The Russian labour market and the Ukrainian war
An interview with Vladimir Gimpelson, director of the Centre for Labour Market Studies at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, the Russian Federation. Introduction The Bell is a Moscow … Read more
The educational hypogamy puzzle in India
Status exchange is a leading factor behind the rising share of educational hypogamy marriages in India (women marrying less educated men), says Koyel Sarkar. Lower caste women aspire to upward … Read more
Did COVID-19 policies increase inequalities in mental well-being?
Besides its morbidity and mortality effects, COVID-19 gave rise to several non-pharmaceutical policy interventions affecting citizens’ social and economic conditions. Veronica Toffolutti et al. find that these measures negatively affected … Read more
More equitable sharing of housework facilitates childbearing among dual-income couples
As female labour force participation continues to rise in Taiwan, more women are faced with the dual burden of employment and household responsibilities. Jolene Tan highlights the impact of a … Read more
Stalls in fertility decline are not that easy to detect (and are not all the same)
The demographic transition seems to have come to a halt in many poorer countries. The reasons are often poorly understood. Michael Grimm, Isabel Günther, and Kenneth Harttgen show that in … Read more
Life expectancy variation 2019–2021 and the role of Covid-19 vaccination
Taking a broader and more long-term perspective on the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on life expectancy may help scholars and policy makers to assess its true impact, and the … Read more
The old and the new natalism are not at odds
Religion has historically been a pronatalist force, but because it fosters traditional gender role attitudes, it could impede a fertility recovery stimulated by gender equity. Instead, Laurie DeRose explains how … Read more
Looking after mum and dad: caregiving by adult only children in UK
Adult children with siblings can share caring for ageing parents but only children face this responsibility alone. Jenny Chanfreau and Alice Goisis find that adult only children are more likely … Read more
Fewer and later births in South Korea, especially among more educated women
With a total fertility rate of 0.81 in 2021, South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world. Within a generally declining trend, and very low levels globally, Jolene … Read more
The missing consequences of birth spacing on child outcomes
Short birth intervals are often believed to be detrimental for children. While this may be true in some (poor) settings, and for some birth outcomes (preterm birth and low birth … Read more
Sex-selective abortion in India: an ongoing problem
In India, the percentage of male births has increased since the mid-1980s. Claus Pörtner ties the continuously growing use of prenatal sex selection to India’s falling fertility among highly-educated women. … Read more
A tendency towards attenuation of regional sex ratio imbalances in China
Through a detailed analysis of the dynamics of regional sex ratios at birth and, separately, at prime marriageable ages in China, Wanru Xiong finds that regional sex ratios tend to … Read more
The mental health benefits of cohabitation and marriage in Norway
A Norwegian register analysis with control for time-constant individual characteristics shows an association between cohabitation and declining use of primary health care for mental diseases. However, the decline largely occurs … Read more
The 2019-21 decline in global life expectancy
The Covid-19 pandemic has induced the first decline in global life expectancy since World War II. Substantial uncertainty remains about the exact pace of the decline, Patrick Heuveline notes, but … Read more
Migrant fertility in Sweden. What if they come from low-fertility countries?
Little is known about the fertility of migrants from low-fertility settings when they move to countries where fertility is higher. The hypothesis that these migrants adapt to local customs, like … Read more
Urban survival advantage in low- and middle-income countries: do children fare better than adults?
In low- and middle-income countries, children survive better in urban than in rural areas. However, Ashira Menashe-Orenand and Bruno Masquelier find that this is not necessarily the case amongst adults, … Read more
Educational consequences of parental divorce and death in Europe
Children and youngsters who experience parental divorce or parental death often attain lower levels of education than their peers, but the impact of these adverse events is far from uniform, … Read more
Access to antiretroviral therapy for HIV/AIDS and life expectancy in South Africa
Despite widespread prevalence of HIV/AIDS, South Africa has succeeded in drastically reducing mortality and increasing life expectancy, from 54 to more than 65 years in little over a decade (2006-17). … Read more
Cognition-driven demographic transition
The concept of demographic transition is a century old, but there is still no consensus about its drivers. Wolfgang Lutz highlights a recent reassessment of the theory, which adds cognition … Read more
Educational expansion and completed family size in low fertility countries
Completed family size has declined in many high-income countries among the post baby boom cohorts. Ester Lazzari, Ryohei Mogi and Vladimir Canudas-Romo find that educational expansion is not the main … Read more
Increasing childlessness driven by higher female education in India
While still low, childlessness in India is on the rise. Trends in childlessness are linked to the opposing factors of poverty and opportunity-driven causes of childlessness, which Koyel Sarkar and … Read more
The impact of migration on the working age population at local level
Ageing occupies the forefront of the social and economic policy debate in the European Union (EU). However, ageing patterns differ considerably across EU territories because of distinctive demographic and spatial … Read more
Mobile phones protect women from intimate partner violence (in low- and middle-income countries)
In low- and middle-income countries, mobile phones can be viewed as empowering devices for women, says Luca Maria Pesando. Among other advantages, they frequently, although not always, protect women from … Read more
Intergenerational transmission of women’s life courses in Germany
Assessments of intergenerational transmission focus primarily on children reproducing parental status. Sergi Vidal, Philipp Lersch, Marita Jacob, and Karsten Hank offer a new perspective to understand the intergenerational transmission of … Read more
Unpacking the mortality-fertility link in Malawi: the role of unintended fertility
Current explanations on the link between mortality and fertility imply that mortality exposure increases fertility desires. Conversely, Emily Smith-Greenaway, Sara Yeatman, and Abdallah Chilungo find that, in Malawi, increased mortality … Read more
The contribution of the foreign-born population to demographic change in Europe
What drives demographic change in Europe? Christos Bagavos shows that between 2014 and 2019 this change was due more to foreign-born than native-born populations, through both a direct effect (net … Read more
Can stunted children recover after the first 1,000 days?
The food shortages during the Second World War in Japan had adverse consequences for child growth. However, Eric Schneider argues that the age and cohort pattern of the war shock … Read more
Ukrainian refugees and migrants in the EU*
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine inevitably caused a massive flow of refugees towards neighbouring and other EU countries. This movement, as Corrado Bonifazi and Salvatore Strozza show, is closely connected to … Read more
International migration from Africa to France and contraception use
An original multi-sited analysis of migration (from selected sub-Saharan African countries to France) and contraceptive use reveals that migrant women align more closely with native French women than women in … Read more
Changing attitudes may explain the decline in US birth rates since 2007
The US birth rate has fallen since the 2007 Great Recession, with no signs of reversing. This decline has occurred among women of different age subgroups, education levels, races and … Read more
America’s pandemic of the unvaccinated
The politicization of COVID-19 has changed America’s coronavirus pandemic from a serious public health concern into a major political issue and has contributed to vaccine avoidance. With many Americans declining … Read more
How close to your mother? Lifetime dynamics and racial differences
Spatial proximity among family members may profoundly affect people’s lives. What are the salient features of family dynamics over geographic distance? HwaJung Choi, Robert Schoeni, Hongwei Xu, Adriana Reyes, and … Read more
The death toll of COVID-19 in Mexico in 2020
The impact of COVID-19 on period life expectancy (LE) in Mexico in 2020 was strong, much stronger, for instance, than that of the 10-year war on drugs. Víctor M. García-Guerrero … Read more
A big challenge for the 21st century: will obesity cut the gains of longevity?
Two recent global phenomena appear to be working against each other: longevity and obesity. The rapid increase of the latter, in both developed and developing countries, may jeopardize the progress … Read more
Can policies halt the fertility decline?
Family-friendly policies can raise fertility and explain at least part of fertility differences across countries, say Janna Bergsvik, Agnes Fauske, and Rannveig Kaldager Hart. Countries that have thus far provided … Read more
Educational gender inequality in sub-Saharan Africa: a cohort perspective
Analysing consecutive birth cohorts in 21 sub-Saharan African countries over the 20th century, Joerg Baten, Michiel De Haas, Elisabeth Kempter and Felix Meier zu Selhausen find that gender gaps first … Read more
Does educational mismatch affect labour emigration from Switzerland?
The relationship between educational mismatch in the labour market and emigration decisions is a complex one. In Switzerland, undereducation increases emigration by UE27/EFTA migrants. In contrast, Philippe Wanner, Marco Pecoraro … Read more
The within-gender gap: employment inequality among US mothers
Most accounts of women in the workforce focus on gender inequality. Ariel Binder1 provides a related, but often-ignored, discussion of inequality between more- and less-educated mothers. Policies that retrigger progress … Read more
The contribution of assisted reproduction in the Australian context of delayed childbearing
Growing numbers of couples are having children later in life. Australia is no exception and, as Ester Lazzari, Edith Gray and Georgina Chambers show, a key contributor to this rising … Read more
Generational overlap places a heavy burden on parents in the global South
Generational overlap has mainly been studied for populations in the global North, but it affects care time demands on parents worldwide. Indeed, demographic ‘sandwiching’ is more prevalent in the global … Read more
The effect of migration on the fertility of Chinese women in the USA
In the years between 1975 and 2005, migrants from China to the US were more likely to have a second and third birth than non-migrant Chinese. Wanli Nie and Pau … Read more
Maternal education and infant mortality decline in Indonesia
Better maternal education has been credited with making a major contribution to infant mortality decline. However, previous studies have overestimated the contribution of better maternal education. Using individual-level data from … Read more
An eBook about older people across different welfare regimes
Bruno Arpino edits the first N-IUSSP e-book, reporting the main results of an international research project that has just come to an end: “Care, retirement & wellbeing of older people … Read more
Immigrant-native health disparities in adolescence: the role of exogamous families in Finland
Immigrants’ health tends to deteriorate over successive generations, a phenomenon known as “negative health assimilation”. Less is known about what happens to adolescents with one immigrant and one native parent. … Read more
Closely spaced births reduce survival chances of existing and future children
Understanding the determinants of child health and mortality is an important step towards reducing child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Philippe Bocquier, Carren Ginsburg, Ashira Menashe-Oren, Yacouba Compaoré, and Mark Collinson … Read more
Fertility decline in Jordan resumes after nearly 15 years of stall
Caroline Krafft, Elizabeth Kula and Maia Sieverding show that a long period of stall in the total fertility rate in Jordan has recently ended. Yet data sources disagree on the … Read more
Mothers’ dilemma at retirement across welfare regimes
Ester Rizzi and Younga Kim examine retirement intentions of 50-64 year-old mothers in Europe by family and employment trajectories. They find that experiencing work interruptions, having a higher number of … Read more
Unintended and sooner-than-intended childbearing in Eastern and Western Europe
Examining two waves of a panel survey, Zuzanna Brzozowska, Isabella Buber-Ennser and Bernhard Riederer find evidence that women and men in post-socialist countries more often have a child they planned … Read more
Clash of the Titans: NDC vs IPAYG (pay-as-you-go pension systems)
NDC (notional defined contribution) schemes are commonly believed to be the best kind of pay-as-you-go (PAYG) pension systems: actuarial equity and individual flexibility in accessing retirement are their main strengths. … Read more
Global trends in child loss: less and later
Child loss continues to be a common life event for women in the Global South. Diego Alburez-Gutierrez documents a historic opportunity to close the gap between the South and the … Read more
Educating children in India may help keep their parents healthy
A strong positive association exists between children’s education and parental health in India. Berenike Thoma and Jan-Walter De Neve explain that this positive relationship persists when controlling for a wide … Read more
Rent liberalization decreased age at marriage in Egypt
Young people’s ability to marry increasingly depends on obtaining housing and forming independent households. Ragui Assaad, Caroline Krafft, and Dominique J. Rolando show how Egypt’s 1996 rent liberalization law reversed … Read more
Late mothers and late fathers have a first birth with younger partners
Individual characteristics of late parents have been extensively studied in demographic literature, but less is known about the parental couple. As Marie-Caroline Compans shows, looking at fathers and mothers separately, … Read more
Gendered health burdens and benefits of starting and ending caregiving
What happens to caregivers’ health when they stop caregiving? Damiano Uccheddu, Tom Emery, Nardi Steverink, and Anne H. Gauthier investigate the matter across 17 European countries with an innovative method … Read more
Minor contribution of migration to urbanization in low- and middle-income countries
In contrast to the prevalent notion that rural-to-urban migration drives urbanization, Ashira Menashe-Oren and Philippe Bocquier find that the role of migration (and reclassification) in urbanization was small between 1985 … Read more
Spain: a pioneer in gender-equal parental leave
Gender equality in child care can be promoted through individual entitlements to a non-transferable and well-paid leave of equal duration for women and men. While this design is still rare … Read more
Han Chinese population shares in Tibet: early insights from the 2020 census of China
The early results of the 2020 Census of the People’s Republic of China shed light on the highly politicised issue of Han Chinese population shares in the Tibetan areas of … Read more
Swiss, elderly, single, and childless. Happy?
Around the world, more and more people age without close kin. Contrary to expectations, however, according to Małgorzata Mikucka, this does not reduce their life satisfaction, or at least not … Read more
Gender and socioeconomic inequalities in health after age 50 in Europe
Does the impact of socioeconomic factors on health after midlife vary among women and men depending on the welfare context? Apparently it does: Damiano Uccheddu, Anne H. Gauthier, Nardi Steverink, … Read more
Towards a better identification of older people at risk of depression
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders in later life. Omar Paccagnella suggests a new approach to classify older individuals into distinct subgroups, based on different combinations of … Read more
Homogamy among high-income partners drives up family income inequality
More married couples today consist of two high-income or two low-income partners (i.e., income homogamy), which leads to greater income inequality in married-couple families. Yifan Shen shows that, all else … Read more
Slower population growth signals successes and benefits
Results from 2020 population censuses for the United States and China made headlines about population collapse, baby busts and demographic decline. Lopsided lamentations have given little attention to the social, … Read more
Spurring economic growth through human development
In the interest of boosting the long-term rate of economic growth in low- and middle-income countries, policymakers are advised to pursue investments in human development that improve reproductive and general … Read more
Growing old in a post-communist society. Who gets lonely in Poland and when?
Małgorzata Mikucka sheds new light on the loneliness of elderly people in Poland, focusing on the events and transitions that trigger this feeling. Weak social ties and a legacy of … Read more
Average length of life spent childless. Cross-sectionally speaking
In addition to the commonly used fertility measures, Ryohei Mogi, Jessica Nisén, and Vladimir Canudas-Romo suggest an alternative approach to the study of first birth behaviour, focusing on how long women … Read more
The transition to late adulthood: past adversities increase frailty
Health deteriorates with age, and it can be further worsened by adversities experienced during early adulthood and middle age. On SHARE data, Francesca Zanasi, Gustavo De Santis and Elena Pirani measure … Read more
Missing boys in sub-Saharan Africa due to high rates of foetal loss
The ratio of males to females at birth is consistently lower in sub-Saharan Africa than in other regions of the world. Anne Morse and Nancy Luke suggest that this pattern may be … Read more
The motherhood earnings penalty reconsidered: a gap or a gradient?
Examining the long-term consequences of the family life course for women’s earnings in 22 European countries, Joanne S. Muller, Nicole Hiekel & Aart C. Liefbroer find no earnings gap between mothers … Read more
It all depends on how you do it. Health effects of leaving the labour market
Relying on data from the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2015), and adopting a propensity score matching approach, Elena Pirani, Gustavo De Santis and Francesca Zanasi … Read more
International migrants in Sweden, over-coverage, and mortality
The apparent lower mortality of international migrants has sometimes been questioned, because data quality may be a serious issue in this case. However, deeper investigation into the matter by Matthew … Read more
Skip-generation household trends in low- and middle-income countries
Zachary Zimmer and Emily Treleaven find a growing global prevalence of households that have grandparents living with grandchildren with middle generation absent. Country-level factors, like labor force participation rates, explain … Read more
Italians and foreigners: how distant are they, culturally speaking?
Can cultural distance hinder the integration of foreigners? The answer would be easier if we knew what cultural distance is. Gustavo De Santis, Mauro Maltagliati and Alessandra Petrucci try to … Read more
America’s retirement riddle
With U.S. Social Security Trust Funds projected to be insolvent in 2035, America is again facing its retirement riddle. Congress can address the insolvency by making possible adjustments in three … Read more
Longer lives, poorer health in England
Stephen Jivraj, Alissa Goodman, Benedetta Pongiglione and George Ploubidis find that, among working-age adults in England, later-born cohorts tend to have higher prevalence of various indicators of poor health and … Read more
Hypergamy on the decline in Europe
As women’s levels of education increasingly overtake those of men, educational hypergamy (male educational advantage in a relationship) is declining throughout Europe, as Dávid Erát shows. Who chooses whom? The … Read more
The role of non-resident family in migration after separation
Amy Spring, Clara H. Mulder, Michael J. Thomas, Thomas J. Cooke find that the presence of non-resident family plays an important role in separated people’s decisions to migrate within the … Read more
Children of same-sex parents: an educational success story
Challenging claims of disadvantage in same-sex parented families, Jan Kabátek and Francisco Perales find that same-sex-parented children actually outperform their peers in many areas of academic achievement. Over the last … Read more
Pleasure and fidelity: Italian millennials and sex
Sexual intercourse is starting earlier than before among Italian adolescents, whose behaviour is converging towards the norms of their European peers. As noted by Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna and Daniele Vignoli, … Read more
Accelerating fertility decline through education and family planning
Daphne H. Liu and Adrian E. Raftery find that increasing women’s educational attainment and contraceptive prevalence can have an accelerating effect on fertility decline in high-fertility countries, with a larger … Read more
COVID-19 pandemic: demographic highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has resulted in enormous consequences worldwide. Joseph Chamie highlights the pandemic’s impact on the components of population change: mortality, fertility and migration. … Read more
Grandparents looking after grandchildren in England
Giorgio Di Gessa, Paola Zaninotto and Karen Glaser find that, in England, most grandmothers and grandfathers provide grandchild care throughout the year to allow parents to undertake paid work. However, … Read more
Are demographic indicators really converging in post transitional countries?
After the demographic transition, convergence in all demographic behaviours (moderate fertility, low mortality and very low migration) is the guiding assumption of the UN World Population Prospects Revisions. Maria Castiglioni, … Read more
Trends in age at menarche in low- and middle-income countries
Understanding the timing and determinants of age at menarche is key to determining potential linkages between onset of puberty and health outcomes from a lifecourse perspective. Tiziana Leone and Laura … Read more
From deprivation to neonatal and post-neonatal mortality in Bolivia
Filippo Temporin identifies three possible mechanisms whereby deprivation can affect neonatal and post-neonatal mortality. Using data from the 2008 Bolivia Demographic and Health Survey, however, he concludes that in a … Read more
Religion as a moderating factor in the education-fertility relationship
Female education is often linked to lower fertility levels and higher rates of childlessness. However, this relationship does not necessarily hold for all population groups. In this study, Nitzan Peri-Rotem … Read more
Internet: a tool for promoting contraceptive uptake in sub-Saharan African countries
The Internet is a time-saving and cost-effective modern technology to enact general healthcare programs. Veronica Toffolutti, Hai Ma, Giulia Menichelli, Ester Berlot, Letizia Mencarini and Arnstein Aassve argue that it … Read more
U.S. immigrant men’s earning trajectories vary by country of origin
Immigrant men who arrived in the United States in the latter part of the twentieth century experienced varied earning trajectories. Leafia Ye and Michal Engelman show that those who came … Read more
Strong combined impact of smoking, obesity, and alcohol on survival improvements in Europe
Smoking, obesity and alcohol are considered key public health problems in Europe. Fanny Janssen, Sergi Trias-Llimós, and Anton Kunst show how changes over time in these three lifestyle factors have … Read more
Health at older ages: childless adults not always worse off than parents
As children are often the main source of support in later life, childless older adults are presumed to have higher risks of poor health compared to parents. Nekehia T. Quashie, … Read more
Women’s employment 1996-2016: US vs Europe
Among OECD countries, the United States was once a leader in women’s labor force participation, but is now a laggard. Jennifer Hook and Eunjeong Paek compare trends in American and … Read more
What becomes of marriage when non-marital childbearing is the norm?
Nowhere in Europe is the share of births out of marriage larger than in Iceland. Nevertheless, most Icelanders marry. In this article Ari Klængur Jónsson argues that even though the … Read more
Female genital mutilation/cutting in Africa: ineffective policies and persistent inequalities
Using nationally representative data from Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, Valeria Cetorelli, Ben Wilson, Ewa Batyra and Ernestina Coast examine whether national policies banning female genital mutilation/cutting … Read more
Migrant children’s schooling in urban China
Massive internal migration in China has led to a rise in the population of migrant children. Yuanfei Li, Zai Liang and Zhongshan Yue examine schooling choices for migrant children in … Read more
Grandmotherhood and retirement in Italy
The article explores the relationship between becoming a grandmother and retiring in Italy. In contrast to the US and other countries in Europe, the two events do not overlap in … Read more
Does population aging erode democratic support?
Individual support for democracy in the population is essential for the stability of democracies. However, not much is known about how demographic change, such as population aging, affects attitudes in … Read more
Socioeconomic differences in life satisfaction and longevity in Spain
Aïda Solé-Auró and Mariona Lozano present data on “satisfied life expectancy” by gender and educational level in Spain. One of their somewhat paradoxical findings is that even though Spaniards are … Read more
Prevalence of chronic diseases associated with increased risk of severe COVID-19 in the Philippines
The Philippines has the one of the highest numbers of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia. Using the 2016 National Disability Prevalence Survey, Jeofrey B. Abalos describes the prevalence of chronic … Read more
How many people experience homelessness in Australia?
Homelessness is damaging to individuals and society – and an exceedingly difficult phenomenon for researchers and policy makers to measure and analyse. In this article, James O’Donnell describes a new … Read more
Selecting highly educated immigrants may not significantly raise the average education of the U.S. labor force
In the U.S., adopting a Canadian‐style admissions policy, i.e., explicitly selecting immigrants based on educational attainment,would not significantly improve the educational level of the labor force, and the (unlikely) elimination … Read more
The subnational Human Development Index: details on inequality
Studies on the distribution of human development across the globe tend to omit the variations that exist within countries. Iñaki Permanyer and Jeroen Smits fill this gap by developing a … Read more