demonstrated extensive movement throughout the Gulf of Maine. The distribution of tagged dolphins was considered normal based on comparisons with published data for these species. Excluding the dolphin that transmitted for only 8 h, mean minimum speeds for individual dolphins ranged from 3.4 to 6.6 km/h; overall mean for all dolphins was 5.4 km/h (SD = 0.9 km/h). The five dolphins with time‐depth recorders had mean dive depths of 8.6–40.3 m and mean dive durations of 46–296 s. Hematologic and biochemical data revealed only minor abnormalities. Data suggest that at least 10 of the 11 dolphins were likely successfully reintroduced into the wild.