PopDigests

To investigate how child and adolescent time use differs across societies, Gracia and colleagues used 2009-2015 time-diary data on children and adolescents aged 10-17 from Finland, Spain and the UK. They find very strong cross-national differences in child and adolescent time use, net of multiple demographic factors. Consequently, they argue that cross-cultural variations are critical to understand cross-country differences in children’s daily activities.

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.

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.

Triventi looked at national data on the whole population of students enrolled in the fifth and sixth grade in Italy in 2012 to investigate whether teachers grade students with a migration background (SMBs) less generously than native students with comparable academic skills. He found that SMBs who achieved similar standardised test scores nevertheless received lower average grades in both reading and mathematics.

Confirming previous assumptions and based on the migration population in Sweden, the paper finds that a majority of re‐emigration is in fact returning to the country of birth. However, onward migration is more common for some groups, such as among forced migrants and migrants from the horn of Africa and other sub‐Saharan countries.

Karhula, Erola, Raab and Fasang used Finnish register data and found similarities in socio-economic trajectories between siblings, with similarities proving strongest among the most and least advantaged. They concluded that taking a life course perspective is key to examining issues of social mobility.

Using administrative registers that covered the entire Norwegian population, Trude Lappegård and Tom Kornstad found that the higher the share of fathers using parental leave in the municipality (social norm), the more likely women were to have their first and second child. Looking at the decision to have a second child, the effect of father’s engagement is actually stronger compared to the decision of becoming parents for the first time.

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.

Since the onset of the recession in the late 2000s, youth "Not in Education, Employment or Training" (NEET) have received much public attention. A recent study by Joonas Pitkänen, Hanna Remes, Heta Moustgaard and Pekka Martikainen from the Population Research Unit at University of Helsinki investigates childhood determinants of NEET status after compulsory school in Finland.