Unemployment is expected to influence alcohol consumption, but studies show mixed results, partly because most studies concentrate on current employment status. However, unemployment could be particularly consequential if it is part of a trajectory of employment precariousness. Moreover, the association between unemployment and alcohol consumption may not be homogeneous across the population, but differ

During recent decades, the educational outcomes of the children of immigrants have been extensively studied, with a growing emphasis on the heterogeneity of the so-called second generation. Yet, the impact of host country citizenship on children's educational outcomes has only received limited attention so far, although children of immigrants do not get automatic birthright citizenship in most European

Life history theory researchers often assume reproductive, parenting and health behaviours pattern across a fast-slow continuum, with ‘fast’ life histories (typified by short lifespans, early maturation and investing in quantity over quality of children) favoured in poor quality environments and/or when resources are scarce. Some researchers further reduce this down to a simplistic ‘fast’ versus ‘slow’

Work and family roles entail divergent responsibilities, which can be a source of conflict especially in young adulthood – the so-called “rush-hour” of life. Combining these multiple social roles can result in an accumulation of stress but also be a valuable resource for mental health. The aim of this study is to investigate combined employment, parenthood and partnership trajectories of men and women

Theory and evidence suggest strong short-term effects of attitudes toward, and knowledge about, reproduction on women’s fertility. Adolescent attitudes and knowledge may also have longer-term implications about the contexts women perceive as appropriate for childbearing and their capacity to manage their preferences. Although previous research on men’s fertility is limited, theory would suggest the

This study uses multi-channel sequence analysis to characterize work-family life course types between the ages of 16 and 42, and multivariable logistic regression to examine their association with psychological distress at age 42/43 for men and women in three nationally-representative British birth cohorts born in 1946 (N = 2,858), 1958 (N = 9,140), and 1970 (N = 7,095). We hypothesised that work-family

Social isolation - the lack of social contacts in number and frequency – has been shown to have a negative impact on health and well-being. Using group-based trajectory analysis of longitudinal data from a New Zealand birth cohort, we created a typology of social isolation based on onset during the life course and persistence into adulthood. We then characterized each type according to risk factors

This study compares poverty risks between two types of transition involving family status, which the life course perspective considers risky events: divorce and widowhood. The case study is Israeli society, characterized by high fertility rates and a high risk of poverty. The study examines the relationship between marriage dissolution and the risk of poverty, distinguishing between divorce and widowhood

This paper investigates changes between, and inequalities within, birth-cohorts in Italy, surrounding homeownership. Italy is a homeownership and familialistic society, where in recent decades an increasing ‘generational divide’ in employment prospects has opened up, as a side-effect of a partial and targeted labour market deregulation. Drawing on the interplay of macro-level constraints with micro-level

Background Like other Latin American countries, over the past half-century, Colombia has experienced rapid urbanization, dramatic fertility decline, and massive educational expansion. These socio-demographic changes have transformed gender roles and, with them, the landscape surrounding reproductive decisions, family life, and opportunities in other life ‘domains.’ I draw on the ‘life course cube’

Drawing on life course theory and research, we explored how socioeconomic circumstances during childhood and adulthood shape self-reported health trajectories among older Mexican adults. We used data from the Mexican Health and Aging Study panel survey (2001–2015) and used sequence analysis to estimate types of self-reported health trajectories in older adulthood. We then explored the association between

This paper investigates links between social inequality and reproductive behavior. It complements the extensive research on the stratification of young adults' life chances in education and the labor market by considering changes over time in the stratification of contraceptive use at first intercourse by parental background. We seek to understand detraditionalization trends in young people’s sexually

In this paper, we investigate how the diffusion of dual-earner couples has affected aggregate levels of inequality in Brazil. More specifically, we analyze trends in the association between spouses' earnings and assess their effects on the earnings inequality among couples from 1993 to 2015. For this purpose, we use log-linear models to distinguish three components of the association between spouses'

This study investigates how precarious employment throughout the life course affects the fertility behavior of men and women in Germany, and how risk attitudes moderate exposure to objectively given uncertainty. Analyzing data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study from 1990 to 2015, I find that men and women have become quite similar in their fertility behavior: Stable employment accelerates

Applying social investment theory (SIT), we examined whether employment trajectories until midlife, with differential investments in education and employment, are associated with social investments during early life and with work-related well-being in midlife, with a special reference to potential differences between self-employment and paid work. In the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 (n = 6496;

Research examining the intergenerational transmission of human capital is subject to two limitations. First, for the parental generation, most studies focus on formal education but fail to consider vocational training experience, which has more variation than formal educational attainment over the life course. Second, most studies have found consistent conclusions using income and occupation for the

The original concerns about the consequences of adolescent fertility assumed that pregnancy is a turning point, which altered teens’ life trajectories in terms of school progress, human capital accumulation and labor force participation, placing them on a path of vulnerability. However, several years of research have shown that teenagers who become pregnant are not a random sample of the population

In the study of family residential dependence, Latin American literature has focused on coresidence and explained its relationship with care vulnerability trajectories in terms of the survival strategies of the poor. This approach implies the hypothesis of a substitution mechanism between family and paid care. However, this represents an incomplete picture of residential dependence in this context

Many studies show that labor market uncertainties are important predictors of the postponement of parenthood. While most existing studies investigate the consequences of the deterioration of employment conditions in absolute terms, in this paper I test the hypothesis that relative changes in occupational conditions affect childbearing choices. In particular, building on the Easterlin Hypothesis of

• We analyse the effects of unemployment on the likelihood of having a first and second birth in Denmark. The existing studies on this topic have generated contradictory results, and have made a weak case for the exogeneity of unemployment to fertility. We suggest that firm closures constitute an exogenous source of unemployment, and adopt firm closures as an instrument for estimating individuals’

Objectives We examined how experiencing low income multiple times is associated with depressive symptoms over the life course to better understand the influence of low income experience on psychological well-being. Methods We employed fixed effects models to estimate the association between low income experience and depressive symptoms using data from a longitudinal survey of a representative sample

This study takes a life course perspective to examine the long-term effect of negative school experiences during early adolescence on depressive affect in middle adulthood. The study uses a prospective longitudinal panel dataset that spanned nearly three decades with three waves: when respondents were at 7th grade (Time 1, mostly 12–13 years of age), young adulthood (Time 2, in their 20 s), and middle

Using German panel data and relying on internal relocation, this paper investigates the anticipation and adaptation of subjective well-being (SWB) in the course of migration. We hypothesize that SWB correlates with the process of migration, and that such correlations are at least partly socially stratified. Our fixed-effects regressions show no evidence of any anticipation of SWB before the event of

Investments in lifelong learning may create unsatisfactory results, and this could potentially contribute to the reproduction of inequalities. We argue that the process is related to the accumulation of opportunities and barriers for participation in training, which can lock individuals in disadvantageous path-dependent trajectories. We take a longitudinal approach to analyse whether participation

Personal network overlap and joint social contact of spouses have positive implications for social support and marital quality. Although these collective aspects of marriage constitute a valuable resource for couples, the factors impacting them during the later stages of life are underexplored. When faced with critical role losses in later life one compensatory mechanism for internal continuity is

Theory suggests that a stressful working environment negatively affects workers’ health. However, methodological limitations in observational studies often restrict conclusions about observed relationships. In this study, we examined cross-lagged effects of effort-reward imbalance (ERI; i.e., an indicator of work stress) and mental health (i.e., depressive symptoms) at the within-person level, while

Despite the well-documented effect of parent–child relations in childhood on the reproduction of social disadvantage, little is known about how relationships between parents and their grown-up children are associated with this process. The present study addresses this research gap by investigating whether structural, cognitive, and functional aspects of family social capital in adulthood are connected

This contribution analyses early retirement in Germany and Switzerland with a focus on financial resources. Using data from CH-SILC linked to administrative records and the German SOEP, we distinguish three different financial resources: namely, pre-retirement labour income, net worth and pension entitlements. High labour income reduces the probability for early retirement. In contrast, high pension

The consequences of changing one’s socio-economic status over the life course—i.e. social mobility—for individual health are not well understood. Theories of the health implications of social mobility draw on the human perception of one’s changing conditions, but empirical studies mostly examine the health implications of moving from objectively defined indicators of parental socio-economic position

Our article investigates the role of relative income distributions within couples for individuals’ retirement risks. It addresses the following questions: How does the share someone provides to the couple income affect that person’s retirement decision? What gender differences do we observe and what contextual factors can explain country differences? Our multilevel analyses draw on data from the European

Rapid increases in young people’s time spent using digital technology (“screen time”) in the mobile internet era have led to anxiety about long-term effects. This mixed-method US study examines childhood experiences and contextual factors that shape screen time in the transition to adulthood. We recursively analyzed 56 qualitative interviews with young adults in a large metropolitan area in 2016–2018

This study investigates whether early child development influences mothers’ decisions regarding when to return to the labor market in Germany. Previous research has examined how institutional, individual and household factors affect maternal work interruption durations after childbirth. This study extends the literature by focusing on the impact of children on mothers’ return-to-work behavior after

Abstract I outline a theoretical background for interpreting the effects of social class on fertility, based on social class and welfare regime theory. Social class differentials lead to different levels of economic wellbeing and security, compatibility of employment and childcare roles, and of gender equality. I hypothesize that class-specific combinations of these variables result in different incentives

Most research on social inequalities in higher education (HE) graduates’ labour market outcomes has analysed outcomes at one or two points in time, thus providing only snapshots of graduates’ occupational destinations. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining the education and labour market trajectories of degree holders across their life course and how these trajectories vary

Abstract By drawing upon birth history data gleaned from the 2007 and 2010 rounds of the National Survey on Work and Family (NSWF), we estimate the relationship between the married female worker’s use of the childcare leave scheme and her hourly wage, and then evaluate the impact of her predicted hourly wage upon her probability of proceeding from parity 0 to parity 1, as well as from parity 1 to parity

Abstract Evidence of a strong negative correlation between adolescent academic performance and mortality points to the importance of not only cognitive, but also non-cognitive, skills in predicting survival. We integrated two bodies of research to evaluate expectations regarding the role of educational attainment and trajectories of employment and marriage experience in mediating relationships between

Abstract This paper explores how attitudes towards childbearing change after cohabitation and marriage. Entering in a union may affect attitudes towards childbearing, but at the same time individuals who are more oriented towards childbearing may be more determined to form unions. In order to disentangle the interplay between union formation and subsequent changes in attitudes towards childbearing

The Covid-19 pandemic is shaking fundamental assumptions about the human life course in societies around the world. In this essay, we draw on our collective expertise to illustrate how a life course perspective can make critical contributions to understanding the pandemic’s effects on individuals, families, and populations. We explore the pandemic’s implications for the organization and experience

This study examined social interaction effects on family formation and dissolution, asking whether fertility, marital, and divorce behavior spread in the sibling network. Using panel data from the German SOEP (1984 – 2016; N = 4,521 individuals), we estimated discrete-time event history models with random effects at the individual to examine whether siblings’ transitions to parenthood, marriage, and

Developmental science theory and empirical research on refugee situations requires an updated approach to the study of trauma as a multi-systemic and multilevel phenomenon. We present a theoretical framework that integrates developmental science approaches to highlight critical threats to development in situations of violent displacement. Given the complexities of displacement (causes, trajectories

The proportion of life spent caring for dependent children is a defining feature of life courses. This study uses Swedish register data to analyze the period of life spent as parents to children no older than 18 as a salient difference between single- and multiple-partner fertility trajectories. Individuals who have children with more than one partner spend a much longer time as parents to dependent

Abstract Accumulated evidence on health-adverse effects of stressful psychosocial and physical work environments is considered a major breakthrough in recent social epidemiological research. However, research on adverse health effects of repeated exposure over time is lacking. In this contribution we analyse associations of characteristics of adverse employment histories with stressful psychosocial

Abstract Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, 1984-2017) and conducting fixed effects panel regressions, this study investigates the impact of unemployment on couples’ overall life satisfaction, as well as both partners’ satisfaction in specific life domains. Results confirm that job loss is harmful to both partners’ life satisfaction. In line with gender role models

As self-employment offers greater flexibility compared to wage and salary contracts, women might choose it to achieve a better work-family balance. Past empirical research on this topic yielded equivocal results, however. We add to this discussion and provide evidence for Poland. Public support for working parents in Poland is relatively poor and women need to develop strategies in order to combine

Objectives This study examined the role of traumatic life experiences, and their interaction with genetic risk, in explaining gender differences in late life depression. Methods Data were from the 2008-through-2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, nationally representative of U.S. adults over age 50. Analysis was restricted to white participants. Newly available polygenic risk scores indexed

Abstract This article combines two apparently distinct strands of contemporary research on fertility: the literature on economic uncertainty and fertility; and the literature on subjective well-being and fertility. We advance the hypothesis that the impact of jobs with uncertain conditions on fertility intentions is channeled by an individual’s level of subjective well-being, which captures also unmeasured

Abstract Transitions to adulthood represent a sensitive period for setting young people into particular life course trajectories, and the nature of these transitions have varied more for girls, historically, than for boys. We aim to investigate the long-term significance of different transitions out of full-time education for socioeconomic attainment in later life amongst postwar young women in England

This paper examines the association between chronic illness and union dissolution by examining rich, longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Using competing-risks discrete-time event-history models on longitudinal, dyadic data, we find the risk of union dissolution to be approximately 40 percent higher when either partner reports an illness than

Continued postponement of births and increasing use of reproductive medicine enhance the relevance of infertility and related perceptions for fertility research. Fertility researchers tend to assume that an existing perception of inability to procreate is a stable trait among persons of reproductive age. This assumption is questionable from a life course perspective and has not been thoroughly investigated

Using new longitudinal data from the Adult Cohort (SC6) of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) this paper examines how the highest educational attainment has changed in the process of educational expansion in Germany between 1950 and 2010. The study focuses on a fairly neglected question of the educational expansion process: Which role does the changing social background composition play in

Although reciprocity of intergenerational support has been widely considered in family studies, empirical investigations utilizing panel data are still rather scarce. This study used data from four waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), which were collected in two-year intervals between 2009 and 2016. We examined whether the frequency of received support from parents previously is associated with

Lone mothers are among the groups most affected by income poverty in Germany. Previous research shows that both lone mothers’ social composition (e.g. employment status, age, number of children) and the institutional context (e.g. family and labour market policies) are crucial for explaining this high vulnerability. Yet we know little about the underlying mechanisms. Hence, this study develops a theoretical

The long-term influence of childhood economic and social exposures on adult health and well-being is well-known. Most childhood circumstances transpire in or near the home, yet research has largely neglected how early exposures shape people’s experience of their residential context in adulthood. To help address this gap, we use retrospective longitudinal data from the Midlife Development in the United

Previous research has focused on teenage parenthood as a single outcome, and has overlooked the wider family formation trajectory in which it is situated. In this paper, using Swedish register data and sequence analysis tools, we explore the diversity in timing and ordering of childbearing and (re)partnering events among teenage parents. We identify trajectory clusters of traditional family patterns

Health has long been a chief concern of life course researchers, especially in examining early life. Research on chronic conditions and their impact on individual identity often center on biographical disruption or the idea of a bifurcation of “before and after” identities. This research examines identity formation in young adults with chronic health conditions that began in childhood, a population

While a large literature documents how mental health problems in adolescence have long-term consequences for adult socioeconomic outcomes, less is known about the relation with family-formation behavior. In this paper, we use data from a population based Norwegian health survey (the Young-HUNT study) linked to administrative registry data (N = 8,113) to examine the long-term consequences of symptoms

Those in the most criminally active age groups are facing particular difficulties in entering the labour market and accumulating stable work experiences. This study uses a large representative sample of Finnish adolescents to examine how different labour market statuses are associated with crime. Both for men and women, within-individual variation in employment is inversely linked to all crime measures