Partnership histories and the transition to motherhood in later reproductive ages in Europe

Júlia Mikolai was a PhD student at the Department of Social Statistics and Demography at the University of Southampton and was funded by a scholarship provided by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/J500161/1) while completing most of this work.Changing partnership experiences might accentuate fertility postponement and lead to increased uncertainty as to whether women will remain childless unwillingly. Previous research typically focused on current partnership status and a single country when studying the link between partnerships and first birth. We examine how current partnership status and partnership histories of women who remained childless by age 30 or 35 are linked to later transition to motherhood in twelve European countries. Women born between 1953 and 1962 are analysed using data from the Harmonized Histories. In Western and Northern European countries, women who married their cohabiting partner by age 30 have the highest probability of achieving a first birth between age 30 and 40, followed by the directly married. We find the opposite in Southern European and post-socialist countries. Cohabiting women generally have smaller first birth probabilities than directly married women. In Western and Northern Europe, never partnered women are the least likely to have a child by age 40 whereas in the remaining countries, women who are single following union dissolution have the smallest first birth probabilities. This study highlights that women’s opportunities to become a mother at later ages are linked to their partnership histories in different ways across Europe.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

With or without you: partnership context of first conceptions and births in Hungary

Using notions from the Second Demographic Transition theory and the Pattern of Disadvantage argument, I study how women’s risk of a first conception within different union types (single, cohabitation, marriage) is influenced by education in Hungary and whether this influence has changed over time. Additionally, I examine the transition to marriage among women who experienced a non-marital conception. Using the first wave of the Hungarian Generations and Gender Survey from 2004, I conduct discrete time survival analyses and logistic regression. I find a positive educational gradient for single and marital conceptions while this gradient is negative for cohabiting conceptions. Highly educated women are less likely to experience a conception when single or cohabiting than when married compared to their medium educated counterparts. Furthermore, the impact of education on the risk of a single and marital conception has changed over time. Following the transition in 1990, a positive gradient of education on the risk of a single conception emerged whereas for marital conceptions the effect of education is negative. No consistent patterns are found for cohabiting conceptions. Additionally, medium educated women and those who experienced a conception while being single are more likely to marry between the conception and birth than their lower educated counterparts and those who experienced a cohabiting conception. Furthermore, highly educated women who experience a single conception are 1.4 times as likely to marry before the birth of the first child as their counterparts with medium education

With or without you. Partnership context of first conceptions and births in Hungary

The author is grateful for the financial support received from the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) while participating in EDSD. The current version of this paper was prepared while the author was a PhD student at the University of Southampton, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). I am grateful for the financial support I received from the Centre for Population Change (CPC) at the University of Southampton.Using notions from the Second Demographic Transition theory and the Pattern of Disadvantage argument, I study how women’s risk of a first conception within different union types (single, cohabitation, marriage) is influenced by education in Hungary and whether this influence has changed over time. Additionally, I examine the transition to marriage among women who experienced a non-marital conception. Using the first wave of the Hungarian Generations and Gender Survey from 2004, I conduct discrete time survival analyses and logistic regression. I find a positive educational gradient of marital conceptions, while this gradient is negative for cohabiting conceptions. Moreover, highly educated women are less likely to experience a cohabiting or a single conception than a marital conception compared to their medium educated counterparts. Furthermore, the impact of education on the risk of a single and marital conception changes over time. The positive gradient of education on the risk of a single conception emerged after the transition, while it declined for marital conceptions. No consistent patterns are found for cohabiting conceptions. Additionally, highly educated women and those who experienced a conception while being single are more likely to marry than their lower educated counterparts and those who experienced a cohabiting conception.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Changing partnership patterns, housing and new social vulnerabilities

Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Sciences on behalf of the collaborative network “Population Europe”Policy BriefPublisher PD

Divorce, separation, and housing changes : a multiprocess analysis of longitudinal data from England and Wales

The study was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC, grant no. ES/L01663X/1).This study investigates the effect of marital and non-marital separation on individuals’ residential and housing trajectories. Using rich data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and applying multi-level competing-risks event history models, we analyze the risk of a move of single, married, cohabiting, and separated men and women to different housing types. We distinguish between moves due to separation and moves of separated people and account for unobserved co-determinants of moving and separation risks. Our analysis shows that many individuals move due to separation, as expected, but the likelihood of moving is also relatively high among separated individuals. We find that separation has a long-term effect on individuals’ residential careers. Separated women exhibit high moving risks regardless of whether they moved out of the joint home upon separation whereas separated men who did not move out upon separation are less likely to move. Interestingly, separated women are most likely to move to terraced houses, whereas separated men are equally likely to move to flats and terraced houses, suggesting that family structure shapes moving patterns of separated individuals.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Partnership and fertility trajectories of immigrants and their descendants in the United Kingdom : a multilevel multistate event history approach

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 834103).We study the interrelationships between partnership and fertility trajectories of immigrant women and female descendants of immigrants using the UK Household Longitudinal Study. We propose a novel multistate event history approach to analyse the outcomes of unpartnered, cohabiting, and married women. We find that the partnership and fertility behaviours of immigrants and descendants from European and Western countries are similar to those of native women: many cohabit first and then have children and/or marry. Those from countries with conservative family behaviours (e.g. South Asian countries) marry first and then have children. Women from the Caribbean show the weakest link between partnership changes and fertility: some have births outside unions; some form a union and have children thereafter. Family patterns have remained relatively stable across migrant generations and birth cohorts, although marriage is being postponed in all groups. Our findings on immigrants support the socialization hypothesis, whereas those on descendants are in line with the minority subculture hypothesis.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

A Compartmentalized Mathematical Model of the b1-Adrenergic Signaling System in Mouse Ventricular Myocytes

The b1-adrenergic signaling system plays an important role in the functioning of cardiac cells. Experimental data shows that the activation of this system produces inotropy, lusitropy, and chronotropy in the heart, such as increased magnitude and relaxation rates of [Ca2+]i transients and contraction force, and increased heart rhythm. However, excessive stimulation of b1-adrenergic receptors leads to heart dysfunction and heart failure. In this paper, a comprehensive, experimentally based mathematical model of the b1-adrenergic signaling system for mouse ventricular myocytes is developed, which includes major subcellular functional compartments (caveolae, extracaveolae, and cytosol). The model describes biochemical reactions that occur during stimulation of b1-adrenoceptors, changes in ionic currents, and modifications of Ca2+ handling system. Simulations describe the dynamics of major signaling molecules, such as cyclic AMP and protein kinase A, in different subcellular compartments; the effects of inhibition of phosphodiesterases on cAMP production; kinetics and magnitudes of phosphorylation of ion channels, transporters, and Ca2+ handling proteins; modifications of action potential shape and duration; magnitudes and relaxation rates of [Ca2+]i transients; changes in intracellular and transmembrane Ca2+ fluxes; and [Na+]i fluxes and dynamics. The model elucidates complex interactions of ionic currents upon activation of b1- adrenoceptors at different stimulation frequencies, which ultimately lead to a relatively modest increase in action potential duration and significant increase in [Ca2+]i transients. In particular, the model includes two subpopulations of the L-type Ca2+ channels, in caveolae and extracaveolae compartments, and their effects on the action potential and [Ca2+]i transients are investigated. The presented model can be used by researchers for the interpretation of experimental data and for the developments of mathematical models for other species or for pathological conditions

Remain, leave, or return? Mothers’ location continuity after separation in Belgium

Christine Schnor acknowledges support from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (FAMILYTIES project: Grant Agreement No. 740113 (2017-2022), PI Clara H. Mulder, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen; GENDERBALL project: Grant No. 312290 (2013-2017), PI Jan Van Bavel, KU Leuven). Júlia Mikolai acknowledges support from the Economic and Social Research Council (PartnerLife project; Grant No.: ES/L01663X/1 (2014-2017), PI: Hill Kulu, University of St Andrews) under the Open Research Area (ORA) Plus scheme.BACKGROUND Partnership dissolution can mark an extended period of residential instability for mothers and their children. Location continuity, i.e., the ability to stay in or return to the same neighbourhood after separation, is essential to reduce the negative consequences of separation. OBJECTIVE We focus on mothers’ post-separation location continuity in the three years following separation and study the role of socioeconomic resources and local ties (to a home, neighbourhood, and region) in remaining in or returning to their pre-separation neighbourhood. METHODS Using linked Belgian Census (2001) and register data (2001–2006), we estimate multinomial logistic regression models (N = 25,802). Based on the occurrence, frequency, and destination of moves, we distinguish between high, moderate, and low degrees of location continuity. We also study the probability of remaining in, leaving, or returning to the pre-separation neighbourhood. RESULTS Mothers who live at their place of birth (a measure of local ties) tend to stay in or return to their pre-separation neighbourhood or region; if they have more socioeconomic resources they are more likely to remain in the family home. Mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds move further and more often. CONCLUSION If separated mothers lack socioeconomic resources and local ties, they are less likely to maintain location continuity. Policy programmes should target these women in order to provide better opportunities for separated mothers and their children. CONTRIBUTION We introduce the concept of post-separation location continuity and account for separation-induced as well as post-separation residential changes in the first three years after separation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Partnership status, health and mortality : selection or protection?

This research was supported by the ESRC Centre for Population Change (CPC), grant number ES/K007394/1; and the ESRC Centre for Population Change Connecting Generations research programme, grant number ES/W002116/1.Married individuals have better health and lower mortality than non-married people. Studies show that once we distinguish cohabitants from other non-married groups, health differences between partnered and non-partnered individuals become even more pronounced. Some studies argue that partnered individuals have better health and lower mortality because of the protective effects that a partnership offers (protection); others state that partnered people have better health and lower mortality because healthy persons are more likely to form a union and less likely to dissolve it (selection). This study contributes to this debate by investigating health and mortality by partnership status in England and Wales and analysing the causes of mortality differences. We use combined data from the British Household Panel Survey and the UK Household Longitudinal Study and apply a simultaneous equations hazard model to control for observed and unobserved selection into partnerships. We develop a novel approach to identify frailty based on information on self-rated health. Our analysis shows significant mortality differentials by partnership status; partnered individuals have lower mortality than non-partnered people. We observe some selection into and out of union on unobserved health characteristics; however, the mortality differences by partnership status persist. The study offers strong support for the marital protection hypothesis and extends it to non-marital partnerships.Peer reviewe