The effect of moving on union dissolution

This paper examines the effect of migration and residential mobility on union dissolution among married and cohabiting couples. While there is a large, multi-disciplinary literature looking at the determinants of union dissolution in Europe and North America, the possible impact of geographical mobility has received little attention. This is despite the fact that moving is a stressful life event and that numerous studies suggest that women’s economic well-being and employment suffer from family moves which are usually stimulated by the man’s career. We base our longitudinal analysis on retrospective event-history data from Austria and apply hazard regression. Our results show that couples who move frequently have a significantly higher risk of union dissolution. We argue that frequent moving increases couple stress and union instability through a variety of mechanisms.Austria, dissolution of marriage, event history analysis, internal migration, residential mobility

Family life transitions, residential relocations, and housing in the life course: current research and opportunities for future work : Introduction to the special collection on “separation, divorce, and residential mobility in a comparative perspective”

PartnerLife is supported by a grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO, grant no. 464–13–148), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, grant no. WA 1502/6–1), and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, grant no. ES/L01663X/1) in the Open Research Area Plus scheme. Clara Mulder’s research was also part of The FamilyTies project. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 740113).Background : This article provides an introduction to the Special Collection on “Separation, Divorce, and Residential Mobility in a Comparative Perspective.” The Special Collection consists of six European case studies: Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Hungary, and the United Kingdom, and a cross-national study comparing Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. All studies focus on residential relocations or housing outcomes following separation. Results : Divorce and separation have a long-lasting impact on individuals’ residential relocations and housing conditions. This influence is gendered – women are generally worse off than men – and varies by individuals’ educational level, whether they have children, and who cares for the children following union dissolution. Conclusions : Although the study countries are different regarding their welfare systems and housing markets, papers in the Special Collection report striking similarities in the housing and residential consequences of union dissolution across countries. Separation leads to a prolonged residential and housing instability for many individuals. Contribution : The studies contribute to the literature by focusing on the role of repartnering, child custody arrangements, the parental home, location continuity, country context, and gender for postseparation residential patterns and trajectories. Furthermore, this Special Collection contains the first analyses of the residential and housing patterns of separated men and women in Eastern and Southern Europe.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Trends in multimorbidity, complex multimorbidity and multiple functional limitations in the ageing population of England, 2002–2015

This is the final version. Available from SAGE via the DOI in this record.This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of three measures of multimorbidity among people aged 50 years or older in England. Beside the basic measure of two or more diseases within a person, we added a measure of three or more affected body systems (complex multimorbidity) and a measure of 10 or more functional limitations. We found that the three health outcomes became more prevalent between 2002 and 2015. They were more common among females than males and were becoming more common among younger age groups. While in 2002, the prevalence of basic multimorbidity overcame 50% from the 70–74 age group upwards, in 2015 it crossed the same threshold in the 65–69 age group. The distribution of multimorbidity and multiple functional limitations were stratified by the amount of household wealth. Multiple functional limitations reflected the largest differences between the most and the least affluent groups (5.9-fold in 2014/2015), followed by the measure of complex multimorbidity (2.8-fold in 2014/2015) and basic multimorbidity (1.9-fold) in 2014/2015.While age acted as a levelling factor for the wealth differences in basic multimorbidity, it had no such effect on the two other outcomes. Our study observed social polarization among multimorbid ageing population in England where complex multimorbidity and multiple functional limitations increase faster and reflect stronger inequality than basic multimorbidity

Ethnic Minority–Majority Unions in Estonia

Ethnic minority–majority unions—also referred to as mixed ethnic unions—are often seen as the ultimate evidence of the integration of ethnic minorities into their host societies. We investigated minority–majority unions in Estonia, where ethnic minorities account for one-third of the total population (Russians 26%, followed by Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Finns and other smaller groups). Using data from the 2000 Estonian census and regression models, we found that Slavic women are less likely to be in minority–majority unions than are members of other minority groups, with Russians being the least likely. Finns, who are culturally most similar to the Estonian majority population, are the most likely to form a union with an Estonian. For ethnic minority women, the likelihood of being in minority–majority unions is highest in rural areas and increases over generations, with third-generation immigrants being the most likely. Estonian women are most likely to have a minority partner when they or their parents were born abroad and when they live in urban areas. Our findings suggest that both the opportunity to meet potential partners and openness to other ethnic groups are important factors for understanding the dynamics of minority–majority unions

Dendrochronological Investigations of Valonia Oak Trees in Western Greece

Background and Purpose: Valonia oak (Quercus ithaburensis subsp. macrolepis (Kotschy) Hedge & Yalt.) is an east Mediterranean endemic, xerothermic and deciduous tree of particular interest in forestry. There has been a growing demand lately to include the species in reforestations in Greece which also increased the interest to investigate its response to climate change. The main purpose of this research is to study valonia oak from a dendrochronological – dendroclimatological point of view within its Mediterranean distribution range. Materials and Methods: Sampling took place in characteristic valonia oak stands where cross sections or tree-cores were taken from 40 trees. The cross sections and the tree-cores were prepared and cross-dated using standard dendrochronological methods and tree-ring widths were measured to the nearest 0.001 mm using the Windendro software program. The ARSTAN program was used to standardize the tree-ring data and to calculate dendrochronological statistical parameters. The inter-annual variability of tree-ring width and the radial growth trend were examined. Finally, tree-ring widths to climate relationships were calculated by orthogonal regression in combination with the bootstrap procedure using master residual chronology and monthly precipitation, temperature data and scPDSI drought index, from October of the n-1 year up to November of the n year. Results: The master chronology of valonia oak trees in Western Greece reaches 365 years, with an average ring width of 0.89 mm and with mean sensitivity being 0.21. The variation of the tree-ring widths indicates the influence of climate and human intervention in the past. Tree-ring to climate relationships show that valonia oak growth is positively affected by precipitations in January and March and by drought reduction during June and July. Conclusions: Valonia oak in Western Greece is a species of great interest for dendrochronological and dendroclimatological studies due to the old age of the trees and the species response to climate variation. The climate factors that mostly affect its growth are winter and spring precipitation and summer drought