PopDigests

In today’s ageing societies, assessing subjective well-being  in later life has gained substantial attention among researchers, as well as among policymakers in the areas of economic, health, and social policies. However, remarkably little is known about how older adults understand their own subjective well-being and related concepts, such as quality of life, and how these concepts differ between different groups of older adults.

What kind of impact does economic growth have on fertility behaviours? Previous research has observed downturns in fertility during periods of economic depression and when looking specifically at the Great Depression in the United States in the late 1920s and 1930s, research found that it had strong negative effects on fertility levels. But what about the more recent recession?

In a study published by the Journal of Happiness Studies, Niclas Berggren, Christian Bjørnskov and Therese Nilsson investigated the role played by laws that treat everyone equally, irrespective of sexual orientation, on people’s general life satisfaction. The authors looked at three measures of rights for gays and lesbians: (absence of) persecution (concerning the legality of same-sex relations), recognition (concerning marriage, adoption and age of consent) and protection (concerning inclusion of sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws) in a broad set of countries.

It’s a question of integration, of perception, of cultural influence and, ultimately, of policy. That immigrants’ descendants tend to have fertility rates more similar to the mainstream average than their parents is far from a simple demographic matter. It’s a nuanced question requiring thorough analysis across countries.

In European countries, working retirees form a relatively new group in the workforce. The so-called "bridge employment" that allows seniors to have paid work while simultaneously receiving their pension benefits is often seen as a resource to counteract the effects of ageing societies. In a new study, Ellen Dingemens, Kène Henkens and Hanna van Solinge explored the individual and societal factors that may affect participation in the labour force after retirement.

When do young Europeans move out from their parents’ home? When do they start working? When do they get married? So far, and mostly due to data availability, little research actually focuses on the transition to adulthood from a European perspective. In this study, K. Schwanitz contributes to the literature by comparing transitions to adulthood in eight European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania and the Netherlands).

To be sure, the intrinsic cultural and societal value of ethnic diversity is a hard thing to measure. The benefit of ethnic diversity is multifaceted and often intangible. Lately, it’s also been questioned.

Life expectancy has doubled from 41 years in the 1830s to 82 years at present in Sweden. Similar trends can be observed in many other countries. Modig et al. (2017) ask whether the maximum length of life has also increased during that period. To explore the pattern of mortality above the age of 100, the researchers used individual level data on all Swedish and Danish centenarians born from 1870 to 1901 in their analysis, which equaled 3,006 men and 10,963 women.

Past research has found that mortality is typically lower among those with a more advantageous socioeconomic position. The "fundamental causes" theory argues that it is the material and non-material resources associated with higher socioeconomic position, such as income, access to knowledge and social connections, that helps these individuals avoid disease, which leads to health inequalities. Johan P. Mackenbach and colleagues tested this theory to see if declines in mortality are greater among those with a higher socioeconomic position.

In the context of migration and integration, social relations are crucial. But establishing social ties in a new country takes time – sometimes over generations. In a study by Helga de Valk and Bruno Arpino, they examine whether immigrants and their children across Europe are satisfied in their life as much as natives with similar socioeconomic characteristics, and how social relations contribute to this feeling of satisfaction.