News from the Network

Refugees’ post-migration choices about where to call home have stumped many a policymaker. In 2015, it was refugees’ “irregular secondary movement” that rendered Europe’s Dublin system obsolete. Yet it is refugees’ voluntary relocation away from ethnic enclaves that signals successful integration. A closer look at a Swedish policy exposes motivations behind them and how even light interventions can affect outcomes. In 1985, refugee settlement was changed from open to assigned to promote integration by mitigating the growth of established ethnic enclaves.

 In recent years, leading representatives from science, politics and society have been promoting the idea that the ageing of society is a chance that should be used. Not only is the overall life expectancy continuing to increase, there is also the possibility to live longer in good health. Even more people will be able to work longer and be more active in their free time.

In the current edition of Deutsche Welle's TV magazine "Global 3000", Harald Wilkoszewski (Population Europe Brussels Office) explains the role of demographic factors behind the presidential elections in the United States and the Brexit referendum in the United Kingdom.

The higher the life expectancy in a society, the smaller the difference between the ages at which people will die. An international team of scientists, including researchers from the Population Europe Partners, including the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging, has discoverd a novel regularity for vastly different human societies and epochs.

Out now: Population Europe's Quarterly Newsletter! Please download it here: Population_Europe_Newsletter_October_2016.pdf

Who are the refugees who arrived in Europe in the summer and fall of 2015? What are their motivations, their intentions, their skills, their attitudes? A new study in PLOS ONE by researchers from the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital now sheds light on these important questions. Lead researcher Isabella Buber-Ennser and colleagues conducted a survey (Displaced Persons in Austria Survey DiPAS) and gathered information on 972 individuals from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan who arrived in Austria in 2015.

A new data set provides a comprehensive look at population dynamics in Europe, including the influence of migration on population growth and the effect of population ageing (Press release by IIASA)

Nonstandard work shifts (NSS) are a controversial feature of labour markets. To some, they represent degradation of working conditions; to others, the flexib­ility needed to enter the labour market in tough times and reconcile work with home life.

For the first time in history, the average age of the British population has exceeded 40. In the mid-1970s, it was 34. Thanks to our ever-improving longevity and the ageing of younger migrants, it is estimated the 60+ age group will account for 75% of the UK’s population growth by 2040. British people will be living longer in a population that is itself growing older.