Search

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 of life transitions and trajectories within and across central domains: health, personal control and planning, social relationships and family, education, work and careers, and migration and mobility. We consider both the life course implications of being infected by the Covid-19 virus or attached to someone who has; and being affected by the pandemic’s social, economic, cultural, and psychological consequences. It is our goal to offer some programmatic observations on which life course research and policies can build as the pandemic’s short- and long-term consequences unfold.

Grandparenthood is a fascinating research area that not only brings together three generations and multiple roles in different life domains, but also echoes social contexts across historical times and places. Comparative research on grandparenthood, however, rarely includes non-western countries. This article seeks to answer the question of how grandparenthood differs between Western Europe and China by using comparable representative surveys of older adults. We extend the literatur

This paper examines how parent-child relationships vary against the backdrop of socioeconomic inequalities evident in China. China is both an increasingly unequal and rapidly ageing country. Understanding how the relationships that Older Chinese have with their children are associated with social inequalities, is therefore of paramount importance. We do this by examining the effect of socio-economic indicators of the parent and child on their relationship in a multilevel, multinomial logit model of parent-child dyads using data from the Chinese Family Panel Study. First

Individuals in China are much more likely than Europeans to live with their adult children during later life. In this paper, we examine the extent to which this holds true across the diverse contexts and circumstances faced by Europeans and Chinese. We use comparative data from the Survey for Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and the China Family Panel Studies to examine cross-national differences in whom adults in later life choose to live with. We find that in rural China and among urban migrants there is a tendency to live with higher-educated children, whilst

Contrary to the powerful image of ivory tower scholarship, aiming to make an impact on society has become an integral part of scholarly practices. This impact emerges through teaching, commercialization of research findings, public engagement, and advice for policy and practice. The latter role requires a solid scientific evidence base. Aligning science and policy is a well-known challenge. I describe ways in which actors ranging from individual scholars, to the organizations where they work, and macro-level players such as publishers, research funders and governments can help advance interaction and communication between the spheres of scholarship and policy. Using firsthand experience in negotiating the boundaries between research and decision making, I describe the context in which the European Commission's Group of Chief Scientific Advisors works and identify conditions which, in my personal view, make its scientific advice giving effective.

Definition Intergenerational family caregiving refers to exchanges up and down family lines aimed at nurturing the needs of others. Caregiving is more than a task; it involves emotional and relationship work.

Contrary to the powerful image of ivory tower scholarship, aiming to make an impact on society has become an integral part of scholarly practices. This impact emerges through teaching, commercialization of research findings, public engagement, and advice for policy and practice. The latter role requires a solid scientific evidence base. Aligning science and policy is a well-known challenge. I describe ways in which actors ranging from individual scholars, to the organizations where they work, and macro-level players such as publishers, research funders and governments can help advance interaction and communication between the spheres of scholarship and policy. Using firsthand experience in negotiating the boundaries between research and decision making, I describe the context in which the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors works and identify conditions which, in my personal view, make its scientific advice giving effective.

OBJECTIVES: When identifying older adults who may be at risk of being without necessary supports, policy makers and scholars tend to focus on those living alone, neglecting differences within that group. We examine how their social networks contribute to subjective well-being, why some of them fare better and compare their well-being to older adults coresiding with others. METHOD: Data are from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (N = 53,383). A network typology for older people living alone (N = 10,047) is constructed using a latent class analysis. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions, we examined differences in subjective well-being (life satisfaction, satisfaction with social network, depression) by network type, adding adults coresiding with others (N = 43,336) as comparison group. RESULTS: We find four social network types among older adults living alone. The likelihood of having "restricted" and "child-based" networks is greater in Eastern and Southern European countries, whereas the likelihood of having "friend-oriented" networks is greater in Western and Northern European countries. Across countries, only those with "restricted" networks tend to have the poorest well-being. Those with "diverse" networks have even better well-being than coresiding older adults. DISCUSSION: Our study shows the importance of drawing distinctions within the group of older adults living alone. Most (two thirds) are not vulnerable and at risk, but fare just as well or even better than peers who coreside with others. Country-level factors shape the opportunities to build satisfactory networks, but subjective well-being depends more strongly on individual resources, including social networks, than country-level factors.

This review offers a joint perspective on Chinese and European key demographic trends in the family domain, emphasising the impact of macro-level social structures and institutions on individual life courses. We outline key demographic shifts across the Netherlands, Germany, the UK and China in the period after the ‘golden age of the welfare state’ in Europe and the ‘post-reform’ era in China (after the 1970s). Several empirical trends are highlighted, with a focus on: rising inequality in China and persistent inequality in Europe; the traditional family sequence in China and de-standardization of life courses in Europe; ending with similarities between countries in population aging and differences in later life courses with regards to intergenerational transfers. We draw upon a range of theoretical frameworks to argue that trends in marriage, fertility and intergenerational relationships reflect tensions between rapid social and economic changes and discuss the limitations of modernisation theories and the second demographic transition.

We relate relationship satisfaction and thoughts about leaving a romantic relationship to a couple’s relative and absolute resources and check for context-dependency of those associations. Our theoretical point of departure is that the more resources women have compared to their spouses, the higher their intra-household bargaining power to negotiate themselves out of unpleasant tasks, particularly in gender-egalitarian and very income equal and unequal societies. In traditional societies (which score low on the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM)), the inflexible role of men within the household presumably prevents women from bargaining a better position, which in turn negatively affects relationship quality. Income equality (low GINI coefficient) may be a prerequisite for women’s bargaining position, where more inequality (mid-GINI) may be detrimental for it. Nevertheless, extreme income inequality (high GINI) may again be favorable for women’s relationship power. Using country fixed effects models on data from the Generations and Gender Surveys (GGS), we compare men and women who are in a couple (formed after 1995) for eight European countries. We find that absolute resources matter more than relative resources, at least for relationship satisfaction: Higher educated couples are more satisfied with their relationships, which could suggest lower stress levels in those couples (in more traditional contexts). Second, we observe GINI context-dependency of the association between relative education and relationship satisfaction for women and relative education and exit thoughts for men, although opposite to what we expected. Perhaps reference group theory or gender display theory can explain these unexpected results. Finally, we find that women have more break-up plans in societies with a lower score on GEM. This last result is consistent with the notion that bargaining only works in egalitarian contexts.

Research consistently shows that children with siblings live at a greater distance from their parents than do only children. We extend this literature by assessing whether this difference varies as a function of parental need. Multinomial logistic regression analyses of German Ageing Survey data enriched with indicators at the district (Nomenclature of Statistical Territorial Units level three) level (n = 2,028) show that, in general, children with a sibling are less likely than only children to share a household with a parent. We do not find that children with a sibling are more likely than only children to live at great distance, that is, more than 2 hours away, from their parents. The differences between only children and children with siblings in parent–child proximity are most pronounced when parents are coping with severe health limitations. It is well established that only children are more likely than children with siblings to provide support and care to ageing parents. Our findings suggest that, in addition, only children might be more compelled than their counterparts with siblings to adjust their living arrangements in order to facilitate caregiving when parent care needs manifest themselves. Copyright

Due to the reform of long term care in 2015, there is growing concern about whether groups at risk receive the care they need. People in need of care have to rely more on help from their social network. The increased need for informal care requires resilience and organizational skills of families, but also of volunteers, professionals and employers. What does this mean for the provision of informal care in the next decennia? The symposium ‘The future of informal care’, organized on January 26 2017 by the National Institute for Social Research and the Institute for Societal Resilience of the Vrije Universiteit, addressed possible answers to this question. In her inaugural speech Alice de Boer discussed social inequality as possible determinant and outcome of informal care. Some conclusions: Until 2050 the absolute number of 75-plus doubled to about 3 million persons, but the number of informal caregivers will decrease. In addition to the importance of social and economic resources (the ‘have & have-nots’), the ability to arrange care (the ‘can & can-nots’) gains importance. Almost half of the older employers provides informal care just before retirement. Flexibility in working hours and work location facilitates combining work and care, but about half of the employers indicates that partial retirement and working at home are no options. Informal caregivers and professionals often provide care from comparable perspectives and identities. Addressing similarities rather than differences improves their chances for collaboration. The number of adult children providing household care to older parents increased between 2002 and 2014. This suggests an increase in family solidarity, but current reform policies may increase the gender inequality in caregiving families. Spouses and children remain primary caregivers in the future, preferably supported by many different types of caregivers. Not everybody has the capabilities to organize and direct such a large care network. Prov

Focusing mostly on Europe, this overview reveals how the research on cross-national differences in intergenerational family relations has movedfrombasic descriptions to a focus on understanding how support exchanges are shaped by macro-level processes.A key issue concerns generational interdependence, the extent to whichpublic policy arrangements impose reliance on older and younger family members or enable individual autonomy.Real theoretical progress is visible in three areas of research. The first pertains to analyses at the micro level of how family members actuallyrespond to the incentives that different macro contexts provide. The generosity or restrictedness of public provisions variably releases or necessitatesnormative obligationsin interdependent family relationships. The second area of progress involves analyses of the implications of specific policies rather than policy packages for gender and socioeconomic inequality. The third area of progress is a more nuanced view on the familialism-individualism divide. These three areas provide inspiring examples for future investigations.Translational significance: citizens and policy makers will benefit from knowledge about the different implications that different policies have for gender and socioeconomic policy. Cash for care payments, which are taken more easily by women than men, and by low paid women than high paid women, increase the likelihood of poverty in old age. Care services better assist men and women in reconciling family care and paid work.

Combining round four data from the European Social Survey (ESS) with indicators of Active Ageing, Dykstra and Fleischmann examine conditions conducive to age integration. It uses both a behavioural and an attitudinal measure of age integration: the prevalence of cross-age friendships and low levels of ageism. The analyses focus on both “young” (age 18 to 30) and “old” (ages 70 to 90). Interestingly, high levels of independence, health and security in late life, and greater capacity to actively age rather than high levels of working, volunteering, caring and political engagement among the old create the greatest opportunities for meaningful cross-age interactions. Contrary to public belief, “productive ageing” will in and of itself not lead to greater age integration.

Although the economic independence of women has been greatly advanced in recent decades, it continues to lag far behind men’s in the Netherlands and elsewhere. The negative consequences of motherhood are an important driving force behind women’s abiding lower income. Although mother’s lower earnings have received a substantial amount of attention from scholars and the underlying mechanisms are well established, surprisingly little is known about mitigating factors. This article contributes to the literature by investigating how the earnings disadvantage of mothers is affected by partner characteristics and by parity. We formulate hypotheses about the effect of a partner’s working hours, his earnings and his gender role orientations, on the earnings disadvantage associated with motherhood. Furthermore, we examine the role of parity in this earnings disadvantage. Our hypotheses are tested using longitudinal data from the first three waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study. Our hypotheses concerning partner characteristics are not supported. The earnings disadvantage of mothers is hardly affected by them. We do find that parity matters greatly in examining the effect that motherhood has on women’s earnings. The transition to motherhood has a much larger effect on earnings than the birth of subsequent children. The implications of these findings and the specificity of the Dutch context are discussed.

We investigate how the mental health of older adults (60–85) is associated with childlessness and sonlessness in China, where gender-biased filial expectations and strong son preference exist. The China Family Panel Study (2012, N = 6,021) and ordinary least squares regression models are used to investigate the relationship between depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression scale) and parental status, distinguishing between childless, parents of both sons and daughters, parents of only sons and parents of only daughters. Arguing that modernisation shapes gender preferences for children as well as formal care and pension provisions for older adults, we find a sharp rural–urban divide in the relationship between parental status and depression. Just having a son is not what matters as the best faring groups are parents who have both sons and daughters, regardless of the number of children. Rural childless and sonless are similar, whereas in urban areas parental status is not so salient, supporting modernisation theory.

The ‘crowding-out’ and the ‘decline of the family’ hypotheses are the fundamental theoretical notions underlying the literature on cross-country differences in informal support. In this study, we expand upon these notions to develop and test the premise that cultural context shapes European’s views about an often overlooked source of support: non-kin. We carefully conceptualise cultural context as individualistic values and familialistic norms. Employing multilevel multinomial models and European Quality of Life Survey data from 27 countries, we confirm the importance of decomposing the broader notion of culture by demonstrating that contexts with both less pronounced individualistic values and less pronounced familialistic norms are conducive to non-kin rather than kin or professional help. Moreover, unlike prior work, which suggested the existence of a north/west-south/east divide in support patterns, our findings show nuanced cross-national differences in the importance of non-kin ties as a source of advice and help when looking for a job. We find some of the highest levels of non-kin reliance in countries in southern and eastern Europe, and in northern and western Europe more generally. We conclude by proposing ways in which future research can advance our understanding of the role of context in shaping support patterns.

Background of the survey The release of formal restrictions on the free movement of Central and Eastern Europeans that started with the end of the Cold War and the eastward enlargement of the European Union in the 2000s have led to new migration flows in Europe. Not surprisingly, the number of surveys carried out among migrants from former communist countries has increased significantly in recent years. These surveys, however, tend to focus on topics such as migration and job history, structural and socio-cultural integration in the host country, bonds with the country of origin or family formation and intermarriage. Insofar exchanges with family members are addressed, they tend to be about remittances to and frequency of contact with “the” family in the country that stayed behind. Information about migrants from Central and Eastern Europe regarding exchanges of money, practical support, emotional support with individual family members, background information on the family of origin, espoused family obligations, and marital and parenthood histories and well-being is scarce. The FPN survey was carried out to fill that void. In absolute terms, Poles are the largest group amongst emigrants from the Central and Eastern European countries which accessed the European Union in 2004. Estimates suggest that between 2004 and 2007, at least one million people emigrated from Poland. Among the top destination countries of Poles in Europe are Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, the annual number of Polish migrants currently entering the country is greater than the number of traditional migrant groups (Turks, Moroccans, Antilleans and Surinamese) taken together. There are more than 160,000 Poles in the Netherlands according to Statistics Netherlands.

BACKGROUND In this contribution we critically appraise the social network indices in the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). OBJECTIVE After discussing the rationale for including social network indices in the GGS, we provide descriptive information on social network characteristics and an overview of substantive questions that have been addressed using GGS social network data: antecedents and consequences of demographic behaviour, care, and differences in well-being. We identify topics that have received relatively little attention in GGS research so far, despite the availability of novel and appropriate social network data. We end with a discussion of w

This study scrutinises the role of cultural and institutional contexts in shaping Europeans’ choices for a source of support. We draw attention to an often overlooked source of support: non-kin. Taking an interdisciplinary theoretical approach, we formulate a number of hypotheses on the impact of individualistic values, familialistic norms, generalised trust, and social protection expenditure. We test these contextual hypotheses by means of multilevel multinomial

Loneliness is nowadays considered to be one of the main problems in society. The negative experience of a discrepancy between the desired and the achieved personal network of relationships is common and affects both younger and older adults. This chapter first addresses well-established aspects and new developments in the main concepts of loneliness and social isolation, the measuring instruments and the prevalence of loneliness. The chapter continues by an overview of theoretical ideas regarding loneliness, focusing on individuallevel and societal predisposing characteristics as well as on genetic/evolutionary perspectives on the onset and con

Combining round four data from the European Social Survey (ESS) with indicators of Active Ageing, we examine conditions conducive to age integration. We use both a behavioural and an attitudinal measure of age integration: the prevalence of cross-age friendships and low levels of ageism. The analyses focus on both “young” (age 18 to 30) and “old” (ages 70 to 90). Interestingly, high levels of independence, health and security in late life, and greater capacity to actively age rather than high levels of working, volunteering, caring and political engagement among the old create the greatest opportunities for meaningful cross-age interactions. These findings suggest that quality of life, well-being and autonomy contribute to a general atmosphere facilitating sustained familiarity of the old with the young. Caution is advised in equating high levels of active engagement among the elderly with conditions enabling durable interactions between young and old, thereby promoting a better understanding of people of different ages. “Productive ageing” will in and of itself not lead to greater age integration.

This paper focuses on individual and country-level circumstances shaping friendships between young and old to gain insight into conditions for intergenerational solidarity. Using European Social Survey data, findings show that relatively few people have cross-age friendships (18% of the young and 31% of the old). As predicted by the “meeting principle”, individuals who operate in settings where there are opportunities for meaningful interactions with people belonging to a different age group are more likely to have cross-age friendships. As predicted by the “disposition principle”, individuals with more favourable attitudes towards other age groups are more likely to have cross-age friendships. Neither the Active Ageing Index nor macro-level trust show significant associations with the likelihood of having cross-age friendships. Apparently, conditions that bring generations together are at the local level, underscoring the importance of decentralized initiatives aimed at increased contact and co-operation across age groups.

_Cross-age friendships in 25 European countries_ This paper focuses on individual and country-level circumstances shaping friendships between young and old to gain insight into conditions for intergenerational solidarity. Using European Social Survey data, findings show that relatively few people have cross-age friendships (18% of the young and 31% of the old). As predicted by the ‘meeting principle’, individuals who operate in settings where there are opportunities for meaningful interactions with people belonging to a different age group are more likely to have cross-age friendships. As predicted by the ‘disposition principle’, individuals with more favourable feelings about other age groups are more likely to have cross-age friendships. Neither the Active Ageing Index nor macro-level trust and individualism show significant associations with the likelihood of having cross-age friendships. Apparently, conditions that bring generations together are meeting opportunities at the local level, underscoring the importance of decentrali

BACKGROUND In this contribution we critically appraise the social network indices in the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS). OBJECTIVE After discussing the rationale for including social network indices in the GGS, we provide descriptive information on social network characteristics, and provide an overview of substantive questions that have been addressed using GGS social network data: antecedents and consequences of demographic behaviour, care, and differences in well-being. We identify topics that have received relatively little attention in GGS-research so far, despite the availability of novel and appropriate social network data. We end with a discussion of what is unique about the social network indices in the GGS. METHODS The descriptive information on social network characteristics is based on empirical analyses of GGS-data, and an experimental pilot study. The overview of GGS-research using social network indices is based on a library search. The identification of what is unique about the social network indices in the GGS is based on a comparison with the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE), and the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). RESULTS Results show a high representation of family members in the social networks, and confirm the adequacy of using a cap of five names for network-generating questions. GGS-research using the social network indices has largely focused on determinants of fertility behaviour, intergenerational linkages in families, and downward care transfers. CONCLUSIONS Topics that have received relatively little attention are demographic behaviours other than those related to parenthood, upward transfers of practical support, ties with siblings, and stepfamily ties. Social network indices in the GGS show a high degree of overlap with those in other international surveys. Unique features are: the inventory of family ties ever born and still living, and the assessment of netwo

Our study’s premise was that normative care beliefs can inform the current care policy debate. We conducted latent class regression analyses on two waves of Netherlands Kinship Panel Study data (n = 4,163) to distinguish care ideals that captured multiple dimensions of normative care beliefs simultaneously. We also assessed how these care ideals have shifted in the early twenty-first century. We distinguished four care ideals: warm-modern (family and state jointly responsible for caring, egalitarian gender roles), cold-modern (large state responsibility, restricted family responsibility, egalitarian gender roles), traditional (restricted state responsibility, large family responsibility, moderately traditional gender roles), and cold-traditional (large state responsibility, restricted family responsibility, traditional gender roles). Between 2002 and 2011, there has been a shift away from warm-modern care ideals and towards cold-modern care ideals. This is remarkable, because Dutch policy makers have increasingly encouraged family members to take on an active role in caring for dependent relatives.

Our study’s premise was that normative care beliefs can inform the current care policy debate. We conducted latent class regression analyses on two waves of Netherlands Kinship Panel Study data (n = 4,163) to distinguish care ideals that captured multiple dimensions of normative care beliefs simultaneously. We also assessed how these care ideals have shifted in the early twenty-first century. We distinguished four care ideals: warm-modern (family and state jointly responsible for caring, egalitarian gender roles), cold-modern (large state responsibility, restricted family responsibility, egalitarian gender roles), traditional (restricted state responsibility, large family responsibility, moderately traditional gender roles), and cold-traditional (large state responsibility, restricted family responsibility, traditional gender roles). Between 2002 and 2011, there has been a shift away from warm-modern care ideals and towards cold-modern care ideals. This is remarkable, because Dutch policy makers have increasingly encouraged family members to take on an active role in caring for dependent relatives.

This entry describes the concept of social support and provides an overview of the mechanisms through which it contributes to a healthy and long life. It draws on the task-specificity and the hierarchical compensation models to explain differences in the availability of social support in late life. Though it is often suggested that the emergence of public services erodes the provision of informal support empirical support shows otherwise. The state and the family provide different forms of help to older adults, referred to as specialization or mixed-responsibility. Empirical evidence favors the complementary (crowding in) hypothesis rather than the substitution (crowding out) hypothesis. Future analyses should consider macrosocial determinants of social support in late life.

Care ideals in the Netherlands: Shifts between 2002 and 2011 [1]Our point of departure is that normative care beliefs can inform the current care policy debate. We conduct latent class regression analyses using two waves of Netherlands Kinship Panel Study data (N=4,163) to distinguish care ideals that capture multiple dimensions of normative care beliefs simultaneously. We also assess how these care ideals have shifted in the early 21st century. We distinguish four care ideals: warm-modern (family and state jointly responsible for caring, egalitarian gender roles), cold-modern (large state responsibility, restricted family responsibility, egalitarian gender roles), traditional (restricted state responsibility, large family responsibility, moderately traditional gender roles) and cold-traditional (large state responsibility, restricted family responsibility, traditional gender roles). The probability to adhere to a cold-modern care ideal relative to a warm-modern, traditional or cold-traditional care ideal is higher for men than for women. Between 2002 and 2011 a shift away from warm-modern care ideals and towards cold-modern care ideals has taken place. This is remarkable, because Dutch policy makers have increasingly encouraged family members to take on an active role in caring for dependent relatives.

North American life course research has typically focused on micro/meso level contexts, and how these shape men’s and women’s lives. There has been less attention to societal laws and policies in analyses of gendered life courses. In contrast, Europeans have typically neglected gender and interdependence among lives, concentrating on analyses of how the state shapes trajectories. We argue that the consideration of demographic context and the role of laws and policies can help bridge the continental divide in life course approaches. In focusing on these two macro-level structural factors, it is unavoidable to acknowledge that families are critical mediators between society and individuals. We show that demographic shifts are creating new late life potential and new opportunities for intergenerational connections. Demographic change also increases differences between men’s and women’s networks and lives. We discuss so-called intergenerational policy regimes and show how they strengthen autonomy versus interdependence in families. Our review of legal changes reveals gender convergence in life structuring. Yet, we also observe strong contrasts between how men and women actually live their lives. Most likely, new understanding of this complex picture can be found in the intersection of macro-and micro perspectives. It is more important than ever that we bridge a “continental divide” between research communities, across countries and methodological camps.

This issue of Public Policy and Aging Report brings into focus the fact that the “graying” of Western countries is playing out at the backdrop of fundamental rethinking and restructuring of the institution of “the” family. These changes are happening at a time when even countries with a long-standing tradition of generous state-funded social support systems are beginning to shift at least some care obligations away from the state in pursuit of a society based on the principle of individual responsibility (e.g., the Netherlands). The implicit assumption underlying this shift is that family members (and adult children in particular) will step in as needs for care and support arise. However, what does this mean for those individuals who, by choice or involuntarily, do not have children in old age (for an overview of routes into childlessness, see Keizer, Dykstra, & Jansen, 2008; Miettinen, Rotkirch, Szalma, Donno, & Tanturri, 2015)? Different terms have been used to describe this population (childless, child-free, adults without children, and nonparents), and it is important to recognize the potential normative perceptions of family life trajectories that they might convey. Here, we have chosen to use the terms “childless” and “nonparent” entirely in the interest of succinctness.

This study investigates how (a) the reliance on public care and (b) the type of public care received by older people in the Netherlands depends on the availability of partners and adult children. Older people aged 65 years and older were surveyed in the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study at two time-points. Survey results were linked to registry data on public care receipt at the two time-points. Multilevel models revealed that receiving frequent help in the household from children was not associated with public care receipt. Only men having a partner were less likely to receive public care. Further analyses comparing the receipt of skilled and unskilled forms of public care revealed that female partners are especially important in rendering unskilled care unnecessary compared to skilled care. Two arguments may explain our findings. One is that a gender-bias exists in processing public care requests - men are perceived as less able to provide care to their female partners. Another is that men lack the skills, or perceive themselves as lacking the care skills that female partners have. Caution is advised against introducing policy measures that increase pressure on female partners.

Een van de centrale vragen binnen de sociologie is die naar het ontstaan en voortbestaan van scheidslijnen in de samenleving. Meestal gaat de aandacht uit naar splitsingen die langs sekse, ras, etniciteit, religie of sociale klasse lopen. Pas recent is leeftijd aan dit rijtje toegevoegd. Niet dat er eerder helemaal geen aandacht was voor leeftijd als sociale scheidslijn; denk bijvoorbeeld aan de populariteit van de vermeende ‘generatiekloof’ in de jaren zestig en zeventig, en aan de recentere debatten over competitie tussen jongere en oudere generaties rond schaarser wordende hulpbronnen. Ik vind leeftijd als sociale scheidslijn een belangrijk thema vanwege de restricties die er zijn voor jong en oud om elkaar te ontmoeten, op een betekenisvolle manier met elkaar om te gaan en buiten stereotypen te gaan denken.

__Abstract__ Onderzoek naar de gevolgen van veranderingen in pensioen- en zorgwetgeving beweegt zich over het algemeen op het macroniveau. Voorbeelden zijn de recente stijging in de levensverwachting van 65-plussers na invoering van marktwerking in de zorg (Van Duin & Nicolaas, 2010) en de rapporten van de Commissie Frijns (2010) en de Commissie Goudswaard (2010) over stijgende pensioenkosten. Studies naar de gevolgen op het microniveau van individuele levens zijn schaars, vaak vanwege een gebrek aan geschikte gegevens, namelijk gegevens over opeenvolgende geboortecohorten. De onderhavige studie beoogt na te gaan in hoeverre en op welke manier veranderingen in pensioen- en zorgwetgeving tot veranderd gedrag (arbeidsmarktpositie, en daarmee samenhangend: gezondheidszorggebruik) tussen geboortecohorten hebben geleid.

Summary. The key question of this study is whether policies adopted elsewhere in Europe might be useful in helping to increase the labour force participation of women and of older workers in the Netherlands, and thus improve the financial basis for social security arrangements. We examined the effectiveness of national policy measures over and above that of the individual-level determinants that are traditionally examined in economic and sociological studies. The data on labour force participation are from the European Social Survey, and information on public policy arrangements comes from the MULTILINKS database. Regarding the labour force participation of women, findings show the importance of distinguishing financial measures and care services. Women generally work fewer hours per week in countries with generous financial support for families (tax benefits, child support), and more hours in countries with generous parental leaves. Regarding the participation of older workers, findings show the importance of distinguishing the minimum pension level (negative association with the likelihood of having a job) and pension as a proportion of earned wage (no association with having a job). A novelty of the present study is its ability to demonstrate the impact of national arrangements at the level of individual participation behaviour.

Intro: Na twintig jaar met heel veel plezier lid te zijn geweest van de redactie van Mens & Maatschappij neem ik afscheid. In 1992 begon ik als redactiesecretaris – een functie die op dat moment meer werk ging behelzen omdat de toenmalige uitgever Bohn Stafleu van Loghum (BSvL) had besloten om op ondersteuning te bezuinigen. Voorwaarde om toe te treden tot de redactie van Mens & Maatschappij was dat ik het lidmaatschap van Gezin: Tijdschrift voor Primaire Leefvormen opgaf. Ik had het er graag voor over. Na het onverwachte overlijden van Jan Karel Gevers in 1998 kreeg ik het penningmeesterschap erbij. Clara Mulder nam in 1999 het redactiesecretariaat over. In 2001 werd ik voorzitter toen Jaap Dronkers vertrok naar de European University Institute in Florence. ...

Inleidend: ... Families staan nu volop in de wetenschappelijke belangstelling. Dat is niet altijd zo geweest (De Hoog, 2003). Weliswaar zijn in de jaren vijftig en zestig van de vorige eeuw verschillende hoogleraren gezinssociologie in Nederland benoemd, maar hun leerstoelgroepen zijn enkele decennia daarna ter ziele gegaan. Universitaire bezuinigingen, maar ook verminderde belangstelling onder onderzoekers zijn daaraan debet geweest. In 1996 constateerde de Sociaal-Wetenschappelijke Raad dat de wetenschappelijke kennis over gezinnen en families was achtergebleven bij demografische en maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen. Hun rapport Nieuwe perspectieven voor de gezinssociologie (Sociaal-Wetenschappelijke Raad, 1996) is een effectieve katalysator geweest: investeringen in dataverzamelingen zijn gedaan, nieuwe hoogleraren zijn aangesteld en het programma ‘De bindende kracht van familierelaties’ van de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek is succesvol uitgevoerd. ...

In this article we examine to what extent norms of filial obligation in the Netherlands are shaped by group value patterns, family constellation, possibilities for helping others, and actual experiences of support exchange. The data are drawn from the first wave of the combined main and migrant sample of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, the Dutch participant in the Generations and Gender Programme. The Dutch appear reluctant to prescribe how other people should behave towards their ageing parents. Value patterns are the strongest determinants of filial norms, with migrants, the low-educated, and persons with religious beliefs espousing strong filial norms. Contrary to what traditional gender roles would suggest, women less strongly endorse norms of filial obligation than men, and contrary to the notion that divorce weakens family ties, divorcees and children of divorce do not exhibit less commitment to filial norms. Altruistic tendencies are evident in the weaker filial norms among the older age groups, and among those with non co-resident children. Finally, the results show a high level of consonance between actual support exchanges and filial norms.

Inleidend: ... Families staan nu volop in de wetenschappelijke belangstelling. Dat is niet altijd zo geweest (De Hoog, 2003). Weliswaar zijn in de jaren vijftig en zestig van de vorige eeuw verschillende hoogleraren gezinssociologie in Nederland benoemd, maar hun leerstoelgroepen zijn enkele decennia daarna ter ziele gegaan. Universitaire bezuinigingen, maar ook verminderde belangstelling onder onderzoekers zijn daaraan debet geweest. In 1996 constateerde de Sociaal-Wetenschappelijke Raad dat de wetenschappelijke kennis over gezinnen en families was achtergebleven bij demografische en maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen. Hun rapport Nieuwe perspectieven voor de gezinssociologie (Sociaal-Wetenschappelijke Raad, 1996) is een effectieve katalysator geweest: investeringen in dataverzamelingen zijn gedaan, nieuwe hoogleraren zijn aangesteld en het programma ‘De bindende kracht van familierelaties’ van de Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek is succesvol uitgevoerd. ...

Using data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study, this paper compares the partners of economically successful women with those of women who have fared less well on the labor market. Economic success is measured as belonging to the top ten percent income bracket of the female sample. First, socioeconomic and cultural homogamy/asymmetry are investigated. With respect to education, homogamy is the dominant pattern. Income asymmetry, where husbands contribute most to the household income, characterizes the majority of couples, particularly in the older age groups. Gender asymmetry in cultural resources is predominant, with women having more modern gender role attitudes than men. Second, hypotheses derived from social capital theory and companionate theory are tested to examine how socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of male partners are related to women’s economic success. Economically successful women tend to have high-income men, suggesting an accumulation of favorable resources. A larger share of the male partner in carrying out household tasks is positively related to a woman’s success. Men’s supportive behavior rather than their attitudes contribute to their wives’ economic success.

BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that living arrangements (independent households of those living alone or as a couple, versus coresident households encompassing adult children) are important determinants of older adults' loneliness. However, little is known about intergenerational support exchanges in these living arrangements and their associations with loneliness. OBJECTIVE: Our aim is to contribute to the knowledge on associations between living arrangements and loneliness, by taking into account and differentiating intergenerational support types. METHODS: Using data from the Generations and Gender Surveys of three countries in Eastern Europe and two countries in Western Europe, Latent Class Analyses was applied to develop intergenerational support types for (a) co-residing respondents in Eastern Europe, (b) respondents in independent households in Eastern Europe, and (c) respondents in independent households in Western Europe, respectively. Six types resulted, distinguishing patterns of upward support, downward support and get-togethers. Subsequently, we used linear regression analyses to examine differences in loneliness by region, living arrangements and intergenerational support type. RESULTS: Findings show higher levels of loneliness in Eastern than in Western Europe. Older adults living alone are most lonely, older adults living with a partner are least lonely. Coresidence provides protection, but not to the same degree as a partner. In both co-resident and independent households there is a greater likelihood of being involved in support given to adult children than in support received from adult children. In both East and West European countries, older adults who are primarily on the receiving side are most lonely. CONCLUSIONS: A better explanation of older adult loneliness is obtained if the direction of supportive exchanges with adult children is considered than if only living arrangements are considered.

Background: We identify four research themes where MULTILINKS, a programme of research on intergenerational family ties funded through the Seventh Framework of the European Commission, has brought new and unique insights. Key premises of the MULTILINKS approach involved an emphasis on (1) both young and old in families, (2) the ways in which social policies structure interdependencies in families, and (3) the influence of historical, economic and cultural contexts. Methods: Our overview includes research done in the context of the MULTILINKS programme at large as well as the papers in this special collection. Results: Firstly, by combining macro and micro perspectives on intergenerational family constellations across Europe it has been possible to provide a more nuanced view than is common in conventional portrayals of family change. Secondly, by extending research to Eastern European countries, the programme has not only identified crucial regional differences in co-residential arrangements and intergenerational exchanges in families, but also shown that explanations of well-being differentials are similar in Eastern and Western Europe. Thirdly, by focusing on legal and policy frameworks regarding the division of care and financial responsibilities for the young and old between the family and the state, it has been possible to distinguish patterns in the degree to which national policies strengthen or weaken generational interdependencies in families. Fourthly, research conducted in the context of the MULTILINKS programme has demonstrated the usefulness of paying attention to preferences about family members' responsibilities for each other. Conclusion: Recognition of the key premises of MULTILINKS has led to challenging, critical insights on intergenerational family ties.

This paper focuses on shifts in adult child-parent relationship type using the first two waves of the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (NKPS). The analyses are informed by both a life transitions perspective, and the negotiation of relationships perspective. The intergenerational relationships typology represents different combinations of solidaristic acts and conflict. We employed Latent Transition Analysis to determine the prevalence and predictors of shifts. Less than 5% of the dyads shifted to a different type. Insofar shifts took place, they were most likely from the ambivalent type, and particularly so for relationships with mothers and daughters. Offspring (re)partnering, offspring divorce, parental widowhood, parental health decline, offspring unemployment, birth of a grandchild, and moving nearer, did not predict typology shifts, whereas the number of parental divorces was too small for analyses of change. Parental repartnering prompted a shift towards the discordant type with its low probabilities of contact and support exchange, and the relatively high likelihood of conflict over personal issues. Moving away prompted a shift from the ambivalent type with its high probabilities of supportive exchanges and conflict over material and personal issues. Over a period of three years, there is considerably more continuity in adult child-parent relationships than change.

Introduction: Improvements in living standards have brought unprecedented increases in longevity (Vaupel, 2010). In industrialized societies, most people can expect to celebrate their 80th birthday and many live beyond that. Moreover, epidemiological studies consistently show that personal relationships are among the best predictors of a long life. Large, controlled, prospective studies show that personal relationships reduce mortality independently of potentially confounding factors such as socioeconomic status, healthrisk behaviors, use of health services, and personality (Berkman, Glass, Brissette, & Seeman, 2000; Uchino, 2004). Despite their importance, research on late-life personal ties lags behind scholarship on early and middle adulthood. For example, of the 135 articles published during 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (disregarding the special issues), only one article had an older-adult sample. Eighty percent of the articles’ samples included people under the age of 60, 13% had samples which included the 60-plus group, and for 7% of the articles, age was either unknown or irrelevant (e.g., a unit of analysis other than the individual). Although personal relationship researchers have largely neglected late-life issues, ageing scholars have not placed older adults’ social worlds at center stage either. Health issues dominate the study of late-life quality (Walker & Mollenkopf, 2007). Concerns about the costs of an ageing population and how older adults can maintain selfreliance have clear policy relevance. Elusive issues such as older adults’ social embeddedness have received little attention. Clearly, the decision to devote a special issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships to personal relationships and older adults is a timely one.

This study draws on national survey data from the United States (US) and the Netherlands to compare family obligations and support behaviour for middle-generation adults who have a living aged parent and adult child. Consistent with a familialism by default hypothesis based on welfare state differences, the US sample espouses stronger family obligations than the Dutch sample. Yet, the Dutch respondents are more likely to engage in family support behaviours with both the younger and older generations, contrary to a family-steps-in hypothesis. The connection between family obligations and support behaviour is also tested, revealing a stronger association in the US sample, consistent with a family steps in hypothesis, but only in regard to relations with ageing parents. We conclude that Dutch respondents are more likely to act on their individual preferences whereas American respondents are more influenced by general norms of obligation towards family members. The findings are discussed in terms of social policy differences between the two countries, and in light of results from comparative European studies of intergenerational relations.

Introduction: Improvements in living standards have brought unprecedented increases in longevity (Vaupel, 2010). In industrialized societies, most people can expect to celebrate their 80th birthday and many live beyond that. Moreover, epidemiological studies consistently show that personal relationships are among the best predictors of a long life. Large, controlled, prospective studies show that personal relationships reduce mortality independently of potentially confounding factors such as socioeconomic status, healthrisk behaviors, use of health services, and personality (Berkman, Glass, Brissette, & Seeman, 2000; Uchino, 2004). Despite their importance, research on late-life personal ties lags behind scholarship on early and middle adulthood. For example, of the 135 articles published during 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships (disregarding the special issues), only one article had an older-adult sample. Eighty percent of the articles’ samples included people under the age of 60, 13% had samples which included the 60-plus group, and for 7% of the articles, age was either unknown or irrelevant (e.g., a unit of analysis other than the individual). Although personal relationship researchers have largely neglected late-life issues, ageing scholars have not placed older adults’ social worlds at center stage either. Health issues dominate the study of late-life quality (Walker & Mollenkopf, 2007). Concerns about the costs of an ageing population and how older adults can maintain selfreliance have clear policy relevance. Elusive issues such as older adults’ social embeddedness have received little attention. Clearly, the decision to devote a special issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships to personal relationships and older adults is a timely one.