Youth poverty and transition to adulthood in Europe

There is an increasing amount of research focussing on the transition to adulthood, a stage of the life cycle where young people face demanding life decisions, including completion of education, finding stable employment, and establishing their household and family. Whereas there is a well-developed literature on poverty among households in general, very little research has focused on poverty among young adults. Using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) we provide a detailed description of youth poverty in Europe. Across the European Union youth poverty varies greatly, being higher in Southern European countries, as well as in the ‘liberal’ regimes of the UK and Ireland. However, there are also large variations in the extent of youth poverty within countries, between what we might term 'younger youth' (aged 16-19) and 'older youth' aged (25-29). In the UK, poverty rates among 'younger youth' are much higher than among 'older youth', suggesting that poverty among young people is closely associated with child poverty. In the Scandinavian countries, poverty peaks dramatically in the early twenties, indicating that in these countries, poverty is associated with leaving home

Household composition across the new Europe: Where do the new Member States fit in?

In this paper we present indicators of household structure for 26 of the 27 countries of the post-enlargement European Union. As well as broad indicators of household type, we present statistics on single-person and extended-family households, and on the households of children and older people. Our main aim is to assess the extent to which household structure differs between the "old" and "new" Member States of the European Union. We find that most of the Eastern European countries may be thought of as lying on the same North-North-Western-Southern continuum defined for the "old" EU Member States, and constituting an "extreme form" of the Southern European model of living arrangements, which we term the "Eastern" model. However, the Baltic states do not fit easily onto this continuum.Europe, European Union, family, household

Household composition across the new Europe: Where do the new Member States fit in?

In this paper we present indicators of household structure for 26 of the 27 countries of the post-enlargement European Union. As well as broad indicators of household type, we present statistics on single-person and extended-family households, and on the households of children and older people. Our main aim is to assess the extent to which household structure differs between the "old" and "new" Member States of the European Union. We find that most of the Eastern European countries may be thought of as lying on the same North-North-Western-Southern continuum defined for the "old" EU Member States, and constituting an "extreme form" of the Southern European model of living arrangements, which we term the "Eastern" model. However, the Baltic states do not fit easily onto this continuum

Do preceding questions influence the reporting of childbearing intentions in social surveys?

For demographers fertility intentions are a long standing source of both interest and scepticism. Scepticism has been expressed because fertility intentions regularly fail to precisely predict fertility and because they are liable to change across the life course. Here we demonstrate an additional consideration: simply changing the questions that precede fertility intentions questions can have a significant influence on responses. We illustrate this risk using a series of randomised experiments with different preceding questions; first, on mortality and risk in two convenience samples of UK undergraduate students. Secondly, we will present provisional results from a ground-breaking longitudinal experiment where the manipulated preceding questions are on close family and friends. As far as we are aware this later study is the first time that question ordering experiment looking at fertility intentions has been embedded in a representative survey, and the first longitudinal measurement of preceding-question effects using the same individuals

The Palaepaphos-Laona rampart. A pilot study on earthen architecture and construction technology in Cyprus

Excavations conducted in the context of the Palaepaphos Urban Landscape Project (PULP) have revealed a defensive monument of the Cypro-Classical period (fifth and fourth centuries BCE), which had been preserved under an anthropogenic mound (tumulus) of the 3rd century BCE. Besides stone-work, the construction of the monumental rampart made extensive use of mudbricks. In 2016–2017, PULP introduced a pilot study based on analytical techniques (pXRF, SEM-EDS, granulometric and petrographic analysis) to address issues relating to the manufacture and construction of the earthen architecture of the rampart. The paper presents a description of the geoarchaeological analyses and their results, which have highlighted specific manufacturing practices in relation to the construction of the monument. Given that the rampart constituted a major investment of the royal authorities of ancient Paphos, the results provide new information on the production of earthen building materials and also on environmental choices with respect to raw material selection in the context of a public project carried out by a central authority circa the mid first millennium BCE.Peer reviewe

Light drinking versus abstinence in pregnancy : behavioural and cognitive outcomes in 7-year-old children : a longitudinal cohort study

To assess whether light drinking in pregnancy is linked to unfavourable developmental outcomes in children. Design Prospective population-based cohort. Setting UK. Population Ten thousand five hundred and thirty-four 7-year-olds. Methods Quasi-experimental using propensity score matching (PSM) to compare children born to light (up to 2 units per week) and non-drinkers. Main outcome measures Behavioural difficulties rated by parents and teachers; cognitive test scores for reading, maths and spatial skills. Results Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression and PSM analyses are presented. For behavioural difficulties, unadjusted estimates for percentage standard deviation (SD) score differences ranged from 2 to 14%. On adjustment for potential confounders, differences were attenuated, with a loss of statistical significance, except for teacher-rated boys' difficulties. For boys, parent-rated behavioural difficulties: unadjusted, −11.5; OLS, −4.3; PSM, −6.8; teacher-rated behavioural difficulties: unadjusted, −13.9; OLS, −9.6; PSM, −10.8. For girls, parent-rated behavioural difficulties: unadjusted, −9.6; OLS, −2.9; PSM, −4.5; teacher-rated behavioural difficulties: unadjusted, −2.4; OLS, 4.9; PSM, 3.9. For cognitive test scores, unadjusted estimates for differences ranged between 12 and 21% of an SD score for reading, maths and spatial skills. After adjustment for potential confounders, estimates were reduced, but remained statistically significantly different for reading and for spatial skills in boys. For boys, reading: unadjusted, 20.9; OLS, 8.3; PSM, 7.3; maths: unadjusted, 14.7; OLS, 5.0; PSM, 6.5; spatial skills: unadjusted, 16.2; OLS, 7.6; PSM, 8.1. For girls, reading: unadjusted, 11.6; OLS, −0.3; PSM, −0.5; maths: unadjusted, 12.9; OLS, 4.3; PSM, 3.9; spatial skills: unadjusted, 16.2; OLS, 7.7; PSM, 6.4. Conclusion The findings suggest that light drinking during pregnancy is not linked to developmental problems in mid-childhood. These findings support current UK Department of Health guidelines on drinking during pregnancy

New evidence on breastfeeding and postpartum depression: the importance of understanding women's intentions.

This study aimed to identify the causal effect of breastfeeding on postpartum depression (PPD), using data on mothers from a British survey, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Multivariate linear and logistic regressions were performed to investigate the effects of breastfeeding on mothers' mental health measured at 8 weeks, 8, 21 and 32 months postpartum. The estimated effect of breastfeeding on PPD differed according to whether women had planned to breastfeed their babies, and by whether they had shown signs of depression during pregnancy. For mothers who were not depressed during pregnancy, the lowest risk of PPD was found among women who had planned to breastfeed, and who had actually breastfed their babies, while the highest risk was found among women who had planned to breastfeed and had not gone on to breastfeed. We conclude that the effect of breastfeeding on maternal depression is extremely heterogeneous, being mediated both by breastfeeding intentions during pregnancy and by mothers' mental health during pregnancy. Our results underline the importance of providing expert breastfeeding support to women who want to breastfeed; but also, of providing compassionate support for women who had intended to breastfeed, but who find themselves unable to.This article "New Evidence on Breastfeeding and Postpartum Depression: The Importance of Understanding Women's Intentions" is the version of record published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal under the Springer Open Access option. The published version is available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10995-014-1591-

Adolescent development and the math gender gap

This paper investigates the determinants of the gap between girls and boys in mathematics performance (the ‘math gap’). We are particularly interested in the role played by pubertal development in explaining the widening of the math gap over adolescence. We estimate rich production function models of math skills, using data from the 1958 British National Child Development Study (NCDS), a longitudinal survey of all British children born in a single week in March 1958 which contains unique information on pubertal development and educational outcomes. Using (cumulative) value-added models, we show that the impact of puberty varies by the age and gender of the child, and that this heterogeneity can explain about two thirds of the math gap that emerges between the ages of 11 and 16. We find also that the widening of the math gap during adolescence is driven by markers of pubertal development which are publicly evident, rather than by markers which are only privately evident; and that the relationship between puberty and math scores is strongly associated with children's self-perceived ability in math. Taken together, these results suggest that the mechanisms underlying the relationship between pubertal development and the math gender gap are socially rather than biologically driven

Breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing

Context The benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and the child are well documented, as are the negative health consequences of perinatal depression. Objective To explore causality in the relationships between breastfeeding and perinatal depression. In particular the causal effect of breastfeeding on postpartum maternal mental health was investigated together with the causal effect of antenatal maternal wellbeing on breastfeeding intentions, prevalence, and duration. Methods We used the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) dataset which offers longitudinal information on mothers and their children. Multivariate linear and logistic regression analyses were performed to explore the effects of any and exclusive breastfeeding initiation and duration on postpartum mental health, measured at different time moments (8 weeks, 8 months, 21 months and 32 months post partum) We also explored the effects of antenatal mental health measured at 18 and 33 weeks pregnancy on the different breastfeeding outcomes. Results We found first that, even though there was a strong bivariate relationship between breastfeeding and maternal wellbeing, once potential confounders were controlled for, especially maternal mental and physical health during pregnancy, breastfeeding ceased to exert a significant effect on maternal wellbeing. Therefore apparently breastfeeding did not causally affect maternal postnatal wellbeing. Second, antenatal mental health was positively related to breastfeeding. This effect remained statistically significant after all potential confounders were controlled for with respect to breastfeeding duration, though not for other measures of breastfeeding. Third, the usual screening value for perinatal depression of EPDS greater than 13 may be unnecessarily high. A value of 14 to 15 EPDS was enough to capture the negative impact of prenatal depression on breastfeeding duration. Conclusion Depressive symptomatology in the perinatal period negatively influences infant-feeding outcomes. Prenatal identification of depression-prone mothers may allow targeting breastfeeding promotion interventions to this highly vulnerable grou