Grandparents have always played an important role in the Italian society and in family life; howe... more Grandparents have always played an important role in the Italian society and in family life; however, little is known about the demography of grandparenthood despite dramatic global demographic changes that are likely to affect both the occurrence and timing of the transition to grandparenthood. Thus, we examined the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood in Italy for different cohorts and geographical areas. As a natural laboratory, the Italian case is particularly interesting because of its striking geographical differences in fertility and educational levels that may impact on the demography of grandparenthood. Employing data from the 2009 Italian Survey on „Family and Social Relations‟ („Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell‟infanzia‟) we used logistic and survival analysis methods to examine the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood. Our respondents were parents born between 1920 and 1949 (N=10,186), i.e. aged 60 and older at the time of the interview. Across all cohorts considered, Southern Italian parents were more likely to be grandparents and to have experienced the transition to grandparenthood by age 60 in comparison to those form the North. However, across all geographical areas, cohorts born in the 1940s were increasingly less likely to have become grandparents by the age of 60 compared to those born in the two decades before. Such postponement appears to be largely driven by family and educational compositional changes over time. For instance, although the likelihood of a young mother with three or more children and low level of education to become a grandparent has not changed much over time and across geographical areas, the percentage of mothers with such characteristics has reduced significantly over time, particularly in the North. The prevalence and timing of the transition to grandparenthood vary considerably across Italian geographical areas and the considered birth cohorts. Most of these variations are explained by dramatic changes in fertility and educational levels.
ABSTRACT Young people leave the parental home at different ages, and differences exist both betwe... more ABSTRACT Young people leave the parental home at different ages, and differences exist both between and within societies. To explain this heterogeneity, differences in earnings and employment, education and family formation are popular candidates. Comparative research has emphasised the importance of institutional arrangements, in particular the way state welfare systems are able to support young individuals in the transition to adulthood. It has been argued, however, that despite differences in welfare support, differences in social norms also play an important role. In this paper we make an attempt to explain the heterogeneity in individuals’ perceptions of the "age deadline" for leaving home. Using information from the third round of the European Social Survey (ESS) we implement a series of multi-level regression models where we account both for country and regional heterogeneity. The idea is that contextual variables may affect individuals’ perception of the age deadline, which in turn is likely to matter for the actual age of leaving home. Just as in the literature concerned with explaining actual behaviour, we find that strong normative differences between countries persist. We also find significant, though lower, regional variability in the analysis on the pooled set of European countries we have in our data set. Unemployment rate and education are found to have a strong role in explaining heterogeneity of norms at the country level, while religiosity influences age norms mostly at the regional level. This is consistent with the idea that "cultural" factors are important at the regional level while "structural" factors show their influence at the country level.
ABSTRACT Large variation exists in the frequency of informal childcare provided by grandparents a... more ABSTRACT Large variation exists in the frequency of informal childcare provided by grandparents across Europe. At the same time, a wide North-South divide characterizes European social policies. Do welfare policy arrangements shape the role of grandparents? If yes, to what extent do grandparenting depend on the availability of public services offered for child care, parental leave regulation and legal obligations of family support? Combining micro-data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and macro-indicators from the Multilinks database, this study aims to answer these questions and to further clarify the link between welfare provision and use of grandparents’ resources for working mothers. By implementing country-specific regression models, we find a clear association between the policy context of the country of residence and (daily) grandparenting.
A review focused on a tourism destination ... Working Paper No. 7 URL: www.dondena.unibocconi.it/... more A review focused on a tourism destination ... Working Paper No. 7 URL: www.dondena.unibocconi.it/wp7 ... Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics Università Bocconi, via Guglielmo Röntgen 1, 20136 Milan, Italy http://www.dondena. ...
Guided by the acknowledged importance of measures of aging alternative to chronological age, we e... more Guided by the acknowledged importance of measures of aging alternative to chronological age, we explored the association between subjective age, on the one hand, and having grandchildren and provision of grandchild care, on the other, by gender and age groups. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 1,701 men and 2,395 women aged 50-85) and linear regression models were used to test two hypotheses. Grandparents feel older than their grandchildless counterparts at younger ages, but such association is reversed in later life if they look after their grandchildren. A cumulative negative association between subjective age and both having grandchildren and providing grandchild care holds for older women. This study extends prior research by examining age and gender differences in factors associated with subjective age. The findings suggest that grandparenthood is central in shaping the personal experience of aging. Future studies should address the causality of the factors analyzed.
Grandparents have always played an important role in the Italian society and in family life; howe... more Grandparents have always played an important role in the Italian society and in family life; however, little is known about the demography of grandparenthood despite dramatic global demographic changes that are likely to affect both the occurrence and timing of the transition to grandparenthood. Thus, we examined the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood in Italy for different cohorts and geographical areas. As a natural laboratory, the Italian case is particularly interesting because of its striking geographical differences in fertility and educational levels that may impact on the demography of grandparenthood. Employing data from the 2009 Italian Survey on „Family and Social Relations‟ („Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell‟infanzia‟) we used logistic and survival analysis methods to examine the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood. Our respondents were parents born between 1920 and 1949 (N=10,186), i.e. aged 60 and older at the time of the interview. Across all cohorts considered, Southern Italian parents were more likely to be grandparents and to have experienced the transition to grandparenthood by age 60 in comparison to those form the North. However, across all geographical areas, cohorts born in the 1940s were increasingly less likely to have become grandparents by the age of 60 compared to those born in the two decades before. Such postponement appears to be largely driven by family and educational compositional changes over time. For instance, although the likelihood of a young mother with three or more children and low level of education to become a grandparent has not changed much over time and across geographical areas, the percentage of mothers with such characteristics has reduced significantly over time, particularly in the North. The prevalence and timing of the transition to grandparenthood vary considerably across Italian geographical areas and the considered birth cohorts. Most of these variations are explained by dramatic changes in fertility and educational levels.
ABSTRACT Young people leave the parental home at different ages, and differences exist both betwe... more ABSTRACT Young people leave the parental home at different ages, and differences exist both between and within societies. To explain this heterogeneity, differences in earnings and employment, education and family formation are popular candidates. Comparative research has emphasised the importance of institutional arrangements, in particular the way state welfare systems are able to support young individuals in the transition to adulthood. It has been argued, however, that despite differences in welfare support, differences in social norms also play an important role. In this paper we make an attempt to explain the heterogeneity in individuals’ perceptions of the "age deadline" for leaving home. Using information from the third round of the European Social Survey (ESS) we implement a series of multi-level regression models where we account both for country and regional heterogeneity. The idea is that contextual variables may affect individuals’ perception of the age deadline, which in turn is likely to matter for the actual age of leaving home. Just as in the literature concerned with explaining actual behaviour, we find that strong normative differences between countries persist. We also find significant, though lower, regional variability in the analysis on the pooled set of European countries we have in our data set. Unemployment rate and education are found to have a strong role in explaining heterogeneity of norms at the country level, while religiosity influences age norms mostly at the regional level. This is consistent with the idea that "cultural" factors are important at the regional level while "structural" factors show their influence at the country level.
ABSTRACT Large variation exists in the frequency of informal childcare provided by grandparents a... more ABSTRACT Large variation exists in the frequency of informal childcare provided by grandparents across Europe. At the same time, a wide North-South divide characterizes European social policies. Do welfare policy arrangements shape the role of grandparents? If yes, to what extent do grandparenting depend on the availability of public services offered for child care, parental leave regulation and legal obligations of family support? Combining micro-data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and macro-indicators from the Multilinks database, this study aims to answer these questions and to further clarify the link between welfare provision and use of grandparents’ resources for working mothers. By implementing country-specific regression models, we find a clear association between the policy context of the country of residence and (daily) grandparenting.
A review focused on a tourism destination ... Working Paper No. 7 URL: www.dondena.unibocconi.it/... more A review focused on a tourism destination ... Working Paper No. 7 URL: www.dondena.unibocconi.it/wp7 ... Carlo F. Dondena Centre for Research on Social Dynamics Università Bocconi, via Guglielmo Röntgen 1, 20136 Milan, Italy http://www.dondena. ...
Guided by the acknowledged importance of measures of aging alternative to chronological age, we e... more Guided by the acknowledged importance of measures of aging alternative to chronological age, we explored the association between subjective age, on the one hand, and having grandchildren and provision of grandchild care, on the other, by gender and age groups. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS; N = 1,701 men and 2,395 women aged 50-85) and linear regression models were used to test two hypotheses. Grandparents feel older than their grandchildless counterparts at younger ages, but such association is reversed in later life if they look after their grandchildren. A cumulative negative association between subjective age and both having grandchildren and providing grandchild care holds for older women. This study extends prior research by examining age and gender differences in factors associated with subjective age. The findings suggest that grandparenthood is central in shaping the personal experience of aging. Future studies should address the causality of the factors analyzed.
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to grandparenthood. Thus, we examined the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood in Italy for different cohorts and geographical areas. As a natural laboratory, the Italian case is particularly interesting because of its striking geographical differences in fertility and
educational levels that may impact on the demography of grandparenthood.
Employing data from the 2009 Italian Survey on „Family and Social Relations‟ („Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell‟infanzia‟) we used logistic and survival analysis methods to examine the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood. Our respondents were parents born between 1920 and 1949 (N=10,186), i.e. aged 60 and older at the time of the interview.
Across all cohorts considered, Southern Italian parents were more likely to be grandparents and to have experienced the transition to grandparenthood by age 60 in comparison to those form the North. However, across all geographical areas, cohorts born in the 1940s were increasingly less likely to have become grandparents by the age of 60
compared to those born in the two decades before. Such postponement appears to be largely driven by family and educational compositional changes over time. For instance, although the likelihood of a young mother with three or more children and low level of education to
become a grandparent has not changed much over time and across geographical areas, the percentage of mothers with such characteristics has reduced significantly over time, particularly in the North.
The prevalence and timing of the transition to grandparenthood vary considerably across Italian geographical areas and the considered birth cohorts. Most of these variations are explained by dramatic changes in fertility and educational levels.
to grandparenthood. Thus, we examined the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood in Italy for different cohorts and geographical areas. As a natural laboratory, the Italian case is particularly interesting because of its striking geographical differences in fertility and
educational levels that may impact on the demography of grandparenthood.
Employing data from the 2009 Italian Survey on „Family and Social Relations‟ („Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell‟infanzia‟) we used logistic and survival analysis methods to examine the prevalence and timing of grandparenthood. Our respondents were parents born between 1920 and 1949 (N=10,186), i.e. aged 60 and older at the time of the interview.
Across all cohorts considered, Southern Italian parents were more likely to be grandparents and to have experienced the transition to grandparenthood by age 60 in comparison to those form the North. However, across all geographical areas, cohorts born in the 1940s were increasingly less likely to have become grandparents by the age of 60
compared to those born in the two decades before. Such postponement appears to be largely driven by family and educational compositional changes over time. For instance, although the likelihood of a young mother with three or more children and low level of education to
become a grandparent has not changed much over time and across geographical areas, the percentage of mothers with such characteristics has reduced significantly over time, particularly in the North.
The prevalence and timing of the transition to grandparenthood vary considerably across Italian geographical areas and the considered birth cohorts. Most of these variations are explained by dramatic changes in fertility and educational levels.