Family and Children
15/05/2017
A look at Norway
Whether children stabilize or destabilize unions has long interested nearly everyone. Most studies by social scientists indicate the former—that kids are a stabilizing force in relationships—but union types are becoming more diverse, and with them social norms.
In their recent study, Rannveig Kaldager Hart, Torkild Hovde Lyngstad and Elina Vinberg take another look at Norway and expand on previous research by including data on cohabiting couples. Plus, by using data from the Norwegian Generations and Gender Programme, they were able to look at changes over time. [...] 15/04/2016
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.
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20/12/2016
New study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the London School of Economics and Political Science
-- Press release by the MPIDR --
A low birth weight is considered a risk factor for decreased cognitive abilities in later life. This risk factor now seems to be dissolving; it is much less pronounced in younger birth cohorts. [...] 
08/03/2018
Professor Christina Gibson-Davis visited CPC to give a seminar on her work on non-marital births and child well-being.
Christina is an associate professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, with a secondary appointment in sociology. Her research interests centre around social and economic differences in family formation patterns. Her current research focuses on the how divergent patterns of family formation affect economic inequality. [...]
18/04/2017
Social norms determine how we use our time, which affects our marriages
Between American, Spanish and French couples, who spends the most time together? With their children? Without them? The amount of time spent with one’s partner is a well-accepted indicator of marital wellbeing, but finding the time can become challenging with children. [...] 08/03/2013
The effects of reforms promoting fathers’ parental leave in Sweden
Sweden is often referred to as a role model when it comes to gender equality in general, and for its parental leave allowances in particular. Ann-Zofie Duvander (Stockholm University) and Mats Johansson (Swedish Social Insurance Agency) aim at determining the effects of three reforms introduced in Sweden between 1995 and 2008 on the division of parental leave days between the parents. Sweden first introduced parental leave with earnings-related benefits in 1974. The length of leave was extended in the 1980s to over a year.
[...] 20/02/2017
This review introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany. It encourages German policy makers to build on the important reforms since the mid-2000s to enable both fathers and mothers to have careers and children, and urges families to “dare to share”. To those ends it places Germany’s experience in an international comparison, and draws from the experience in, for example, France and the Nordic countries which have longstanding policies to support work-life balance and strengthen gender equality. [...]
08/10/2014
Wir brauchen mehr europäisch vergleichende Lebenslaufforschung zu Migrantenfamilien
Migranten und deren Kinder und Enkelkinder stellen in vielen europäischen Ländern einen bedeutenden Teil der Bevölkerung. Doch erst im Lauf des letzten Jahrzehnts hat die Forschung begonnen, sich zunehmend für die Muster der Paarbildung und das Geburtenverhalten ethnischer Minderheiten zu interessieren. Weitere Forschung ist notwendig, um den Zusammenhang zwischen Familienleben und Integration besser zu verstehen. [...] 
