Unlike the countries of north-western Europe, marriage in Italy has maintained a crucial role in the process of family formation. This raise doubts about the possibility that the theory of “second ...demographic transition” could adequately account for the behaviour of the European population living south of the Alps. The aim of this paper is twofold: to provide some empirical evidence that cohabitation is now spreading in Italy; and to propose an explanation of the delay of its diffusion until the 1990s. The hypothesis proposed here explains the delay, not so much in terms of limited interest of the Italian youth towards this type of union, but with the convenience of the children in the Mediterranean area to avoid choices which are openly clashing with the values of parents.
Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) young people are an emerging at-risk-ofsocial exclusion group in contemporary society. The present research aimed to investigate NEETs' ...sociodemographic characteristics and some variables crucial in the transition to adulthood: perceptions about the future job opportunities, their desire to start a family, perceptions about the future, trust in the institutions and social participation. We also aimed to compare NEET and non-NEET young people on these variables to understand what are the determinants of their political and social commitment. Results on a study led to 8112 Italians, aged between 19-29, show that NEETs and non-NEETs are not evenly distributed in the country and by gender. NEETs are generally youngsters desiring to start a family, but with low levels of trust in the future, in other people and in institutions. As part of their risk of social exclusion, they have lower rates of social participation.
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Beginning in the mid-seventeenth century, infant mortality in Veneto (a region in northeastern Italy) began to increase, starting at 250% o and rising to 350% o by the mid-nineteenth century—one of ...the highest levels ever recorded in modern Europe. This dramatic change—in a period of worsening economic conditions—was due to variations in winter neonatal mortality, which was 3-4 times higher in Veneto than in other areas with similar winter temperatures (such as England). We combine micro-data on neonatal mortality with daily data on temperatures for a specific context during the period of 1816-1868 characterized by very high neonatal mortality. We find that the risk of death was particularly intense during the first week of life and strongly correlated with external minimum temperature. Through a comparison of these results with other findings in the literature, we suggest that the increase in winter neonatal mortality in Veneto could have principally been caused by the deteriorating physical condition of mothers, lessening the 'quality' of infants who consequently were quite susceptible to cold temperatures. À partir du milieu du 17 e siècle, la mortalité infantile à Veneto (région au Nord-Est de l'Italie) a augmenté, passant de 250 ‰ à 350 ‰ au milieu du 19 e siècle, l'un des niveaux les plus élevés jamais enregistrés dans l'Europe moderne. Cette évolution dramatique -dans une période de dégradation du contexte économique -était due aux fluctuations de la mortalité néonatale pendant l'hiver, mortalité qui était à Veneto 3 à 4 fois supérieure à celle d'autres régions ayant des températures hivernales similaires (telles que l'Angleterre). Dans cette analyse, nous avons combiné des microdonnées sur la mortalité néonatale avec les températures quotidiennes relevées dans un contexte régional spécifique au cours de la période 1816-1868, caractérisée par une mortalité néonatale très élevée. Il apparaît que le risque de décès a été particulièrement élevé pendant la première semaine de vie et fortement corrélé avec la température extérieure minimale. A partir d'une comparaison de ces résultats avec d'autres retrouvés dans la littérature, nous émettons l'hypothèse que l'augmentation de la mortalité néonatale en hiver à Veneto était principalement causée par une dégradation de la condition physique des mères, diminuant la « qualité » des enfants et les rendant par conséquent plus sensibles aux basses températures.
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Beginning in the mid-seventeenth century, infant mortality in Veneto (a region in northeastern Italy) began to increase, starting at 2500 and rising to 3500 by the mid-nineteenth century - one of the ...highest levels ever recorded in modern Europe. This dramatic change - in a period of worsening economic conditions - was due to variations in winter neonatal mortality, which was 3-4 times higher in Veneto than in other areas with similar winter temperatures (such as England). We combine micro-data on neonatal mortality with daily data on temperatures for a specific context during the period of 1816-1868 characterized by very high neonatal mortality. We find that the risk of death was particularly intense during the first week of life and strongly correlated with external minimum temperature. Through a comparison of these results with other findings in the literature, we suggest that the increase in winter neonatal mortality in Veneto could have principally been caused by the deteriorating physical condition of mothers, lessening the 'quality' of infants who consequently were quite susceptible to cold temperatures. // ABSTRACT IN FRENCH: À partir du milieu du 17e siècle, la mortalité infantile à Veneto (région au Nord-Est de l'Italie) a augmenté, passant de 2500 à 3500 au milieu du 19e siècle, l'un des niveaux les plus élevés jamais enregistrés dans l'Europe moderne. Cette évolution dramatique - dans une période de dégradation du contexte économique - était dûe aux fluctuations de la mortalité néonatale pendant l'hiver, mortalité qui était à Veneto 3 à 4 fois supérieure à celle d'autres régions ayant des températures hivernales similaires (telles que l'Angleterre). Dans cette analyse, nous avons combiné des microdonnées sur la mortalité néonatale avec les températures quotidiennes relevées dans un contexte régional spécifique au cours de la période 1816-1868, caractérisée par une mortalité néonatale très élevée. Il apparaît que le risque de décès a été particulièrement élevé pendant la première semaine de vie et fortement corrélé avec la température extérieure minimale. A partir d'une comparaison de ces résultats avec d'autres retrouvés dans la littérature, nous émettons l'hypothèse que l'augmentation de la mortalité néonatale en hiver à Veneto était principalement causée par une dégradation de la condition physique des mères, diminuant la « qualité » des enfants et les rendant par conséquent plus sensibles aux basses températures. Reprinted by permission of Springer
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Durante gli ultimi decenni la struttura sociale ed economica delle società occidentali ha sperimentato profondi e radicali cambiamenti. Quelli che fra tutti hanno pagato di più per il contesto ...economico avverso sono stati i giovani. Il problema di una lunga attesa per la prima occupazione e gli alti tassi di disoccupazione ha interessato le scienze sociali ad analizzare la condizione economica degli under 30 e le strategie che questi hanno messo in atto per affrontare la difficile situazione. Questo contributo aspira ad indagare alcune delle problematiche riguardanti le difficoltà dei giovani nel raggiungere la propria indipendenza economica, focalizzandoci specialmente sulle dinamiche e sulle strategie di mobilità interregionale e internazionale alla ricerca di migliori condizioni lavorative e di vita. During the last decades the socio-economic structure of Western societies has experienced deep and radical changes. The most affected are young people who pay dearly for the negative economic situation. The problem of the long wait for the first job and the higher rates of youth unemployment leads the social sciences to analyze the employment status of young people under 30 and the strategies that they have implemented to face this difficult situation. This contribution aims to explore some of the issues dealing with young adults difficulties in achieving the economic independence, especially focusing on the dynamics and strategies of interregional and international mobility in search of better job opportunities and living.
Using data on 2356 Italian couples from the longitudinal survey on Family and Social Subjects conducted between 2003 and 2007, we examine the relationship between child-timing intentions and ...subsequent reproductive outcomes. Our hypothesis is that in Italy the lack of agreement between partners has an inhibiting effect on couple's pregnancy-seeking behaviour because inertia and social norms favour the partner who does not want to have a(nother) child. We find that this holds true only for couples who have already two or more children whereas at lower parities conflicting intentions result in either a middle fertility outcome or childbearing levels similar to those observed for couples who agree on having a child. Women have a greater influence on childbearing decisions than men. The explicit consideration of a partner's disagreement increases the predictive accuracy of fertility intentions. Our findings strongly support the adoption of a couple-oriented approach in fertility research.
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This study aims at analysing the process of family formation by adopting a couple's perspective. Using household-level micro data, we examine the determinants of the partners' (contrasting) fertility ...intentions for the first and the second child. Italy is characterized by a high discrepancy between desired and actual fertility. There is a predominance of traditional gender roles and a lack of policy measures helping parents combine family and working life. Our main hypothesis is that, in Italy, couples in which the female partner has a higher education than the male partner are particularly exposed to a conflict, especially if the male intends to have a child. The same is assumed for working women. Moreover, we suppose that some levels of conflict emerge when women are unsatisfied with the gender division of childcare responsibilities and other family chores. When the couple's intentions to have a second child are considered, our findings are mostly consistent with the assumptions made. Adapted from the source document.
Cohabitation has been spreading in the population during the last thirty years, and this is one of the most striking aspects of wider social changes that have taken place throughout the ...industrialized world. However, this change did not take place uniformly across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the current debate around the compatibility of cohabitation experiences with the Italian cultural context. Using an individuallevel diffusion approach we obtain results that are consistent with the crucial role that family ties play in the choice of cohabitation in place of (or before) marriage.
The model proposed in this paper combines a logistic regression model and a Weibull regression model for the analysis of current-status data. This joint model allows a simultaneous estimation of two ...sets of effects on the covariates: one on the probability that the event occurs (also known as quantum) and the other on the timing of the event. Thus, the model can be seen either as an extension of a survival-analysis model for use with current-status data where a survival fraction is added in order explicitly to take into account the possibility that the event may never occur, or as an extension of survival analysis with long-term survivors to the analysis of current-status data. As an illustrative application we apply our model to a study of nuptiality in seventeenth-century Italy.
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The aim of this article is to examine the determinants of couples' childbearing intentions, by explicitly taking into account the agreement or disagreement of the two members of the couple. The ...relevance of the partner's reproductive intentions has been well recognised in the literature, but few studies have provided in-depth analyses of the fertility plans of both partners. In our study, we used the household-level data from a survey on "Family and Social Subjects", carried out by the Italian National Statistical Office in 2003, which provides characteristics on both partners. We adopted a couple's perspective which allows us to give a unitary picture of the concordant or discordant nature of partners' first child intentions. We found that a lack of agreement in the reproductive decision-making process is likely to occur in the Italian couples where the role of the woman is less traditional. In particular, cohabitant, highly educated and working women are more likely to be.in disagreement with their partners in the decisions concerning having a first child. Being religious may be also a source of discordance in the couples' reproductive plans. Our findings support the utility of taking a couple-based approach in studies on fertility intentions. Le but de cet article est d'examiner les déterminants des intentions de fécondité, en prenant en compte de façon explicite la concordance ou la discordance au sein des couples. La pertinence des intentions de fécondité du partenaire est bien établie dans la littérature, mais à ce jour peu d'analyses approfondies des intentions des deux partenaires ont été réalisées. Nous avons exploité les données des ménages dans l'enquête Family and Social Subjects (famille et sujets sociaux) menée par l'Institut national de la statistique en Italie en 2003, qui renseigne les caractéristiques des deux partenaires. La perspective adoptée est celle du couple, ce qui a permis de fournir une vision unifiée des intentions concordantes ou discordantes au sein du couple. II apparaît qu'un désaccord au sein des couples en Italie est à même de se produire lorsque le rôle de la femme est moins traditionnel. En particulier, les femmes cohabitantes, très instruites et actives sont celles qui ont la probabilité la plus forte d'être en désaccord avec leur partenaire concemant les décisions d'avoir un premier enfant. La religiosité peut également être associée à des désaccords en matière d'intentions de fécondité. Nos résultats mettent en lumière tout l'intérêt de la prise en compte des deux membres du couple dans les études des intentions de fécondité.
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