The timing of family commitments in the early work career:Work-family trajectories of young adults in Flanders

OBJECTIVE This article examines the diverse ways in which young adults develop both their professional career and family life in the years immediately after they complete their education. Building a career and starting a family often occur simultaneously in this stage of life. By studying the simultaneous developments in these life domains, we can gain a better understanding of this complex interplay. METHODS The data consist of a sample of 1,657 young adults born in 1976 who were interviewed as part of the SONAR survey of Flanders at ages 23, 26, and 29 about their education, their entry into and early years on the labour market, and their family life. Sequence analysis is used to study the timing of union formation and having children among these young adults, as well as how these events are related to their work career. Multinomial regression analysis is applied to help us gain a better understanding of the extent to which these life course patterns are determined by education and economic status at the start of the career. RESULTS The results reveal a set of work-family trajectories which vary in terms of the extent of labour market participation and the type and timing of family formation. Various aspects of the trajectory are found to be determined by different dimensions of an individual’s educational career (duration, level, field of study). Education is more relevant for women than for men, as a man’s trajectory is more likely than a woman’s to be determined by the first job. CONCLUSIONS By using a simultaneous approach which takes into account both family and work, this life course analysis confirms that men have a head start on the labour market, and examines the factors which influence the distinct trajectories of young women and men

Social embeddedness in a harmonized Europe: the social networks of European migrants with a native partner in Belgium and the Netherland

Although intra-European migration is often considered relatively easy to realize given European citizens' right to freedom of movement, settlement in another European country can still be experienced as socially disruptive. Insights in the insertion processes of European migrants, nevertheless, remain rather scarce. In this study, we analyse the social networks of European nationals with a native partner in Belgium and the Netherlands. The analysis is based on survey data from the EUMARR project (n = 576). First, we study the size and composition of European migrants' local family and friendship networks, and the frequency of contact with these networks. Second, we connect intra-EU movers' insertion routes to investments in transnational networks in their home country. The results reveal how size, composition and contact with the local and transnational network change over time. Children help to maintain contact with both the local and transnational family network and form a bridge for parents to meet own friends in the host country. Moreover, having own friends and own family around matters for contact frequency with the local networks

Bi-national Marriages between European Citizens: From Intermarriage to Intramarriage?

Previous studies on intermarriage in Europe have focused mainly on marriages between migrants from non-western origin and partners from the EU settlement country. This paper examines intermarriage among EU migrants and the native population in four countries of settlement: Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. It is relevant to know who marries whom and what patterns of intermarriage among EU citizens are observed since European migrants are an important part of the migrants in each of the four settlement countries. Taking an international comparative approach can highlight how and to what extent the same patterns and factors are found to be relevant in different European countries. This study can advance our understanding of the trends in EU intermarriages, their changes over time and factors involved. The study draws from data including the total population in each of the four countries by combining vital statistics, census and register data over the period from 1989 to 2009. Bi-national marriages between two spouses of different EU descent are assumed to be an important indicator as well as driver for social cohesion within the EU