This deliverable is the first associated with Task 4.4. Voice recorded interviews and audio analy... more This deliverable is the first associated with Task 4.4. Voice recorded interviews and audio analysis in the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cloud project (SSHOC). This task will collect audio data in the form of voice recorded interviews from the Generations and Gender Survey. This audio data will then be processed and analysed by colleagues at CLARIN to contribute with automatic speech recognition, speaker attribution, part-of-speech-tagging, named entity labelling and other NLP tools. Survey methodologists and Social Scientists from the EVS and GGP will work together with data scientists and oral historians from CLARIN to develop a survey module specifically adapted to integrate audio recordings and their processing into the traditional data collection process. Thematically they will focus on the qualitative assessment of value statements. Once fielded, CLARIN will adapt existing auto- transcription tools to the specific needs of the audio survey data and make the transcribed ...
Spousal caregiving offers a unique opportunity to investigate how gender shapes the influence of ... more Spousal caregiving offers a unique opportunity to investigate how gender shapes the influence of care responsibilities on health at older ages. However, empirical evidence supporting a causal link between the transitions into and out of caregiving and health is mixed. This study investigates the influence of spousal care transitions on the health of older men and women living in 17 European countries. We use five waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) between the years 2004 and 2015 for a total of 43,435 individuals and 117,831 observations. Health is defined as a Frailty Index calculated from 40 items. Caregiving is defined as intensive help with personal care provided to spouses. Results from asymmetric fixed-effects linear regression models show that the transitions into caregiving have a detrimental effect on health. On the contrary, the transitions out of caregiving have in most cases no beneficial consequences on health. Most importantly, we found evidence supporting differential effects of caregiving transitions by gender and welfare arrangement: the transitions out of caregiving are associated with better health conditions only for Southern and Eastern European women. Our study highlights the asymmetric and gendered nature of care transitions and suggests that the impact of caregiving is somewhat permanent and has long lasting effects for the caregiver. Policies should account for this asymmetry when assessing the impact and consequences of caregiving.
We investigate how the mental health of older adults (–) is associated with childlessness and... more We investigate how the mental health of older adults (–) is associated with childlessness and sonlessness in China, where gender-biased filial expectations and strong son preference exist. The China Family Panel Study (, N = ,) and ordinary least squares regression models are used to investigate the relationship between depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression scale) and parental status, distinguishing between childless, parents of both sons and daughters, parents of only sons and parents of only daughters. Arguing that modernisation shapes gender preferences for children as well as formal care and pension provisions for older adults, we find a sharp rural–urban divide in the relationship between parental status and depression. Just having a son is not what matters as the best faring groups are parents who have both sons and daughters, regardless of the number of children. Rural childless and sonless are similar, whereas in urban areas parental status is not so salient, supporting modernisation theory.
Comparative social policy analysis has been shaped by the
measurement of policy as a macro phenom... more Comparative social policy analysis has been shaped by the measurement of policy as a macro phenomenon. However, social policy theories have consistently asserted that policy entitlements vary across class, gender, ethnicity and the life-course. This paper synthesises a number of innovations to produce an approach which allows researchers to explore the policy heterogeneity within populations, across populations and over time. Using the example of maternity and parental leave, policy entitlements are identified through the calculation of financial support an individual would receive if they were to have a child, using a combination of legislative rules with representative survey sample. The results reveal far greater heterogeneity in policy entitlements than existing indicators suggest, with considerable implications for research on maternity and parental leave. This approach is not limited to maternity and parental leave benefits and demonstrates a way to explore comparative social policy in greater depth and detail.
This analysis uses the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data for 2006–20... more This analysis uses the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data for 2006–2011 to examine whether there is an identifiable relationship between public and private provision of financial assistance and whether increased public support is associated with receiving more or less private support. In line with previous research, the findings suggest that households in receipt of certain public financial assistance are more likely to receive financial assistance from their friends and family. Yet the paper goes further and argues that the effect is dependent on the nature of the policy. Specifically, active policies not related to previous labour market participation appear to be associated with greater financial assistance from friends and family compared to traditional, passive forms of welfare assistance which themselves show no effect. The paper therefore concludes that the association between private and public financial assistance is dependent upon the type of public assistance that is being considered.
Background
The last decade has seen considerable research into intergenerational financial transf... more Background The last decade has seen considerable research into intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. This research has produced significant insights into the nature, causes, and consequences of such transfers, as well as evidence of cross-national variation. Yet the findings of this research field are almost exclusively based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The dependency on SHARE data and this specific methodological approach may limit the inferences made by researchers examining intergenerational transfers in Europe.
Objective This paper aims to explore whether instruments designed to measure intergenerational financial transfers are sensitive to various methodological parameters. Specifically, whether the prompts, reference period, and respondent identity affect the number and size of transfers that are reported.
Methods To achieve this we compare data from SHARE and the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) using Propensity Score Matching to identify which survey reports the most transfers and whether these differences are stable across sub groups. We also utilise specific features of SHARE and the GGP to examine whether variations in the reference period or asking the transfer giver or receiver affects the level of behaviour reported.
Results The results show that the instruments are highly sensitive to changes in wording, the reference period, and the identity of the respondent. This suggests that existing findings in the literature may be sensitive to the specific methodology used by SHARE.
Conclusions Whilst SHARE is an excellent data source, we would encourage studies of intergenerational transfers to validate their findings with multiple data sources.
The GGP is a cross-national research infrastructure that was established in 2001 and which aims a... more The GGP is a cross-national research infrastructure that was established in 2001 and which aims at understanding how the lives of individuals evolve over the whole life course, from young adulthood to older ages (more information can be found on our website: www.ggp-i.org). It furthermore aims at understanding the ways in which various factors, such as public policy, affect family life including the relationships between generations and between genders. It is a research infrastructure built on the principle of open access. It provides comparable micro-level data from 19 countries as well as related contextual data. In this paper, we first provide an overview of the GGP including its key features (i.e. what is the GGP?) and its capabilities (i.e. why do we need a GGP?). We then provide examples of some of its scientific accomplishments as well as its potential in terms of answering emerging research questions. We then discuss the way forward including our strategic plan through to 2020.
BACKGROUND
Existing research on intergenerational transfers has focused on income and wealth as ... more BACKGROUND
Existing research on intergenerational transfers has focused on income and wealth as the predominant determinants of the provision of financial assistance to adult children (Albertini, Kohli, and Vogel 2006; Zissimopoulos and Smith 2010; Albertini and Radl 2012). Yet previous models of intergenerational transfers underestimated the effect of family size due to the effect of birth order and inappropriate research design.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to more accurately describe the relationship between family size and intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. In developing a more appropriate theoretical and empirical understanding of intergenerational behaviour by borrowing findings from other areas of family studies, this paper explores the issues involved in the complex analysis of cross generational issues such as sampling, diverse and complex family forms, and unobserved family- and individual-level heterogeneity.
METHODS
Using multilevel methods to nest individual children in their extended families, this paper analyses data from the Survey for Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and concludes that family size and birth order are essential for understanding intergenerational transfers. Logit and Tobit models are used to predict transfer occurrence and amount, and therefore avoid bias estimates found with OLS in existing research.
RESULTS
The analysis suggests that an only child is more than four times as likely to receive financial assistance as someone in a four-child family. This means that the maximum effect of family size is more than twice that of parental income. A separate and independent effect of birth order is also identified, which suggests that the oldest in a four-child family is twice as likely to receive financial assistance as their youngest sibling.
The anticipated, dramatic shift in the demographics of European societies over the next half a ce... more The anticipated, dramatic shift in the demographics of European societies over the next half a century begs many questions about the state of relations between generations. Papers and speculations portraying a world in which the elderly rule through parliamentary majorities, preventing reductions in pensions and ‘enslaving’ the working population are surprisingly common. Existing literature on these hypotheses focus on the policy preference differences between the young and the old with evidence mixed as to the accuracy of these predictions. This paper aims to build on this debate by looking at the effects that the dependency ratio has on intergenerational relations. By using a multilevel methodology and data from the 2008 European Social Survey, the effect of demographic structure can be observed on the individual level. Yet whilst evidence is found of decreasing legitimacy of welfare for the elderly, this paper argues that this does not point to increasing intergenerational conflict in Europe."
This deliverable is the first associated with Task 4.4. Voice recorded interviews and audio analy... more This deliverable is the first associated with Task 4.4. Voice recorded interviews and audio analysis in the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Cloud project (SSHOC). This task will collect audio data in the form of voice recorded interviews from the Generations and Gender Survey. This audio data will then be processed and analysed by colleagues at CLARIN to contribute with automatic speech recognition, speaker attribution, part-of-speech-tagging, named entity labelling and other NLP tools. Survey methodologists and Social Scientists from the EVS and GGP will work together with data scientists and oral historians from CLARIN to develop a survey module specifically adapted to integrate audio recordings and their processing into the traditional data collection process. Thematically they will focus on the qualitative assessment of value statements. Once fielded, CLARIN will adapt existing auto- transcription tools to the specific needs of the audio survey data and make the transcribed ...
Spousal caregiving offers a unique opportunity to investigate how gender shapes the influence of ... more Spousal caregiving offers a unique opportunity to investigate how gender shapes the influence of care responsibilities on health at older ages. However, empirical evidence supporting a causal link between the transitions into and out of caregiving and health is mixed. This study investigates the influence of spousal care transitions on the health of older men and women living in 17 European countries. We use five waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) between the years 2004 and 2015 for a total of 43,435 individuals and 117,831 observations. Health is defined as a Frailty Index calculated from 40 items. Caregiving is defined as intensive help with personal care provided to spouses. Results from asymmetric fixed-effects linear regression models show that the transitions into caregiving have a detrimental effect on health. On the contrary, the transitions out of caregiving have in most cases no beneficial consequences on health. Most importantly, we found evidence supporting differential effects of caregiving transitions by gender and welfare arrangement: the transitions out of caregiving are associated with better health conditions only for Southern and Eastern European women. Our study highlights the asymmetric and gendered nature of care transitions and suggests that the impact of caregiving is somewhat permanent and has long lasting effects for the caregiver. Policies should account for this asymmetry when assessing the impact and consequences of caregiving.
We investigate how the mental health of older adults (–) is associated with childlessness and... more We investigate how the mental health of older adults (–) is associated with childlessness and sonlessness in China, where gender-biased filial expectations and strong son preference exist. The China Family Panel Study (, N = ,) and ordinary least squares regression models are used to investigate the relationship between depression (Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression scale) and parental status, distinguishing between childless, parents of both sons and daughters, parents of only sons and parents of only daughters. Arguing that modernisation shapes gender preferences for children as well as formal care and pension provisions for older adults, we find a sharp rural–urban divide in the relationship between parental status and depression. Just having a son is not what matters as the best faring groups are parents who have both sons and daughters, regardless of the number of children. Rural childless and sonless are similar, whereas in urban areas parental status is not so salient, supporting modernisation theory.
Comparative social policy analysis has been shaped by the
measurement of policy as a macro phenom... more Comparative social policy analysis has been shaped by the measurement of policy as a macro phenomenon. However, social policy theories have consistently asserted that policy entitlements vary across class, gender, ethnicity and the life-course. This paper synthesises a number of innovations to produce an approach which allows researchers to explore the policy heterogeneity within populations, across populations and over time. Using the example of maternity and parental leave, policy entitlements are identified through the calculation of financial support an individual would receive if they were to have a child, using a combination of legislative rules with representative survey sample. The results reveal far greater heterogeneity in policy entitlements than existing indicators suggest, with considerable implications for research on maternity and parental leave. This approach is not limited to maternity and parental leave benefits and demonstrates a way to explore comparative social policy in greater depth and detail.
This analysis uses the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data for 2006–20... more This analysis uses the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data for 2006–2011 to examine whether there is an identifiable relationship between public and private provision of financial assistance and whether increased public support is associated with receiving more or less private support. In line with previous research, the findings suggest that households in receipt of certain public financial assistance are more likely to receive financial assistance from their friends and family. Yet the paper goes further and argues that the effect is dependent on the nature of the policy. Specifically, active policies not related to previous labour market participation appear to be associated with greater financial assistance from friends and family compared to traditional, passive forms of welfare assistance which themselves show no effect. The paper therefore concludes that the association between private and public financial assistance is dependent upon the type of public assistance that is being considered.
Background
The last decade has seen considerable research into intergenerational financial transf... more Background The last decade has seen considerable research into intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. This research has produced significant insights into the nature, causes, and consequences of such transfers, as well as evidence of cross-national variation. Yet the findings of this research field are almost exclusively based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The dependency on SHARE data and this specific methodological approach may limit the inferences made by researchers examining intergenerational transfers in Europe.
Objective This paper aims to explore whether instruments designed to measure intergenerational financial transfers are sensitive to various methodological parameters. Specifically, whether the prompts, reference period, and respondent identity affect the number and size of transfers that are reported.
Methods To achieve this we compare data from SHARE and the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) using Propensity Score Matching to identify which survey reports the most transfers and whether these differences are stable across sub groups. We also utilise specific features of SHARE and the GGP to examine whether variations in the reference period or asking the transfer giver or receiver affects the level of behaviour reported.
Results The results show that the instruments are highly sensitive to changes in wording, the reference period, and the identity of the respondent. This suggests that existing findings in the literature may be sensitive to the specific methodology used by SHARE.
Conclusions Whilst SHARE is an excellent data source, we would encourage studies of intergenerational transfers to validate their findings with multiple data sources.
The GGP is a cross-national research infrastructure that was established in 2001 and which aims a... more The GGP is a cross-national research infrastructure that was established in 2001 and which aims at understanding how the lives of individuals evolve over the whole life course, from young adulthood to older ages (more information can be found on our website: www.ggp-i.org). It furthermore aims at understanding the ways in which various factors, such as public policy, affect family life including the relationships between generations and between genders. It is a research infrastructure built on the principle of open access. It provides comparable micro-level data from 19 countries as well as related contextual data. In this paper, we first provide an overview of the GGP including its key features (i.e. what is the GGP?) and its capabilities (i.e. why do we need a GGP?). We then provide examples of some of its scientific accomplishments as well as its potential in terms of answering emerging research questions. We then discuss the way forward including our strategic plan through to 2020.
BACKGROUND
Existing research on intergenerational transfers has focused on income and wealth as ... more BACKGROUND
Existing research on intergenerational transfers has focused on income and wealth as the predominant determinants of the provision of financial assistance to adult children (Albertini, Kohli, and Vogel 2006; Zissimopoulos and Smith 2010; Albertini and Radl 2012). Yet previous models of intergenerational transfers underestimated the effect of family size due to the effect of birth order and inappropriate research design.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to more accurately describe the relationship between family size and intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. In developing a more appropriate theoretical and empirical understanding of intergenerational behaviour by borrowing findings from other areas of family studies, this paper explores the issues involved in the complex analysis of cross generational issues such as sampling, diverse and complex family forms, and unobserved family- and individual-level heterogeneity.
METHODS
Using multilevel methods to nest individual children in their extended families, this paper analyses data from the Survey for Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and concludes that family size and birth order are essential for understanding intergenerational transfers. Logit and Tobit models are used to predict transfer occurrence and amount, and therefore avoid bias estimates found with OLS in existing research.
RESULTS
The analysis suggests that an only child is more than four times as likely to receive financial assistance as someone in a four-child family. This means that the maximum effect of family size is more than twice that of parental income. A separate and independent effect of birth order is also identified, which suggests that the oldest in a four-child family is twice as likely to receive financial assistance as their youngest sibling.
The anticipated, dramatic shift in the demographics of European societies over the next half a ce... more The anticipated, dramatic shift in the demographics of European societies over the next half a century begs many questions about the state of relations between generations. Papers and speculations portraying a world in which the elderly rule through parliamentary majorities, preventing reductions in pensions and ‘enslaving’ the working population are surprisingly common. Existing literature on these hypotheses focus on the policy preference differences between the young and the old with evidence mixed as to the accuracy of these predictions. This paper aims to build on this debate by looking at the effects that the dependency ratio has on intergenerational relations. By using a multilevel methodology and data from the 2008 European Social Survey, the effect of demographic structure can be observed on the individual level. Yet whilst evidence is found of decreasing legitimacy of welfare for the elderly, this paper argues that this does not point to increasing intergenerational conflict in Europe."
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Papers by Tom Emery
measurement of policy as a macro phenomenon. However, social
policy theories have consistently asserted that policy entitlements vary across class, gender, ethnicity and the life-course. This paper synthesises a number of innovations to produce an approach which allows researchers to explore the policy heterogeneity within populations, across populations and over time. Using the example of maternity and parental leave, policy entitlements are identified through the calculation of financial support an individual would receive if they were to have a child, using a combination of legislative rules with representative survey sample. The results reveal far greater heterogeneity in policy entitlements than existing indicators suggest, with considerable implications for research on maternity and parental leave. This approach is not limited to maternity and parental leave benefits and demonstrates a way to explore comparative social policy in greater depth and detail.
The last decade has seen considerable research into intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. This research has produced significant insights into the nature, causes, and consequences of such transfers, as well as evidence of cross-national variation. Yet the findings of this research field are almost exclusively based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The dependency on SHARE data and this specific methodological approach may limit the inferences made by researchers examining intergenerational transfers in Europe.
Objective
This paper aims to explore whether instruments designed to measure intergenerational financial transfers are sensitive to various methodological parameters. Specifically, whether the prompts, reference period, and respondent identity affect the number and size of transfers that are reported.
Methods
To achieve this we compare data from SHARE and the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) using Propensity Score Matching to identify which survey reports the most transfers and whether these differences are stable across sub groups. We also utilise specific features of SHARE and the GGP to examine whether variations in the reference period or asking the transfer giver or receiver affects the level of behaviour reported.
Results
The results show that the instruments are highly sensitive to changes in wording, the reference period, and the identity of the respondent. This suggests that existing findings in the literature may be sensitive to the specific methodology used by SHARE.
Conclusions
Whilst SHARE is an excellent data source, we would encourage studies of intergenerational transfers to validate their findings with multiple data sources.
Existing research on intergenerational transfers has focused on income and wealth as the predominant determinants of the provision of financial assistance to adult children (Albertini, Kohli, and Vogel 2006; Zissimopoulos and Smith 2010; Albertini and Radl 2012). Yet previous models of intergenerational transfers underestimated the effect of family size due to the effect of birth order and inappropriate research design.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to more accurately describe the relationship between family size and intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. In developing a more appropriate theoretical and empirical understanding of intergenerational behaviour by borrowing findings from other areas of family studies, this paper explores the issues involved in the complex analysis of cross generational issues such as sampling, diverse and complex family forms, and unobserved family- and individual-level heterogeneity.
METHODS
Using multilevel methods to nest individual children in their extended families, this paper analyses data from the Survey for Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and concludes that family size and birth order are essential for understanding intergenerational transfers. Logit and Tobit models are used to predict transfer occurrence and amount, and therefore avoid bias estimates found with OLS in existing research.
RESULTS
The analysis suggests that an only child is more than four times as likely to receive financial assistance as someone in a four-child family. This means that the maximum effect of family size is more than twice that of parental income. A separate and independent effect of birth order is also identified, which suggests that the oldest in a four-child family is twice as likely to receive financial assistance as their youngest sibling.
measurement of policy as a macro phenomenon. However, social
policy theories have consistently asserted that policy entitlements vary across class, gender, ethnicity and the life-course. This paper synthesises a number of innovations to produce an approach which allows researchers to explore the policy heterogeneity within populations, across populations and over time. Using the example of maternity and parental leave, policy entitlements are identified through the calculation of financial support an individual would receive if they were to have a child, using a combination of legislative rules with representative survey sample. The results reveal far greater heterogeneity in policy entitlements than existing indicators suggest, with considerable implications for research on maternity and parental leave. This approach is not limited to maternity and parental leave benefits and demonstrates a way to explore comparative social policy in greater depth and detail.
The last decade has seen considerable research into intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. This research has produced significant insights into the nature, causes, and consequences of such transfers, as well as evidence of cross-national variation. Yet the findings of this research field are almost exclusively based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The dependency on SHARE data and this specific methodological approach may limit the inferences made by researchers examining intergenerational transfers in Europe.
Objective
This paper aims to explore whether instruments designed to measure intergenerational financial transfers are sensitive to various methodological parameters. Specifically, whether the prompts, reference period, and respondent identity affect the number and size of transfers that are reported.
Methods
To achieve this we compare data from SHARE and the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) using Propensity Score Matching to identify which survey reports the most transfers and whether these differences are stable across sub groups. We also utilise specific features of SHARE and the GGP to examine whether variations in the reference period or asking the transfer giver or receiver affects the level of behaviour reported.
Results
The results show that the instruments are highly sensitive to changes in wording, the reference period, and the identity of the respondent. This suggests that existing findings in the literature may be sensitive to the specific methodology used by SHARE.
Conclusions
Whilst SHARE is an excellent data source, we would encourage studies of intergenerational transfers to validate their findings with multiple data sources.
Existing research on intergenerational transfers has focused on income and wealth as the predominant determinants of the provision of financial assistance to adult children (Albertini, Kohli, and Vogel 2006; Zissimopoulos and Smith 2010; Albertini and Radl 2012). Yet previous models of intergenerational transfers underestimated the effect of family size due to the effect of birth order and inappropriate research design.
OBJECTIVE
This paper aims to more accurately describe the relationship between family size and intergenerational financial transfers in Europe. In developing a more appropriate theoretical and empirical understanding of intergenerational behaviour by borrowing findings from other areas of family studies, this paper explores the issues involved in the complex analysis of cross generational issues such as sampling, diverse and complex family forms, and unobserved family- and individual-level heterogeneity.
METHODS
Using multilevel methods to nest individual children in their extended families, this paper analyses data from the Survey for Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, and concludes that family size and birth order are essential for understanding intergenerational transfers. Logit and Tobit models are used to predict transfer occurrence and amount, and therefore avoid bias estimates found with OLS in existing research.
RESULTS
The analysis suggests that an only child is more than four times as likely to receive financial assistance as someone in a four-child family. This means that the maximum effect of family size is more than twice that of parental income. A separate and independent effect of birth order is also identified, which suggests that the oldest in a four-child family is twice as likely to receive financial assistance as their youngest sibling.