Intergenerational family constellations in contemporary Europe

Demographic research has drawn attention to the multiple ways in which changes in mortality and childbearing have produced major shifts in intergenerational family structures. The aim of this article is to contribute to this body of research by analysing the data from the Generations and Gender Surveys for nine European countries. In the study, data pertaining to the availability of ascending (parents and grandparents) and descending kin (children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren) of the respondent are combined to shed light on the family structures in which indviduals are embedded at various stages of their lives. The findings provide new insights into the ways in which the past and present diversity of demographic regimes comes together into specific patterns of intergenerational family constellations across Europe. This convergence may yield family constellations of very similar “height†in countries with sharply contrasting demographic histories. The results also indicate that certain demographic scenarios may halt or temporarily reverse the trend towards the further vertical extension of family constellations.comparative studies, Europe, intergenerational family constellations, kin networks

Trends in Living Arrangements for Older Persons in Estonia Compared to Belgium

The proportion of older people is increasing. During the years lived with disease and functional mobility loss, ensuring their well-being becomes a challenge for society. In addition to health, well-being in old age depends on various circumstances of an individual’s personal life. While contact with family members from a distance or irregular contact may be sufficient for satisfying the need for communication and may alleviate loneliness, it cannot replace the assistance that being present can provide. The difficulties or disadvantages are associated with some types of living arrangements. Therefore, patterns of living arrangements for older people are of key importance in studies of their well-being. The demographic characteristics vary by country but differences are expected to be less between societies experiencing a similar path in development. Since the last decade of the 20th century, rapid changes have brought Eastern Europe closer to the more developed areas of Europe, both in economic and social terms. The patterns of living arrangements for older people in Estonia compared to people of similar age in Belgium show some signs of convergence, the latter being considered representative of Western Europe. The studied period for Estonia includes the transition period from the Soviet regime to the current situation. Accordingly, we address the question of whether this transition accounts for some specific features in Estonia, compared with Belgian trends. We find rather different patterns in the distribution of older people’s living arrangements in the two countries but similar trends in the changes indicating convergence between the two countries

Economic Crisis and International Migration. What the EU Data Reveal?

What was the impact of the recent economic crisis on the international migration flows for the European Union? Such crisis may have strengthened the difficulties for non-EU citizens to enter the territory of the EU while the propensity for return migration could have increased. Concerning EU citizens, the impact could be a decreased intra-European mobility and, possibly an increase of extra-European emigration flows. In this contribution we check if data accessible in international and national databases for the year 2007 up to 2009 allow confirming these assumptions. Such analysis has to be carried out very carefully as international migration data are not harmonised despite of efforts done and, they are far to be reliable. Moreover new rules of data collection enforced by the EU since 2008 may have an impact of the newly provided data. Consequently changes in trends observed in 2008 and 2009 in the context of the economic crisis must be dealt with caution as the possible impact of simultaneous changes in data collection may hamper real trends and available data could not be always useful to enlighten the effect of the economic crisis on international migration flows.Quel a été l’impact de la récente crise économique sur les courants de migration internationale pour l’UE ? Une telle crise pourrait avoir intensifié les difficultés d’immigrer pour les ressortissants des pays tiers alors que la propension au retour de ceux résidant sur le territoire de l’UE pourrait s’être accrue. En ce qui concerne les citoyens européens, l’impact pourrait s’être traduit par une diminution de la mobilité intra-UE et un accroissement de l’émigration hors UE. Dans cette contribution, nous analysons les données accessibles dans les bases de données internationales et nationales afin de vérifier ces hypothèses. Une telle analyse doit être menée avec prudence, car les données de migration internationales ne sont pas encore harmonisées et sont loin d’être fiables. De plus, les nouvelles règles de collecte des données imposées par l’UE depuis 2008 pourraient avoir un effet perturbateur puisque les changements intervenus pourraient cacher les tendances réelles. Ce faisant, on constate que les données disponibles ne sont pas toujours adéquates pour mettre en évidence l’effet de la crise économique sur les migrations internationales.¿Cual ha sido el impacto de la crisis económica reciente sobre los flujos de la migración internacional en la Unión Europea? Una crisis como ésta podría haber intensificado las dificultades de inmigrar para los ciudadanos no pertenecientes a la Unión Europea, así como haber recrudecido la propensión al retorno de los residentes europeos. En relación a los ciudadanos europeos, el impacto podría haber dado lugar a una disminución de la movilidad intra-EU y a un crecimiento de los flujos de emigración extra-EU. En esta contribución, analizamos los datos disponibles en las bases de datos internacionales y nacionales con el fin de verificar estas hipótesis. Este tipo de análisis debe desarrollarse con prudencia ya que los datos de migraciones internacionales no están aún armonizados y están lejos de ser fiables. Además, las nuevas reglas de recolección de datos impuesta por la UE desde 2008 podrían tener un efecto perturbador ya que los cambios introducidos pueden ocultar las tendencias reales. De hecho, se constata que los datos disponibles no son siempre adecuados para poner en evidencia el efecto de la crisis económica sobre las migraciones internacionales

Mortality risk by living arrangements for the elderly Belgian population

Résumé Objectifs : Le risque de décéder aux âges élevés est associé avec l’état matrimonial, mais également avec la situation de ménage de la personne considérée (avec qui une personne vit). Cette étude analyse comment l’association entre situation de ménage et risque de décéder varie en fonction de l’âge et du sexe. Données et méthodes : Nous utilisons des données extraites du Registre national belge concernant la situation de ménage de plus de 3 millions de personnes âgées de 60 ans et plus, ob-servées du 1er janvier 1991 au 31 décembre 2010. Tout d’abord nous calculons et comparons les probabilités annuelles de décéder pour les personnes selon les différentes situations de ménage. Ensuite nous construisons des tables de mortalité mul-ti-états en utilisant les probabilités annuelles de transition entre différentes situations de ménage et ce, afin de reconstituer les trajectoires de situation de ménage. Résultats : Nos résultats confirment l’effet protectif associé au fait de vivre en couple marié, mais ils montrent également que vivre seul aux âges plus élevés devient favo-rable à la survie. Un croisement apparaît entre les risques de décéder de ceux vivant seuls et ceux vivant avec d’autres personnes, mais pas avec leur conjoint. Toutefois de fortes différences ressortent selon le sexe. Enfin vivre en ménage collectif est largement défavorable pour la survie par comparaison à tous les types de ménages privés et ce, pour les deux sexes. Discussion : La façon dont le risque de décéder varie selon la situation de ménage est différente selon le sexe et diminue avec l’âge de fa-çon relative. Parmi d’autres explications, le rôle sélectif de l’état de santé est majeur, tout comme le soutien du conjoint qui est, dans la plupart des cas, le premier donneur de soin. Selon cette perspective, la différence d’espérance de vie en santé entre hommes et femmes et la différence d’âges entre conjoints pourraient contribuer à expliquer les différences du risque de décéder selon la situation de ménage entre les hommes et les femmes. Nos résultats sont importants dans le cadre des politiques sociales relatives aux personnes âgées et plus particulièrement pour l’évaluation des besoins futurs de nos populations vieillissantes. Abstract Objectives: Mortality risk in old age is associated with both marital status and living arrangements (with whom a person is living). This study analyses how the association between living arrangements and mortality risk varies by age and gender. Data and methods: We use a dataset extracted from the Belgian national register for the population aged 60 years and over, from 1 January 1991 to 31 December 2010, that includes more than three million persons and describes their living arrangements. First we compute and compare single-year probabilities of death for each living arrangement. Then, in order to recompose the living arrangement trajectories, we construct multistate life tables using annual probabilities of the transitions between successive living arrangements. Results: Our results confirm the protective effect of living with a spouse, and also show that at older ages living alone becomes advantageous. A crossover occurs in the mortality risks of those living alone and those living with others (not with a spouse), but large differences appear between the genders. Institutional living arrangements are largely detrimental for survival compared with private living arrangements for both genders. Discussion: The variation of mortality risk by living arrangements is gender-specific and decreases by age in relative terms. Among possible explanations, the selective role of health is paramount, as well as the presence of a spouse, who is the primary caregiver in most cases. According to this perspective, the gender gap in healthy life expectancy and the age difference between spouses contribute to explaining the gender differences. Our findings are highly relevant to social policies and the social discourse pertaining to the future needs of the elderly within the context of population ageing

Deir el-Médina

La mission a débuté plus tard que prévu, car les autorisations de la Sécurité ont été délivrées fin janvier, deux semaines après la date du 15 janvier fixée pour l’ouverture de la mission. Faute de temps, certaines équipes n’ont pas réussi à atteindre leurs objectifs. La mission a poursuivi les travaux engagés en 2018 axés sur l’étude et la restauration des tombes de la nécropole de l’ouest et du mobilier conservé dans les magasins du site. Quatre équipes sont intervenues dans les TT 2, TT 2B..

Identification of a New Rhoptry Neck Complex RON9/RON10 in the Apicomplexa Parasite Toxoplasma gondii

Apicomplexan parasites secrete and inject into the host cell the content of specialized secretory organelles called rhoptries, which take part into critical processes such as host cell invasion and modulation of the host cell immune response. The rhoptries are structurally and functionally divided into two compartments. The apical duct contains rhoptry neck (RON) proteins that are conserved in Apicomplexa and are involved in formation of the moving junction (MJ) driving parasite invasion. The posterior bulb contains rhoptry proteins (ROPs) unique to an individual genus and, once injected in the host cell act as effector proteins to co-opt host processes and modulate parasite growth and virulence. We describe here two new RON proteins of Toxoplasma gondii, RON9 and RON10, which form a high molecular mass complex. In contrast to the other RONs described to date, this complex was not detected at the MJ during invasion and therefore was not associated to the MJ complex RON2/4/5/8. Disruptions of either RON9 or RON10 gene leads to the retention of the partner in the ER followed by subsequent degradation, suggesting that the RON9/RON10 complex formation is required for proper sorting to the rhoptries. Finally, we show that the absence of RON9/RON10 has no significant impact on the morphology of rhoptry, on the invasion and growth in fibroblasts in vitro or on virulence in vivo. The conservation of RON9 and RON10 in Coccidia and Cryptosporidia suggests a specific relation with development in intestinal epithelial cells

Central Population Registers as a Source of Demographic Statistics in Europe

Since their origins in seventeenth-century Sweden, population registers have been kept at local level, and computerization has now made it possible to establish national registers in most of the 30 European countries analysed in this article. As a result of these registers, the production of demographic statistics has entered a new era, with many advantages but also ethical controversies. New questions arise, such as the definition of residents, double counting and data confidentiality. This article describes and compares the operational principles of central registers in various countries, and how individual data are extracted in order to produce demographic statistics. It is now possible to regularly monitor the individual demographic trajectories of the entire population at national level, and to reveal interactions between the demographic behaviours of individuals in a single household. Given the many opportunities afforded by longitudinal analysis, support from researchers would be particularly beneficial, and efforts must be made to facilitate access to individual data

Le registre de population centralisé, source de statistiques démographiques en Europe

Since their origins in seventeenth-century Sweden, population registers have been kept at local level, and computerization has now made it possible to establish national registers in most of the 30 European countries analysed in this article. As a result of these registers, the production of demographic statistics has entered a new era, with many advantages but also ethical controversies. New questions arise, such as the definition of residents, double counting and data confidentiality. This article describes and compares the operational principles of central registers in various countries, and how individual data are extracted in order to produce demographic statistics. It is now possible to regularly monitor the individual demographic trajectories of the entire population at national level, and to reveal interactions between the demographic behaviours of individuals in a single household. Given the many opportunities afforded by longitudinal analysis, support from researchers would be particularly beneficial, and efforts must be made to facilitate access to individual data

Migration in Seychelles : a country profile 2013

Figures presented in this first Migration Profile for Seychelles demonstrate that international migration trends are rapidly changing in Seychelles, which could have an impact on the Seychelles socioeconomic profile. Statistical data are key tools for the knowledge of migration processes and the development of relevant evidence-based policies. Like in many other countries, despite its well-developed statistical systems, Seychelles lacks reliable and detailed statistics in the field of international migration. Producing and analyzing statistics on international migration flows of nationals and foreigners, and stocks of foreigners in country including their age and sex composition, countries of origin and duration of stay in or out of country should form a specific part of annual statistical programme. A more in-depth investigation of the currently available data sources and a better use of the administrative databases could help to narrow this data gap. The reliability of statistics depends on a critical confrontation of existing potential data sources. More information is clearly needed to characterize the increasing number of foreign immigrants in the country in parallel to the emigration of Seychellois. The Government of Seychelles would benefit by better understanding the nexus between the growing numbers of immigrants in the country in parallel with the migration of Seychellois

Blue Zone : a model to live longer and better

n/