"Intergenerational relations: an evolutionary sociology approach"

Presenter: Prof. Antti Tanskanen, Senior Researcher at University of Turku, Department of Social Research.
Date: 15/04/16

Abstract

My presentation concentrates on intergenerational relations between grandparents and grandchildren. First, I present an evolutionary sociology approach that I have used in my empirical studies. Second, I provide some results of my studies that are linked to social mobility and stratification research and family demography studies. Finally, the results are discussed with the reference to social and family policy implications.​

"The gender wage gap and its institutional context: a comparative analysis of European graduates"

Presenter: Prof. Moris Triventi, University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy
Date: 14/04/16

Abstract 

This article examines whether there is a gender gap in monthly wages among recent graduates in 11 European countries, and which variables account for it. We extend previous works considering a broader range of variables including perceived skills, responsibility at work, family obligations and attitudes to family and work. Regression analyses applied to data from the 'Research into Employment and professional FLEXibility' (REFLEX) survey (2005) show that in all countries there is a significant 'raw wage gap', but with noticeable cross-country variation. Decomposition analyses show that the 'residual wage gap' (discrimination) is lower in Nordic countries and higher in the Czech Republic, with the United Kingdom, continental and southern European countries placed in between them. Employment characteristics and working hours are the most important factors accounting for the gender gap. Wage discrimination is lower in countries with high trade union density, centralized collective bargaining, family-friendly policies, and high level of women's empowerment in society.

"Synchronous Activity-Space Segregation: Understanding Social Divisions in Space and Time"

Presenter: Prof. John Rossman Bertholf Palmer, Marie Curie Research Fellow in the Interdisciplinary Research Group on Immigration (GRITIM) at UPF
Date: 08/04/2016


Abstract

This article offers a new framework for understanding segregation in spatio-temporal terms. It builds on the concept of activity space to propose a flexible method for analyzing systematic differences across social groups in the spatio-temporal arrangement of individual trajectories. The method can be used to construct an index of spatio-temporal proximity that captures socially relevant information about differences in the places people frequent and the people with whom they come into contact. It can be used to estimate the level of synchronous activity-space segregation in a given population and to draw comparisons across populations using sample data. In addition to laying out the theoretical foundation for this approach, the article relies on large simulations of full census populations in two U.S. cities to evaluate the statistical properties of the proposed index. The article concludes that measuring synchronous activity-space segregation is feasible and can provide important new perspectives on a key driver of social inequality.

"Gender dynamics and social stratification in modern (and future) marriage markets"

Presenter: Prof. Albert Esteve, Director at CED and Assistant Professor at Department of Geography, UAB
Date: 08/04/2016


Abstract

The gender gap in education that has long favored men has reversed for young adults in almost all high and middle-income countries. In 2010, the proportion of women aged 25-29 with a college education was higher than that of men in more than 139 countries which altogether represent 86% of the world's population. According to recent population forecasts, women will have more education than men in nearly every country in the world by 2050, with the exception of only a few African and West Asian countries. The reversal of the gender gap in education has numerous implications for families and population reproduction. These include major implications for the composition of marriage markets, potential effects on assortative mating (who marries whom), gender equality, and marital outcomes such as divorce and childbearing. In this seminar, I present findings from a comprehensive world-level analysis of the reversal of the gender gap in education and discuss recent research results about implications for family dynamics and outcomes. First, I document worldwide advances in women's education and the reversal of the gender gap in education. I show how the reversal of the gap coincides with the end of the historically dominant marriage pattern in which husbands have more education that their wives. Second, I explore the impact of socio-demographic change, including the expansion of women's education, in India by examining the impact of current and hypothetical marriage propensities to future population projections.

​"An Introduction to QGIS and web mapping course"

Presenters: Juan Galeano & Toni López (CED Researchers)
Date: 04-06/04/2016

Program
 

"Gender revolution, family reversals and fertility"

Presenter: Tomas Sobotka, Research group leader. Comparative European Demography. Vienna Institute of Demography and Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital.
Date: 11/03/2016

Abstract

During the last decade persistence of pronounced gender inequality in the domestic division of labour and childcare has been repeatedly linked to very low fertility rates. The debate on the links between gender equality and family change has become more elaborated in the three contributions published in 2015 inPopulation and Development Review (Anderson and Kohler 2015, Esping-Andersen and Billari 2015, Goldscheider et al. 2015)). These contributions share a broad view of an increase in gender equality over time from low to high levels being tightly linked with fertility change, first contributing to its decline, and then fostering its recovery at higher gender equality levels. Moreover, Esping-Andersen and Billari (2015) as well as Goldscheider et al. (2015) predict a strengthening of the family in gender equal societies, especially among the highly educated women.

We outline and discuss weaknesses in the arguments and ideas on gender equality and family change, and propose a more thorough investigation of the links between domestic gender equality and family in different contexts. We argue that gender equality cannot be seen as the single dominant factor that can explain the changes in family and fertility, but it should rather be seen as a part of the "institutional package" that can either support/promote/favour higher fertility and stronger family or depress fertility to low levels. Specifically, we aim to

-        Provide a systematic analysis of trends, reversals and education gradients in family behaviours, especially in marriage, fertility, and divorce in the selected group of countries

-        Study the links between changes in family behaviours and changes in gender equality and investigate whether the observed patterns are in line with the hypotheses discussed in different contributions on the subject

 "Socially investing in older people - Reablement as a social care policy response?"

Presenter: Tine Roostgard, Aalborg University, Dinamarca
Date: 25/02/2016

Abstract

The presenation will focus on reablement as a new innovative long term care policy in ageing societies. Recommended by amongst other the European Commission, various countries are nowimplementing more activating social care policies and under the slogan of social investment. This presentation will view reablement as a way to overcome welfare state inertia and provide more progressive approaches to the need for long term care. And will critically investigate the paradigm behind, the implication for users and staff, as well as the (lack of) real results of the intervention.

"Disentangling taste and statistical discrimination in correspondence studies"

Presenter: Jorge Rodríguez Menés, Associate Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Date: 22/02/2016

Abstract

Correspondence studies are popular tools for assessing discrimination against minorities, for example, in the labor market. Typically, two fake CVs are sent to multiple job openings. CVs are equivalent except for the stigma identifying minority candidates. Discrimination is "proven" if response rates are significantly lower for minority candidates. This conclusion has been challenged. Differences in response rates may result as much from employers' judgments of minority candidates' moral inferiority as from perceptions that they have lower or more dispersed abilities that are unstandardizable in a CV. We propose a method for disentangling the three sources of discrimination and establish its validity in a correspondence study aimed at assessing labor market discrimination against ex-convicts. 

"Childlessness and Intergenerational Transfers in Later Life"

Presenter: Marco Albertini, Professor in the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna.

Date: 19/01/2016

Abstract

Childlessness in later life is a topic that has been attracting increased levels of attention from researchers and policy makers. Yet a number of misconceptions about childlessness among the elderly remain, such as the claim that elderly childless people are mainly on the receiving end of intergenerational exchanges, or that they are a homogeneous group. Contrary to these assumptions, we find that elderly childless people give as well as receive, and that parental status is a continuum, ranging from full childlessness across several intermediary conditions to full current natural parenthood. In a study of the elderly population across 11 European countries, we show that non-parents make significant contributions to their social networks of family and friends through financial and time transfers, and that the latter in particular differ little from those of natural parents. The same applies to their participation in charitable and voluntary work. Different parental statuses are significantly associated with the various dimensions of giving and receiving. Social parents (i.e., people who have no natural children, but who have adopted, foster, or stepchildren) are shown to be much more similar to natural parents than to non-parents. Family recomposition thus does not seem to inhibit intergenerational exchanges, as long as social parents have sufficient contact with their non-natural social children. On the other hand, parents who have lost contact with their children - natural or otherwise - are likely to require more formal care in later life.

"Introduction to Agent-Based Modelling and Simulation in the Social Sciences"  

Presenter: Daniel Ciganda. Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Predoc Student
Date: 14/12/2015

Course Description

The course intends to provide a brief history and introduction to computational models in the social sciences, with a focus on recent applications that combine microsimulation and Agent-Based Modelling (ABM). ABMs describe the emergence of macro structures (e.g. social networks, norms) as the product of the actions and interactions at the micro-level. The use of computational models to simulate and experiment with populations composed of human agents is a growing and promising trend in a variety of disciplines. Part of the strength of this type of models derives from the possibility to describe the behavior of heterogeneous agents, to include their interaction and to take into account the feedback mechanisms generated between the micro and macro level. As a result ABMs allow for the exploration of a number of social dynamics which are not easily tackled with other methods at the same time they naturally promote the collaboration between different disciplines. The course includes a lab session to experiment with some available models in NetLogo.