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Expanding refugee influxes have involved a rising number of European countries in recent years. In this context, our study investigates attitudes of international protection seekers regarding their prospects of staying permanently in a transit country such as Greece. This research was based on primary statistical data collected through the dissemination of structured questionnaires from a sample of refugees from the Closed Controlled Facility of Samos island, Eastern Greece, one of the most attended gates allowing access to Europe from Turkey and the Middle East. Descriptive and non-parametric statistics and results from a logistic regression contributed to the examination of factors that simultaneously determine the will of the refugees to stay in Greece instead of moving to another country. The main reasons they want to stay in Greece are primarily for employment opportunities and a better quality of life. They aspire to learn Greek to integrate better into the local society, actively seeking this skill from their initial arrival. However, their social integration into the local host community cannot be achieved effectively at the current time due to the absence of appropriate strategies at the local/regional levels. The need for employment (expressed by attempts to find work), the quality of life (access to public and private services), the country of origin, marital status and, finally, the sense of safety based on the existence (or, conversely, lack) of xenophobic and racist incidents are the main reasons that simultaneously determine their decision to stay permanently in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although local context is considered a key factor shaping differences in the age at marriage between spouses, spatially explicit investigations of the gender gap in marriage timing were scarce in Europe, especially in more traditional societies. The present study analyses the spatial distribution of the gender age gap at marriage in Greece, a country experiencing a late demographic transition compared with other European societies. Analysis of prefecture-level data between 1980 and 2017 indicates a continuous increase in the age at marriage, with a moderate reduction in the gender age gap (5 and 3 years respectively in 1980 and 2017). While in the early 1980s age differentials at marriage between men and women diverged in rural and urban areas, a reduced gender gap and greater spatial heterogeneity were observed in 2017, indicating social modernization in most rural communities. These findings highlight the role of local contexts in shaping attitudes toward marriage postponement in Greece, suggesting that the spatial diffusion of marriage homogamy—as an indicator of social change—is influenced by the emergence of 'permeable' and 'resistant' communities with characteristic socioeconomic profiles. Going beyond the traditional urban–rural divide, space has become an important mediator of gender power dynamics, evidencing the progressive fragmentation of social processes and the increasing heterogeneity of the related demographic patterns at the local community scale. Spatial analysis contributes to delineate such complex processes, integrating results from approaches that assess individual behaviors with a refined investigation of macro-scale patterns of change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]