The geographic context of male nuptiality in western Germany during the 1980s and 1990s

This paper studies the relationship between characteristics of men’s place of residence and the probability of entering marriage in western Germany during the 1980s and 1990s. We link micro-information from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP) with district-level data to estimate discrete-time multilevel logit models. Our results support the widely accepted idea about the importance of men’s individual economic status in marital decisions. They furthermore indicate a negative relationship between women’s aggregate labor force participation and male transition rates to marriage, which could be interpreted as evidence for the popular ‘economic independence hypothesis’ of marital behavior. Complementary, we put forward an interpretation of female employment rates as indicators of a region’s degree of secularization, for example. Consistent with a previous study on female nuptiality in Germany, our findings (which also include a significant latent contextual effect) suggest that a man’s propensity to marry is influenced by the regional socio-cultural milieu he lives in.demography of men, Germany, multilevel analysis, nuptiality

Spatial Proximity and Contacts between Elderly Parents and Their Adult Children: A European Comparison

Using data from the 2004 'Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe' (SHARE), this paper continues and extends recent cross-national research on the proximity and contacts of elderly parents to their adult children. To begin with, we provide a brief description of the 'geography of the family' in ten continental European countries. In the multivariate part of the paper we investigate into the determinants of intergenerational proximity and frequency of contact. Even when microlevel factors are controlled for, the Mediterranean peoples continue to exhibit closer family relations than their northern counterparts. We also find noteworthy systematic differences in the effects of some explanatory variables between 'weak' and 'strong' family countries. When looking at the contemporary European picture as a whole, though, we find no indication at all for a 'crisis' of intergenerational relations.

Regional social contexts and individual fertility decisions: a multilevel analysis of first and second births in Western Germany

In this paper, a multilevel approach is used to investigate whether and how regional social contexts influence first and second birth probabilities of women living in western Germany during the 1980s and 1990s. In the theoretical part it is argued that regional opportunity structures as well as local patterns of social interaction and culture may translate into parameters that directly affect individual behaviour. Individual level data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) are then linked with a set of regional indicators to estimate multilevel discrete-time logit models for the transition to the first and second child. The empirical analysis provides no evidence that the distinct fertility differences observed at the regional level are due to autonomous contextual effects. It is rather suggested that most of the observed regional variation may be due to differences in the spatial distribution of individual characteristics. (AUTHOR)Germany (Alte Bundesländer), fertility, geography

Effects of Early Life Family Events on Women’s Late Life Labour Market Behaviour: An Analysis of the Relationship between Childbearing and Retirement in Western Germany

The relationship between a woman’s reproductive history and her entry into retirement is not well-investigated yet. Will mothers exit the workforce earlier than childless women (as they have a weaker labour market orientation; as they are more likely to have a ‘male breadwinner’ in the household), or will they work longer to make-up for employment interruptions during their reproductive phase? We exploit data from the German Socio-Economic Panel to estimate discrete-time logit models for women’s transition to retirement, using detailed information on the individual’s fertility biography as main explanatory variables. Our primary finding is that having children delays a woman’s exit from the labour force. This effect tends to be stronger for mothers who experienced their first birth relatively late. Postponing fertility and retirement should both be driven by a relatively strong career orientation. Thus, in addition to household economic considerations, the individual’s evaluation of her worker role relative to her family role is likely to be important for her retirement timing.

How Supermarkets Are Shaping Up and Growing Their Lower-Calorie Products

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than a third of adults and nearly 17 percent of children in the United States are obese. This public health crisis has spurred policy debates at all levels of government, and has prompted initiatives aimed at making schools and communities healthier for children and families. For the past four years, Hudson Institute, a nonpartisan policy research organization, has studied the link between healthier, lower-calorie products and the sales performance of the companies that offer them. It has completed several landmark studies covering consumer packaged goods (CPG) food companies and restaurant chains that have demonstrated the positive impact of lower-calorie and/or better-for-you (BFY) foods and beverages on overall sales growth. This latest study aims to determine whether supermarket chains, like CPG companies and restaurant chains, are also reaping business benefits from selling lower-calorie products

International data curation education action (IDEA) working group: a report from the second workshop of IDEA

The second workshop of the International Data curation Education (IDEA) Working Group was held December 5, 2008, in Edinburgh, Scotland, following the 4th International Digital Curation Conference. This workshop was jointly organized by the UK's Digital Curation Centre (DCC), the US's Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the School of Information and Library Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (SILS). Nearly forty educators and researchers accepted invitations to attend, with representation from universities, research centers, and funding agencies from Canada, the US, the UK, and Germany