To understand immigrants’ situation properly, it is important to grasp both their own perceptions of their position in the new society and the life they left behind when they migrated. Per Engzell (Nuffield College, University of Oxford and Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University) and Mathieu Ichou (Institut National d'Études Démographiques) studied immigrants’ self-perceived status, measured as subjective social status, and perceived financial situation in the destination countries.
Daniel Devolder and Joan Ballester (Centre for Demographic Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Barcelona Institute for Global Health) explored mortality and temperature data from the Spanish National Institute of Statistics and the European Climate Assessment and Dataset project, respectively. The study, published in the prestigious journal The Lancet Planetary Health, is the first to comprehensively assess the impact of the 1°C increase in ambient temperature, observed in Spain since 1980, on mortality due to cardiovascular disease by sex and age.
A new study based on the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally-representative longitudinal survey of children born in 2000-2 and living in the United Kingdom, explored the association between family structure trajectories and early physical health, as opposed to more commonly reported outcomes such as cognitive development or behaviour in older children.
Student mobility could foster social mobility, but its role in preserving or dismantling social inequalities is still largely under-investigated in Europe. Besides the fact that higher education reforms at the European Union (EU) and national levels have incentivised young people to study abroad from their home region, its impact on social mobility is yet to be understood.
Jonas Helgertz (University of Minnesota and Lund University) and Anton Nilsson (Lund University) analysed full-population Swedish register data on siblings and twins born between 1973 and 1994, and followed until 2011. This is one of the first studies to look at the effect of birth weight on sick days in adulthood.
Perelli-Harris et al. investigated whether individuals who cohabit have similar levels of subjective wellbeing (SWB) as married people. They studied events and characteristics correlated with entrance into marriage; whether marriage may be more advantageous for those with a lower or higher tendency to marry; and, finally, whether there is variation by country and gender between partnership type and SWB.
Van Houdt, Kalmijn, and Ivanova used data from the Netherlands to investigate stepparents' involvement in their stepchildren's lives as they reach adulthood, establish a career, enter the housing market, and raise young children. Respondents reported about all financial support, practical support in and around the house, support with childcare, and advice they received from their (step)parents during the last year.
Why do people in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) live shorter lives than those in the developed countries? Is LAC approaching the levels of life expectancy and population health of the most developed regions in the world? A new study looks at health and mortality of 20 LAC countries during the period between 2000 and 2014.
Research by Michael Mühlichen studied how mortality rates have developed in two German states since reunification with specific focus on premature mortality. Using official population and cause-of death statistics for Germany, he found that premature mortality has decreased rapidly since reunification, especially in the east.
Nella Geurts (Radboud University) & Marcel Lubbers (Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute/KNAW/University of Groningen) investigated the relationship between migrants’ engagement with the country of origin and second-language proficiency from a quantitative perspective.
Glenn Sandström and Lena Karlsson used data from the Generations and Gender Survey and found that in countries considered more gender equal, those with a higher education are less likely to live alone. But in less gender equal countries, the opposite is true with higher educated people more likely to live alone.
In a brand new and critical study, Bruno Schoumaker explored vital statistics, surveys and censuses from 163 countries to provide a broad overview of male fertility around the world and over time, and to identify the factors leading to differences between male and female fertility levels and trends.
Using longitudinal census and register data combined with childcare coverage rates for 588 municipalities in Belgium, Wood & Neels found that local formal childcare provision has a clear and substantial positive effect on the likelihood of having a child among dual-earner couples.
Depopulation has now expanded to small and medium-sized towns and cities in outflow regions, especially among highly educated young people. This situation gives rise to negative migration balances and processes of educational decapitalisation.
This report looks at family-friendly policies in 41 high- and middle-income countries using four country-level indicators: the duration of paid leave available to mothers; the duration of paid leave reserved specifically for fathers; the share of children below the age of three in childcare centres; and the share of children between the age of three and compulsory school age in childcare or preschool centres.
At a critical juncture for women’s rights, this landmark report proposes a comprehensive family-friendly policy agenda to advance gender equality in diverse families. A package of policies to deliver this agenda is affordable for most countries, according to a costing analysis included in the report. When families are places of equality and justice, economies and societies thrive and unlock the full potential of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The report shows that achieving the SDGs depends on promoting gender equality within families.
This report describes the characteristics of the young people who face most difficulties in accessing social and health services, the types of services most relevant to them and the main challenges they face in accessing information and support services. It also looks at what service providers can do to ensure they reach young people in need of their support and presents innovative examples of how to tackle inequalities in access to services.
This report looks into the different policies, initiatives and practices related to the inclusion of migrants in European labour markets and societies.
This second annual trend report outlines and summarises new policy developments in the area of child and family policy in the 28 EU Member States (EU28), and reports on progress with policies and activities initiated in earlier years. It is drafted as part of the European Platform for Investing in Children (EPIC) project.
The Sociology Department at Stockholm University announced that docent of Sociology Kieron Barclay was recently appointed a Pro Futura Scientia XIV Fellow, with the project "The Impact of the Family of Origin on Health Inequalities: A Global, Historical, Multigenerational, and Comparative Perspective".
IIASA World Population Program Director Wolfgang Lutz was successful in the competitive membership election process of the pan-European Academy of Humanities, Letters, Law, and Sciences.