PopDigests

Lone motherhood is increasing in many countries. The experience of parenting without a partner is generally associated with health problems, including physical limitations in daily activities and poor health. In their study, Lisa Berkman, Yuhui Zheng, M. Maria Glymour, Mauricio Avendano, Axel Börsch-Supan, and Erika L. Sabbath look at the single motherhood histories of older women to answer the following questions: How does single motherhood relate to health at older ages? Do these effects vary across 13 European countries, England, and the USA?

Undoubtedly, climate change impacts modern societies in very different ways. In this regard, further advances in climate change research can actually contribute to a better understanding of not only the complex interrelationship between climate and socio-economic conditions of populations, but also of macroeconomic behaviours focused on human capital dynamics. Jesús Crespo Cuaresma develops a model that projects per capita income in the very long run for 144 countries, a potential instrument that could be used to measure the impact of climate changes at the global level.

What is the ideal age to become a parent? The recent boost in the use of assisted reproduction techniques that allow women (and men) to have children at older ages has opened up a wider debate about the most appropriate age limit for using techniques to facilitate conception outside of the biological reproductive life cycle.

How do partnership dynamics differ between migrants and natives? Are such differences the sign of a slower integration process of immigrants into the Estonian society? Leen Rahnu, Allan Puur, Luule Sakkeus and Martin Klesment show that new family patterns, such as non-marital cohabitation, are less frequent among immigrants in Estonia. These divergences between immigrants and native Estonians suggest that the ways in which migrants start their family life more accurately reflect the patterns of the country of origin than of those of the host society.

Diverging expectations about how to divide household tasks between partners can influence the choice to have another child. For example, if a wife expects an egalitarian division of household labour and her husband does not fulfil his equal share of housework, this might influence the relationship in a way that negatively affects the decision to have another child.

People with dementia often have difficulties in managing their finances, possibly due to a decline in their arithmetic abilities, increased forgetfulness, and impaired judgement. As a consequence, they may be more vulnerable to financial abuse such as theft, exploitation, or fraud than others. It is widely recognised as necessary to inform families and carers about potential vulnerabilities and to offer suggestions to prevent and minimize risk of harm and loss.

Considering that the immigrant population has remarkably increased in the United Kingdom over time, it is interesting to study how immigrants start and end their unions in the UK: Do they follow the same patterns as the ones found in the country where they are currently living?

A new migrant underclass seems to be emerging in Spain and Sweden, where immigrant women working in domestic and care services live a similar situation marked by precariousness.

The question of how to reduce inequalities in mortality, which are caused by a range of risks factors, such as smoking or obesity, is one of the biggest challenges for European health policies.In particular it remains unclear which of these factors are the most important determinants of the observed inequalities and therefore should be addressed first by policy interventions. A recent study by Terje A Eikemo et al. tries to resolve this problem by quantifying the potential for reducing inequalities in mortality by looking at a number of key determinants in 21 European populations.

Union formation in Latin America has long been characterised by the coexistence of marriage and consensual unions as part of the family system. Traditionally, consensual unions have been widespread among the disadvantaged social groups and in rural areas, while exceptional among the better-off.