Books & Reports

The relationship between the economy and population dynamics has long been discussed, but is still controversial. Fertility is commonly assumed to follow the economic cycle, falling in periods of recession and vice-versa, though scientific evidence is still not unanimous on this. This report by Giampaolo Lanzieri looks at fertility trends in 31 European countries against selected indicators of economic recession.

A European team of 25 researchers focused on the issue of declining birth rates in three German-speaking countries. A summary of their findings and recommendations has now been published in a booklet that questions many commen myths. It can be downloaded for free in English, German and French (see link). The team, gathered between 2009 and 2012 by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the Leopoldina, represents various disciplines – sociology, demography, history and medicine.

Recently published by the Demographic Research Institute of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (Eds. Péter Őri & Zsolt Spéder), this comprehensive book describes Hungary’s demographic situation and interprets the trends in a European context. The publication aims to reach out to a broad audience by explaining demographic topics in a way that can be easily understood by experts and the general public alike. It updates the previous 2009 issue and additionally introduces two major new approaches: The first one is the emphasis on regional differences within the country.

This book by Louis G. Pol and Richard K. Thomas offers an updated view of the field and a current perspective on the applications of health demography to contemporary issues. The significance of health demography within the field of population studies has continued to increase and this work provides background on the healthcare arena and systematically presents the various aspects of demography as they relate to healthcare.

This book examines ageing trends across the continent, analysing individual and collective variables that affect the lives of older adults, and drawing salient comparisons with other parts of the world. An interdisciplinary panel of experts provides theory, research, and empirical findings (with examples from the UK, Cyprus, Sweden, and others) in key areas such as family and social supports, physical and cognitive changes, dependence and autonomy issues, and living arrangements.

To promote an international exchange on the instruments, themes and implications of research-based reporting on ageing, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) organised a conference entitled “Changing Images of Ageing – International Perspectives for a Future-Oriented Policy on Senior Citizens and Generations”. The conference pursued the objective of stimulating exchanges on instruments of social reporting on ageing policy as developed and practised in various different countries. The proceedings are now available online.

This book, edited by Gustavo de Santis, touches upon a few of the major challenges that all modern societies will have to face in the near future: how to set up a resilient pay-as-you-go pension system; whether the current balance between expenses and revenues in social expenditure is viable in the future, and, if not, what changes need to be introduced; whether the relative well-being of the current and future cohorts of the old will be preserved, and how their standards of living compare to those experienced by the old in the recent past.

This book, edited by Mechtild Oechsle, Ursula Müller and Sabine Hess, investigates the relationship between cultural representations and social practices of fatherhood. The contributions from different countries and scientific disciplines analyse the existing varieties of fatherhood. They look at social backgrounds, organisational influences, as well as the impact of political and legal interventions.

This new report is the product of a collaboration of over twenty United Nations entities and major international organisations working in the area of population ageing. It analyses the current situation of older persons and reviews progress in policies and actions taken by governments and other stakeholders since the Second World Assembly on Ageing held in 2002.

In this book, Ian Goldin, Geoffrey Cameron and Meera Balarajan explore the critical role of human migration since humans first departed Africa some fifty thousand years ago. How the circulation of ideas and technologies has benefited communities and how the movement of people across oceans and continents has fueled economies. They show that migrants in today's world connect markets, fill labor gaps, and enrich social diversity. Migration also allows individuals to escape destitution, human rights abuses, and repressive regimes.