Books & Reports

This book by Frans Willekens presents a step-by-step procedure for investigating life histories using descriptive methods and statistical modeling, as well as the popular software language for statistical computing (R). It also provides an introduction to multistate event history analysis. It is an extension of survival analysis, in which a single terminal event (endpoint) is considered and the time-to-event is studied. Multistate models focus on life histories or trajectories, conceptualized as sequences of states and sequences of transitions between states.

This book by Wolfgang Lutz, William P. Butz, and Samir KC addresses systematically and quantitatively the role of educational attainment in global population trends and models. Seven background chapters summarise past trends in fertility, mortality, migration, and education; examine relevant theories and identify key determining factors; and set the assumptions that are subsequently translated into alternative scenario projections to 2100.

This publication focuses on the challenges and opportunities of population ageing in Europe. Reviewing the outcomes of EU-funded research in social sciences funded under the sixth and the seventh framework programmes, it aims to address the question of how the EU is preparing for advanced population ageing and what type of public policies it should pursue.

This book by Véronique Petit determines how anthropology and demography can be used in conjunction in the field of population and development. It offers a critical assessment of recent developments in the field of population and development and focusses on anthropological demography taking demography as an entry point. The core aim of this book is to determine how anthropology and demography can be used in conjunction in the field of population and development.

Every two years the AISP scientific board – Italian Association for Population Studies – a division of the SIS, Italian Statistical Society, publishes a Report on the Italian population, on its dynamics and, where possible, from an international point of view. The most recent volume, published in 2013, deals with various aspects linked to reproduction, that is to say those phenomena closely related to conception and having children, and to how such phenomena have changed over the last 30 years.

It is well-known that family configurations have become more and more diverse over the last decades. Single-parent families, cohabiting families of the opposite or same sex, and intergenerational households are only examples of the current diversity. In Europe, family structures still vary substantially among countries. For instance, in 2011 the number of live births outside marriage ranged from 7.4% in Greece to 65% in Iceland. However, trends over time have substantially increased everywhere.

Since the second half of the 20th century, the decline in fertility has been a constant in practically all advanced societies. This study increases our understanding of the multidimensional character of this phemomenon, addressing educational and labour market factors, the impact of public policies, the transformation of gender roles and new family configurations. Spain is the object of this in depth analysis because it exhibits behaviour that deviates from other cases of low fertility.

Rising inequality will be the single most prominent societal challenge for the EU in the coming decades, says a newly published report titled “Europe’s Societal Challenges. An analysis of global societal trends to 2030 and their impact on the EU”. The authors argue that because the EU is entering an era of long-term slow economic growth, it cannot rely on productivity growth as the engine for wellbeing. The EU must invest in its human resources, giving citizens the tools to seize all the opportunities that come their way, by boosting health, inclusion, education, skills and connectivity.

This volume by Livia Sz. Oláh and Ewa Frątczak addresses the tensions between work and welfare with respect to fertility. Focusing on childbearing choices (intentions, desires) as influential predictors of future fertility, the contributors examine the importance of labour force attachment on young women's fertility plans in the context of increased labour market flexibility and differences in work-life balance policies across Europe in the early 21st century.

This book, edited by Gerda Neyer, Gunnar Andersson, Hill Kulu, Laura Bernardi, and Christoph Bühler, brings together leading population researchers in the area of fertility, family, migration, life-expectancy, and mortality. The contributions present key issues of the new demography of Europe and discuss key research advances to understand the continent’s demographic development at the turn of the 21st century.