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Event: NEW DATE: Short Course on Agent-Based Modelling for Social Research
Mon Sep 14 - Fri Sep 18
The workshop has now been rescheduled to be held between 3-25 November. Please see the new event page for updated information.

The main aims of this week-long course, hosted by the ERC Bayesian Agent-based Population Studies project team, are to familiarise the participants with the most recent advances in building, analysing and documenting agent-based models of social processes.

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The Long Arm of the Family
The question of how life-course outcomes depend on the institution of the family is central to sociology and social demography. Few outcomes are more important in life than one's educational attainment, and a large literature studies how it depends on the family of origin – so-called intergenerational mobility research. In this field there have always been two opposing views. One seeing intergenerational transmission as "mostly in the genes" and thereby difficult to influence by policy levers; another seeing outcomes as heavily dependent on social forces.

Does the balance of "nature" and "nurture" depend on whether you grew up in a society with high or low social mobility?In a recent study in PNAS, Per Engzell and Felix Tropf explore the roles of family of origin and genetics on educational attainment. 

 

 

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It’s Time for Mobility Research to Focus on Women
The role of mothers, instead, is rarely central in the social mobility studies. However, Mothers play an increasingly important role in daughters' education and career advancement, especially if they are highly educated. Minello consequently argues for increased attention in the intergenerational mobility literature on the influence of mothers upon daughters' decisions and careers.

<p>The role of mothers, instead, is rarely central in the social mobility studies. However, Mothers play an increasingly important role in daughters' education and career advancement, especially if they are highly educated. Minello consequently argues for increased attention in the intergenerational mobility literature on the influence of mothers upon daughters' decisions and careers.</p>

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Closing the Fertility Gap
A recent study by Eva Beaujouan and Caroline Berghammer looked at the fertility gap among women in 19 European countries and the United States. Their results indicate that on average, compared to earlier expectations and intentions, women had fewer children and were childless more often. Fertility gaps differed by country & education level, leading to possible structural explanations.

A recent study by Eva Beaujouan and Caroline Berghammer looked at the fertility gap among women in 19 European countries and the United States. Their results indicate that on average, compared to earlier expectations and intentions, women had fewer children and were childless more often. Fertility gaps differed by country & education level, leading to possible structural explanations.

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Neighbourhood Conditions and Old-Age Depression
Gergő Baranyi and colleagues used data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to assess longitudinal associations of neighbourhood nuisances and access to services with depression among older European adults. They found that those exposed to neighbourhood nuisances, i.e., higher poverty, more neighbourhood problems (e.g., crime, noise, littering) or higher air pollution, had a 36 per cent increased chance of developing depression.

Gergő Baranyi and colleagues used data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) to assess longitudinal associations of neighbourhood nuisances and access to services with depression among older European adults. They found that those exposed to neighbourhood nuisances had a 36 per cent increased chance of developing depression.

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News: European Demographer Award
Deadline: 12 January 2020
Demographic change is one of the major challenges European societies will face in upcoming decades. In order to support outstanding research on the causes and consequences of population developments, Population Europe, the network of Europe’s foremost demographic research institutes, in collaboration with the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft and the Berlin Demography Forum, invites nominations for the European Demographer Award. 

Nominations for the European Demographer Award are due by 12 January 2020. Population Europe, in collaboration with the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft and the Berlin Demography Forum, will present this prize to two researchers at the forefront of population studies on demographic change in Europe.

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Freedom of Choice – The Foundation of Family Policies in Europe?
Within the framework of the H2020 Project Generations and Gender Programme – Evaluate, Plan, Initiate (GGP-EPI), two policy dialogue events were held at the German House in London on the 4th of November 2019. The first was an Expert Meeting with 22 participants from academia, policy and civil society organisations. Following that event, a public panel discussion was held in the evening on the topic: Freedom of Choice – The Foundation of Family Policies in Europe? Both discussions focused on the comparison between Germany and the UK.  

Within the framework of the H2020 Project Generations and Gender Programme – Evaluate, Plan, Initiate (GGP-EPI), two policy dialogue events were held at the German House in London on the 4th of November 2019. The first was an Expert Meeting with 22 participants from academia, policy and civil society organisations. Following that event, a public panel discussion was held in the evening with Dr Katarina Barley, Prof. Michaela Kreyenfeld and Prof. Wendy Sigle.

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Where Do People Move Following Separation?
Previous research has shown that separation – either from marriage or from cohabitation – has negative consequences for individuals’ financial and emotional well-being. In this study, we focus on the consequences of separation for individuals’ housing outcomes. Housing, and specifically access to homeownership, is an important dimension of inequality in industrialised countries. Those who can afford to become homeowners will accumulate further advantage over time whereas those who cannot are likely to be disadvantaged.

In this study, Júlia Mikolai & Hill Kulu focus on the consequences of separation for individuals’ housing outcomes. Their findings suggest that regardless of cross-national differences in policies, welfare provisions and housing markets, individuals face a period of uncertainty regarding their housing outcomes following separation; they are less likely to be homeowners than those who are in a steady relationship.

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Books and Reports: The Hidden Affliction: Sexually Transmitted Infections and Infertility in History
A multidisciplinary group of prominent scholars investigates the historical relationship between sexually transmitted infections and infertility. Untreated gonorrhea and chlamydia cause infertility in a proportion of women and men. Unlike the much-feared venereal disease of syphilis--"the pox"--gonorrhea and chlamydia are often symptomless, leaving victims unaware of the threat to their fertility. Science did not unmask the causal microorganisms until the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their effects on fertility in human history remain mysterious.

A multidisciplinary group of prominent scholars investigates the historical relationship between sexually transmitted infections and infertility. Science did not unmask the causal microorganisms until the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their effects on fertility in human history remain mysterious. This is the first volume to address the subject across more than two thousand years of human history.

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Books and Reports: Policy Brief: “Broadband Internet, Fertility and Work from Home”
The Sociology of Development section of the American Sociological Association has published a policy brief written by members of the Population Europe network: Francesco C. Billari (Bocconi University), Osea Giuntella (University of Pittsburgh), and Luca Stella (Bocconi University and Institute of Labor Economics, IZA). This brief, "Broadband Internet, Fertility and Work from Home", uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to look at the possible impacts of access to high speed Internet on fertility choices in a low fertility setting.

The Sociology of Development section of the American Sociological Association has published a policy brief written by members of the Population Europe network: Francesco C. Billari (Bocconi University), Osea Giuntella (University of Pittsburgh), and Luca Stella (Bocconi University and Institute of Labor Economics, IZA). This brief, "Broadband Internet, Fertility and Work from Home", uses data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) to look at the possible impacts of access to high speed Internet on fertility choices in a low fertility setting.

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