Pension Insecurity and Wellbeing in Europe

This paper studies pension insecurity in a sample of non-retired individuals aged 50 years or older from 18 European countries. We capture pension insecurity with the subjective expectations on the probability that the government will reduce the pensions of the individual before retirement or will increase the statutory retirement age. We argue that changes in economic conditions and policy affect the formation of such probabilities, and through this, subjective wellbeing. In particular, we study the effects of pension insecurity on subjective wellbeing with pooled linear models, regressions per quintiles and instrumental variables. We find a statistically significant, stable and negative association between pension insecurity and subjective wellbeing. Our findings reveal that the individuals who are more affected by pension insecurity are those who are further away from their retirement, have lower income, assess their life survival as low, have higher cognitive abilities and do not expect private pension payments

Harmonization of Income Data in EU-SILC: Update of GESIS Paper 2015/18

This report is intended to provide an overview of income measures employed in the EU-SILC and to inform on procedures which can be employed to harmonize these data both for comparisons over time and between countries. Each subsection provides a short overview over a topic or meth-od and contains example code for Stata and SPSS which can be used to implement the described procedures. Alongside this report syntax files as well as a data files for both SPSS and Stata are delivered which include the code provided here as well auxiliary country level data drawn from the Eurostat database1. In this updated version, an extended appendix is included that explains how to generate and replicate these files in more detail

Subjektives Wohlbefinden nach dem Rentenübertritt: eine Analyse zu Zufriedenheitsveränderungen mit europäischen Daten

Der Übertritt vom Erwerbsleben in die Rente geht mit einer Vielzahl von Veränderungen einher. Neben den Veränderungen im Tagesrhythmus, sind auch das soziale Umfeld und die Identität eines Individuums betroffen. Dieser Einschnitt kann sowohl positive als auch negative Folgen für die Lebenszufriedenheit haben. Der aktuelle Forschungsstand präsentiert einerseits Belege für die Verschlechterung und andererseits auch für die Verbesserung der Lebenszufriedenheit mit dem Eintritt in die Rente. Gleichwohl gibt es Studien, die keinen Einfluss des Rentenübertritts auf die Lebenszufriedenheit feststellen können. Es zeigt sich, dass die Entwicklung der Lebenszufriedenheit wesentlich von der Erwerbsituation der Befragten und von den Bedingungen des Übertritts abhängt. Der folgende Beitrag gibt Einblick in die derzeitige Forschungslage zu den kurz- und langfristigen Folgen der Verrentung. Eine Langzeitbetrachtung der psychischen Folgen des Rentenübertritts ist auf wenige Länder beschränkt. Mit den vorliegenden Daten aus dem Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) können Unterschiede zwischen europäischen Ländern erfasst werden

Scarring effects across the life course and the transition to retirement

This thesis investigates the long-term negative effects of unemployment, labour market inactivity and atypical employment. Within the theoretical framework of cumulative advantages and disadvantages, it is outlined how life-course differentiation creates gaps between age peers and cohorts and how this leads to social inequality in old age. In the three separate, but linked studies, disadvantages across the career and their associations to retirement are analysed. The focus of the analyses is laid on the outcomes of career disadvantages in form of subjective and financial well-being. The three studies all use the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. This large and multidimensional panel study provides not only prospective, but also retrospective data on European countries. The data base is employed in different combinations in the studies. In the first and second study, the retrospective wave SHARELIFE provides information on employment biography and is related to well-being indicators of the regular waves. In the third study, the persistence of disadvantages upon retirement is observed with a causal model. The first study investigates how disadvantages are affecting careers and subjective well-being of older Europeans. In two complementary analyses, first the employment history of older Europeans is studied with sequence analysis methods to show how non-employment and part-time work shape careers and to illustrate gender differences. In a second step, indicators of timing and duration, exemplifying the accumulation mechanisms, are related to subjective well-being in old age. The results indicate that women experience more turbulent careers with more periods of non-employment and part-time employment. However, this is not reflected in lower subjective well-being in old age. Accumulation of non-employment disadvantages is far more comprehensive for men than for women. Part-time employment has an ambiguous effect for women, but is not relevant for men. In the second study, the household level is added and it is analysed how an adverse employment history is related to wealth accumulation. The results show that cumulative non-employment and employment in lower occupations has significant disadvantages for wealth accumulation in old age. However, large differences for men and women remain. Particularly, the household composition and household factors are decisive in the effectuality of these disadvantages. The third study includes the scarring question, that means if career disadvantages continue beyond the working life. The study examines whether non-employment disadvantages are still found in retirement and the extent to which well-being levels change in the transition to retirement. Well-being scores before and after retirement are obtained and unbiased effects of the retirement transition are identified. Results indicate that being unemployed before retirement is associated with an increase in life satisfaction, but presents mainly a catching-up effect compared to employed persons transitioning to retirement. Findings are robust to selection into unemployment and country differences

Wealth accumulation over the life course. The role of disadvantages across the employment history

In this study wealth is employed as an often neglected but highly stratified well-being measure in sociology. I relate the employment history and especially the accumulating disadvantages like nonemployment and lower occupations to wealth in old age. In particular, I am interested in determining whether an adverse employment history prevents wealth accumulation and which factors influence wealth accumulation across the life course. I use comparative data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement and combine it with the retrospective panel SHARELIFE to retrieve information about the complete employment history. The relevance of wealth varies significantly across households and in the wider national context. Hence, a contextual perspective is included to account for the difference in wealth rates and wealth inequality in the European countries. The results show that cumulative nonemployment and employment in lower occupations has significant disadvantages for wealth accumulation in old age. However, large differences for men and women persist. Particularly, the household composition and household factors are decisive in the effectuality of these disadvantages. The relation of life course employment and especially disadvantages to accumulated wealth in old aged is stronger in conservative countries than in other welfare regimes

Increases in wellbeing in the transition to retirement for the unemployed: catching up with formerly employed persons

This paper examines the extent to which wellbeing levels change in the transition to retirement depending on transitioning from being employed, unemployed or economically inactive. Whereas transitioning from employment to unemployment has been found to cause a decrease in subjective wellbeing with more time spent in unemployment, it is not clear how transitioning from unemployment to retirement affects wellbeing levels. We use the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe to monitor the life satisfaction of respondents who retire in between two waves. We portray wellbeing scores before and after retirement and then identify the change in life satisfaction during the retirement transition using a First Difference model. Results indicate that being unemployed before retirement is associated with an increase in life satisfaction, but presents mainly a catching-up effect compared to employed persons transitioning to retirement. These results are still significant if we control for selection into unemployment and country differences. Retirement from labour market inactivity does not lead to significant changes in wellbeing. As the wellbeing of unemployed persons recovers after transitioning to retirement, especially the currently unemployed population should be supported to prevent detrimental consequences of economically unfavourable conditions and lower wellbeing

Simple Host-Guest Chemistry To Modulate the Process of Concentration and Crystallization of Membrane Proteins by Detergent Capture in a Microfluidic Device

This paper utilizes cyclodextrin-based host-guest chemistry in a microfluidic device to modulate the crystallization of membrane proteins and the process of concentration of membrane protein samples. Methyl-beta-cyclodextrin (MBCD) can efficiently capture a wide variety of detergents commonly used for the stabilization of membrane proteins by sequestering detergent monomers. Reaction Center (RC) from Blastochloris viridis was used here as a model system. In the process of concentrating membrane protein samples, MBCD was shown to break up free detergent micelles and prevent them from being concentrated. The addition of an optimal amount of MBCD to the RC sample captured loosely bound detergent from the protein-detergent complex and improved sample homogeneity, as characterized by dynamic light scattering. Using plug-based microfluidics, RC crystals were grown in the presence of MBCD, giving a different morphology and space group than crystals grown without MBCD. The crystal structure of RC crystallized in the presence of MBCD was consistent with the changes in packing and crystal contacts hypothesized for removal of loosely bound detergent. The incorporation of MBCD into a plug-based microfluidic crystallization method allows efficient use of limited membrane protein sample by reducing the amount of protein required and combining sparse matrix screening and optimization in one experiment. The use of MBCD for detergent capture can be expanded to develop cyclodextrin-derived molecules for fine-tuned detergent capture and thus modulate membrane protein crystallization in an even more controllable way

Structural and spectropotentiometric analysis of Blastochloris viridis heterodimer mutant reaction center

Heterodimer mutant reaction centers (RCs) of Blastochloris viridis were crystallized using microfluidic technology. In this mutant, a leucine residue replaced the histidine residue which had acted as a fifth ligand to the bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) of the primary electron donor dimer M site (HisM200). With the loss of the histidine-coordinated Mg, one bacteriochlorophyll of the special pair was converted into a bacteriopheophytin (BPhe), and the primary donor became a heterodimer supermolecule. The crystals had dimensions 400 × 100 ×100 μm, belonged to space group P43212, and were isomorphous to the ones reported earlier for the wild type (WT) strain. The structure was solved to a 2.5 Å resolution limit. Electron-density maps confirmed the replacement of the histidine residue and the absence of Mg. Structural changes in the heterodimer mutant RC relative to the WT included the absence of the water molecule that is typically positioned between the M side of the primary donor and the accessory BChl, a slight shift in the position of amino acids surrounding the site of the mutation, and the rotation of the M194 phenylalanine. The cytochrome subunit was anchored similarly as in the WT and had no detectable changes in its overall position. The highly conserved tyrosine L162, located between the primary donor and the highest potential heme C380, revealed only a minor deviation of its hydroxyl group. Concomitantly to modification of the BChl molecule, the redox potential of the heterodimer primary donor increased relative to that of the WT organism (772 mV vs. 517 mV). The availability of this heterodimer mutant and its crystal structure provides opportunities for investigating changes in light-induced electron transfer that reflect differences in redox cascades

Problems and consequences of aging societies. Theoretical considerations, methodological issues and empirical analyses

Dieser Band versammelt Beiträge zu verschiedenen grundlegenden Problemen, welche nachhaltig alternde Gesellschaften mit sich bringen. Die einzelnen Artikel entstanden im Rahmen des Forschungspraktikums im Fach Bevölkerungswissenschaft an der Universität Bamberg. Die ersten beiden Beiträge beschäftigen sich mit der selbstberichteten Gesundheit. Der erste Beitrag thematisiert die subjektive Gesundheit in Abhängigkeit vom Übergang in den Ruhestand. Im zweiten Beitrag stehen mit der internationalen Vergleichbarkeit subjektiver Gesundheitsmessung methodische Aspekte im Vordergrund. Der dritte Beitrag beschäftigt sich mit geschlechtsspezifischen Aspekten intergenerationaler Hilfeleistungen. Diese aktuellen sozialwissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand der Daten der ersten beiden Wellen des Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) empirisch untersucht.This volume brings together selected contributions on fundamental challenges of population ageing. All of the articles evolved from an empirical research training course in population studies at the University of Bamberg. The first two contributions deal with self-perceived health measures. The first article analyses the effect of transition into retirement on self-perceived health. The second contribution focuses on methodological issues concerning the comparability of self-perceived health and discusses different strategies to account for cross-national variation in scaling subjective health. The last contribution deals with gender-related aspects of intergenerational transfers. These up-to-date research questions are empirically investigated using the first two waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

The efficacy of the combination of eribulin and trastuzumab in advanced HER2-positive breast cancer: the results of Russian observational study

The article presents the experience of 19 Russian medical institutions on the use of eribulin in combination with trastuzumab in various treatment lines of metastatic HER2+ breast cancer in routine clinical practice. Aim. The main objective of this retrospective observational study was to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of eribulin and trastuzumab combo in HER2+ breast cancer patients pretreated with anthracyclines and taxanes. The analysis included 60 patients who received at least 2 cycles of eribulin in combination with trastuzumab. 2 patients (3.3%) received treatment as the 1st line, as the 2nd 14 (23.3%), as the 3rd 16 (26.7%), and as the 4th and more 28 (46.7%). Materials and methods. Complete response was achieved in 2 (3.3%) patients, partial response in 9 (15%), stable disease in 33 (55%), stabilization for more than 6 months in 11 (18.3%), disease progression was detected in 16 (26.7%) patients. The objective response rate was 18.3% in the whole group, the clinical benefit rate 36.7%. Results. The objective response rate in the group of the luminal subtype (ER/PR+HER2+) was 26.9%, in HER2-overexpressed subtype (ER-PR-HER2+) 8.8% and 64.7%, respectively, disease progression was recorded 2.3 times more often 35.3% versus 15.5% in the luminal subtype group. The median progression-free survival in patients with HER2+ breast cancer was 4.95 months (95% confidence interval CI 3.048.29 months), in luminal subtype 6.38 months (95% CI 3.338.54 months), in non-luminal 4.44 months (95% CI 2.47.96 months); p=0.306. The treatment was well tolerated, the spectrum of adverse events corresponded to the eribulin toxicity profile. Conclusions. The uniqueness of this study lies in the fact that on a large clinical material from the standpoint of real clinical practice, a very promising treatment regimen that is not used routinely in a number of countries has been studied, its effectiveness and satisfactory tolerance have been confirmed