Education | Population Europe

20/07/2016

Education: The (not so) Great Equaliser

by Fabrizio Bernardi and Gabriele Ballarino Widespread education is, without a doubt, one of the great achievements of modern, industrialised states. In gross terms, it has pulled millions out of poverty over the last century. In relative terms, it has facilitated unprecedented socio-economic mobility and, presumably, equality. Presumably.

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01/06/16

Education and obesity

Do your homework

Obesity and overweight is largely preventable, yet widespread around the world. They are particularly prevalent in richer countries. Since 1980, the global percentage of overweight adults has increased from around 30 to closer to 40. In Europe, the figure has reached 50.

03/05/2016

Disadvantaged for Being the Youngest?

The impact of one’s month of birth on the chances of being continuously promoted throughout primary education in France

How does a child’s birth month affect their chances of success in primary school? And to what extent is their success dependent on their socioeconomic background? In this study, Fabrizio Bernardi explores the chances of students to be successfully promoted after every grade in primary school in France. The analysis is based on the concept of compensatory advantage, which states that the lives of individuals from privileged socioeconomic backgrounds are less dependent on prior negative events.

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15/04/16

Children of older mothers do better

New MPIDR study

Children of older mothers are healthier, taller and obtain more education than the children of younger mothers, a new study from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock finds. Mikko Myrskylä, MPIDR-Director, and his colleague Kieron Barclay from the London School of Economics and Political Science conclude that the reason for this surprising finding is the continuous increase of educational opportunities and good health for people in industrialised countries.

19/02/2016

Investing in Youth is Key for Fixing Latvia’s Demographics

by Sebastian Königs Latvia faces a huge demographic challenge. Since restoration of its independence in 1991, the country lost more than a quarter of its resident population. In 2015, the population dropped below 2 million for the first time since the 1950s, down from 2.7 million in 1989.

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19/01/16

Bilingualism: An Asset or a Liability?

New Research from Spain

A new study by researchers Maria Medvedeva and Alejandro Portes contributes to the ongoing debate about bilingual advantage and examines whether bilingual immigrant youths fare better, as well as, or worse academically than the matching group of monolinguals. Using data from Spain, where close to half of immigrants speak Spanish as their native language, they found no evidence of costs of bilingualism:

31/12/2015

Economics, Education and XL Sizes

The relationship between obesity and economic development may depend on education

Obesity levels have increased remarkably over the last thirty years throughout the globe. At the same time, there are considerable variations in the proportion of overweight adults across countries. So what are the factors behind this global divergence? Is economic development one of the drivers of such differences?

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31/12/2015

Education, Location and the Speed of Ageing

Eastern Europeans age faster than Western Europeans

Do different ageing patterns exist in different European areas, and is there a difference between East and West? To study the distinctive patterns of ageing by gender, and education in 16 European countries, Warren C. Sanderson and Sergei Scherbov use prospective ages in place of chronological ages. Prospective ages take changes in life expectancy into account. Prospective ages are based on how many years people have ahead of them, while chronological age is the number of years people have already lived.

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17/12/2015

Like Father, Like Son?

Immigrants’ educational selectivity positively influences their children’s level of education

Generally, the pre-migration characteristics of immigrant parents tend to be overlooked when trying to explain the educational and occupational outcomes of their children. However, along with experiences in the host country, previous experiences made in their country of origin also shape the present and future of both immigrants and their descendants.

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30/08/2015

Population Europe Inter-Faces: Anne Goujon

An interview with Anne Goujon (Vienna Institute of Demography, Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital) on education. Questions: 1. We are constantly told that education will be the key in dealing with future challenges. What do we know about the role education played in European societies in the 20th century? 2. How can you complete missing data about education in a reliable way? 3. What are the main obstacles in this process of data reconstruction? 4. Once this data is completed, what can we learn from it for the future?

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