Konzorcium, fő p.: The Timing of Life: Understanding the Consequences of Individualization for The Organisation of the Life Course in Europe
Title in English
Consortional main: The Timing of Life: Understanding the Consequences of Individualization for The Organisation of the Life Course in Europe
Keywords in Hungarian
európai empirikus összehasonlító vizsgálat, éltepálya, normák és értlékek,
Keywords in English
European Comparative research, life course, normes and values,
Discipline
Demography (Council of Humanities and Social Sciences)
60 %
Ortelius classification: Demography
Sociology (Council of Humanities and Social Sciences)
40 %
Ortelius classification: Societal behaviour
Panel
Society
Department or equivalent
HCSO Demographic Research Institute
Participants
Geambasu, Réka Murinkó, Lívia
Starting date
2008-03-01
Closing date
2012-06-30
Funding (in million HUF)
14.146
FTE (full time equivalent)
3.13
state
closed project
Summary in Hungarian
It is commonly believed that the process of individualization in Western societies has had a strong influence on individual life courses. There are suggestions that norms on the structuration of the life course have become unclear, that variation in life patterns has increased, and that life-planning has become increasingly important. Understanding the organisation of the life course in modern society requires both structural and cultural analyses. However, recent research attention has tended to focus on structural analysis. For instance, comparative studies have examined changes in the timing of the transition to adulthood, the interplay of events in work and family domains, and the retirement process. This research has profited from increased data availability and newly developed statistical techniques. However, during the same period, cultural analysis has been relatively neglected. The current project aims to redress this imbalance by using data on the organisation of the life course collected in the 2006 wave of the European Social Survey. In particular, we propose to study three interrelated research questions concerning the organisation of the life course: 1)To what extent is the life course perceived as a structured sequence of life stages, and which events mark the transition from one stage to another? 2) Do social norms concerning the life course exist, and if so, to what extent are these norms backed by sanctions? 3) To what extent and in what ways do individuals engage in active life planning?
The research will us the theory of the life course as theoretical refernce, will analyse the Europena Social Survey Timing of the Life modul, and employ advanced multi-level analysis.
Summary
It is commonly believed that the process of individualization in Western societies has had a strong influence on individual life courses. There are suggestions that norms on the structuration of the life course have become unclear, that variation in life patterns has increased, and that life-planning has become increasingly important. Understanding the organisation of the life course in modern society requires both structural and cultural analyses. However, recent research attention has tended to focus on structural analysis. For instance, comparative studies have examined changes in the timing of the transition to adulthood, the interplay of events in work and family domains, and the retirement process. This research has profited from increased data availability and newly developed statistical techniques. However, during the same period, cultural analysis has been relatively neglected. The current project aims to redress this imbalance by using data on the organisation of the life course collected in the 2006 wave of the European Social Survey. In particular, we propose to study three interrelated research questions concerning the organisation of the life course: 1)To what extent is the life course perceived as a structured sequence of life stages, and which events mark the transition from one stage to another? 2) Do social norms concerning the life course exist, and if so, to what extent are these norms backed by sanctions? 3) To what extent and in what ways do individuals engage in active life planning?
The research will us the theory of the life course as theoretical refernce, will analyse the Europena Social Survey Timing of the Life modul, and employ advanced multi-level analysis.
Final report
Results in Hungarian
A kutatásunkban, amely egy nemzetközi kutatási együttműködés keretében folyt, tisztázni kívántuk, hogy beszélhetünk-e az életpálya mentális szakaszolódásáról, és ha igen, annak fennmaradásában milyen egyéni-, csoport- és társadalmi (makro) szintű tényezők játszanak szerepet. Elemzéseinket az ESS 2006-os hullámára alapoztuk, és kihasználtuk a többszintű elemzési módszertan adta lehetőségeket. Megállapíthattuk, hogy a felnőtté válásnak, a középkorúságnak és az idős kornak Európában egyértelmű mentális standardjai vannak. Míg a felnőtté válás korhatárának megítélésében alig van különbség az európai országok között, addig a középkorúságot, illetve az időssé válást tekintve lényegesek az eltérések. A felnőtté válás életkoráról alkotott kép Európában univerzális, a kulcseseményeket tekintve a skandináv és kelet-európai országok mutatnak sajátos mintázatot. A középkorúvá válás meghatározódásában mentális tényezőknek (korhatár-elképzelések, a gyermekvállalás becsült utolsó életkora), az időskor korhatárának meghúzásában pedig a várható élettartamnak van meghatározó szerepe. Demográfiai tulajdonságok (életkor, nem, családi állapot, és családi állás, iskolai végzettség), életpálya-tapasztalatok (volt-e munkanélküli, volt-e válása) és tudattartalmak (elégedettség, magányosság érzete) is befolyásolják, hogy ki hol húzza meg az életkori határokat. Hogy a nők minden korhatárt két-három évvel korábban lépnek át, az döntően a férfiak véleményén alapul.
Results in English
The research project, carried out in an international collaboration, concentrated on the organization of the life course, and addressed the question “to what extent is the life course perceived as a structured sequence of life stages, where the age lines between the stages are, and which events mark the transition from one stage to another?” The project utilized the 3rd wave of the European Social Survey and employed advanced multi-level analyses. We found signs of existing “mental life-course maps” in Europe. There are little country-variation in the age becoming adult, however middle-ages and old-ages are set differently in Europe. As long in defining middle ages subjective country-specific features (eg. defining ideal age of retirement) play a crucial role, old age is closely related to county-specific life-expectancy. Group specific demographic characteristics (age, gender, marital status, education), life-course experiences (divorce, unemployment) and subjective evaluations (satisfaction, loneliness) significantly modify perceptions of age boundaries. Mainly male respondents are responsible for the perception, that male pass age dead-lines 2 years later than woman.
Billari, Francesco C.; Goisis, Alice; Aassve, Arnstein; Hagestad, Gunhild; Liefbroer, Aart C.; Spéder, Zsolt; Settersten, Richard A., Jr: Maternal and paternal social age deadlines for childbearing, HUMAN REPRODUCTION 26: (March) pp. 616-622., 2010
Kapitány Balázs – Spéder Zsolt: Success and failure in the realisation of childbearing intentions. Comparing influencing factors in four European countries, Population, 2012
Murinkó L. – Spéder Zs.: The Importance of Demographic Markers in the Transition to Adulthood in Europe. In:, European Sociological Association 9th Conference, Lisbon, 2-5 September 2009, Full Papers CD ROM, paper 777., 2009
Spéder, Zsolt - Kapitány, Balázs: Universal and specific influences on the link between fertility intentions and behavioural outcomes: Lessons from a European comparative study., Philipov, D. A. Liefbroer, J. Klobas, eds. Reproductive Decision-making in Micro- Macro Perspective, forthcoming, Springer, accepted chapter, P. 40., 2012
Murinkó Lívia: Első elköltözés a szülői házból a felnőtté válás kontextusában Magyarországon, PhD disszertáció, elbírálás alatt, Corvinus Eygetem Szcoiológia Tanszék, 2012
Spéder, Zsolt –Murinkó, Lívia–Settersten, Richard A.: Are Conceptions of Adulthood Universal and Unisex? Ages and Social Markers in 25 European Countries p. 24, KSH Népességtudományi Kutató Intézet, elbírálás alatt, 2012
Spéder, Zsolt –Murinkó, Lívia–Settersten, Richard A.: Are Conceptions of Adulthood Universal and Unisex? Ages and Social Markers in 25 European Countries, KSH Népességtuidományi Kutaó Intézet, re-submited, under review, 2012
