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This paper aims to contribute to the growing literature on resilience by focusing on coping with hardship during the Great Recession, drawing upon primary data gathered through household and key informant interviews in nine European countries. As the resilience approach highlights agency, the paper examines the nature of household responses to hardship during this period on the basis of the 'structure-agency problem'. An important contribution of this paper is to identify different forms of agency and discuss their implications. More specifically, we conceptualise three different types of agency in coping with hardship: absorptive, adaptive and transformative. Analysis of the findings indicates that structural constraints remain prominent. Most coping mechanisms fall under the category of absorptive and adaptive agency characterised here as burden-bearing actions that 'conform' to changing circumstances rather than shaping those circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses fuzzy-set ideal type analysis to assess the conformity of European leave regulations to four theoretical ideal typical divisions of labour: male breadwinner, caregiver parity, universal breadwinner and universal caregiver. In contrast to the majority of previous studies, the focus of this analysis is on the extent to which leave regulations promote gender equality in the family and the transformation of traditional gender roles. The results of this analysis demonstrate that European countries cluster into five models that only partly coincide with countries’ geographical proximity. Second, none of the countries considered constitutes a universal caregiver model, while the male breadwinner ideal continues to provide the normative reference point for parental leave regulations in a large number of European states. Finally, we witness a growing emphasis at the national and EU levels concerning the universal breadwinner ideal, which leaves gender inequality in unpaid work unproblematized. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Family policy is an issue of concern for many Governments. Family policies are organized around the four main functions of the family: marriage, childrearing, financial support and family care. Eastern Europe is an area with significant socio-economic and political changes in the last decades that determined revisions of social policies. The goal of this article is to review the most relevant family policies in this region. Using feminist and family systems theoretical perspectives the paper also provides an in-depth examination of childcare policies with a focus on parental leave. Maternity, paternity and parental leave and child care services in the region are explored. Recommendations for family policy development, implementation and evaluation in Eastern Europe are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: In August 2016, new prescription guidelines were introduced in Hungary to reduce the co-payments for antibiotics among children aged 0-4. This study aims at analysing the implementation of this policy and its effect on the use of antibiotics. Methods: The analysis is based on administrative prescription records between January 2010—February 2018, covering the entire population of Hungary aged 0-7. Spatial autocorrelation indices are calculated and settlement level regression models are estimated to analyse the spatial variation in the application of the new guidelines. The effect of reduced co-payments on antibiotic use is estimated with a difference-in-differences type model: the treatment and control groups are children aged 0-4 and 5-7, respectively; the treatment and control periods are August 2016—February 2018 and January 2010—July 2016, respectively. Results: The new prescription guidelines are more widely applied in settlements with higher per capita income and lower unemployment rate. Adherence to the new guidelines is spatially clustered. A 10–15% decrease in the out-of-pocket costs of antibiotics is estimated to increase the consumption of antibiotics by about 5% (95% CI: 2.63%–7.55%). Conclusions: In the absence of clear enforcement mechanisms, the adoption of the new prescription guidelines is selective, contradicting the aims of the policy of making antibiotics affordable for the poor children. The results point to the possible role of physicians’ information networks in the application of prescription guidelines. The use of antibiotics among children aged 0-4 is responsive to the price subsidy of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims This study investigates the link between personal income and smoking among adolescents, and aims to answer the following questions: (i) to what extent is personal income related to smoking, independent of family socio-economic status (SES) and (ii) does the association between personal income and smoking apply to different subpopulations? Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Six cities from European countries (Amersfoort, the Netherlands; Coimbra, Portugal; Hannover, Germany; Latina, Italy; Namur, Belgium; Tampere, Finland) in 2013. Participants A school-based sample of 10 794 adolescents aged 14-17 years. Measurements We modelled smoking experimentation, weekly smoking, daily smoking and (among daily smokers) smoking intensity as function of personal income, adjusting for age, sex, family SES, parental smoking and country. We tested interactions between personal income and covariates. Stratification analyses were performed for the variables for which interactions were significant. Findings Adolescents in the highest income quintile were more likely to be smoking experimenters [odds ratio (OR) = 1.87; P < 0.01], weekly smokers (OR = 3.51; P < 0.01) and daily smokers (OR = 4.55; P < 0.01) than those in the lowest quintile. They also consumed more cigarettes per month (β = 0.79; P < 0.01). Adjusting for family SES did not modify the significance of relationships, and increased the magnitude of the association for daily smoking. None of the interactions between covariates and personal income was significant for smoking measures. For the intensity of smoking, the interaction was significant for SES. The stratified analysis showed a non-significant association between smoking intensity and personal income among the oldest adolescents and those with the lowest SES background, while significant among younger and higher SES backgrounds. Conclusion In the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Belgium and Finland, adolescents' personal income is related positively to smoking behaviours independent of family socio-economic status (SES). However, among low socio-economic status adolescent daily smokers, the association between the intensity of smoking and personal income is weaker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to articulate the concepts of familialism and defamilialization as well as their indicators to assess whether and how welfare states, or regimes, differ not only in the degree to which they are defamilialized but also in the specific familialism form. In other words, it assesses whether family responsibility in a given area (and its gender dimension) is only assumed without public policy support or, on the contrary, whether it is actively enforced by laws or supported by income transfers and time allocation. The same diversification also exists for the opposite concept, defamilialization, which may happen through positive, direct or indirect policy interventions or because of the lack of such interventions, encouraging recourse to the market. The article shows that when considering these distinctions in the analyses, the profiles of countries that are usually generically described as ‘familialistic welfare states’, such as Italy and Spain in Europe or Japan and Korea in East Asia, and their similarities and differences partly differ from those that emerge when considering only a simplified familialism – defamilialization dichotomy, in so far both familialism and defamilialization may occur, and be combined, through distinct means, offering, therefore, also different options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many OECD countries have replied to economic recessions with an adaption in public spending on social benefits for families and young people in need. So far, no study has examined the impact of public social spending during the recent economic recession on health, and social inequalities in health among young people. This study investigates whether an increase in public spending relates to a lower prevalence in health complaints and buffers health inequalities among adolescents.Methods: Data were obtained from the 2009/2010 "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC)" study comprising 11 - 15-year-old adolescents from 27 European countries (N = 144,754). Socioeconomic position was measured by the Family Affluence Scale (FAS). Logistic multilevel models were conducted for the association between the absolute rate of public spending on family benefits per capita in 2010 and the relative change rate in family benefits (2006-2010) in relation to adolescent psychological health complaints in 2009/2010.Results: The absolute rate of public spending on family benefits in 2010 did not show a significant association with adolescents' psychological health complaints. Relative change rates of public spending on family benefits (2006-2010) were related to better health. Greater socioeconomic inequalities in psychological health complaints were found for countries with higher change rates in public spending on family benefits (2006-2010).Conclusions: The results partially support our hypothesis and highlight that policy initiatives in terms of an increase in family benefits might partially benefit adolescent health, but tend to widen social inequalities in adolescent health during the recent recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The rising number of deaths from cancer and other life-limiting illnesses is accompanied by a growing number of family carers who provide long-lasting care, including end-of-life care. This population-based epidemiological study aimed to describe and compare in four European countries the prevalence of and factors associated with physical or emotional overburden and difficulties in covering care-related costs among family carers of people at the end of life. Methods: A cross-national retrospective study was conducted via nationwide representative sentinel networks of general practitioners (GPs). Using a standardized form, GPs in Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy and Spain recorded information on the last 3 months of life of every deceased adult practice patient (1 January 2009–31 December 2010). Sudden deaths were excluded. Results: We studied 4466 deaths. GPs judged family carers of 28% (Belgium), 30% (The Netherlands), 35% (Spain) and 71% (Italy) of patients as physically/emotionally overburdened (P < 0.001). For 8% (Spain), 14% (Belgium), 36% (The Netherlands) and 43% (Italy) patients, GPs reported difficulties in covering care-related costs (P < 0.001). Patients <85 years of age (Belgium, Italy) had higher odds of having physically/emotionally overburdened family carers and financial burden. Death from non-malignant illness (vs. cancer) (Belgium and Italy) and dying at home compared with other locations (The Netherlands and Italy) were associated with higher odds of difficulties in covering care-related costs. Conclusion: In all countries studied, and particularly in Italy, GPs observed a considerable extent of physical/emotional overburden as well as difficulties in covering care-related costs among family carers of people at the end of life. Implications for health- and social care policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conduct a cross-national econometric analysis of intra-family location and caregiving patterns. Using European data, we first assess, from an international perspective, the relationship between family structure and the geographic proximity between adult children and their parents. We then examine whether differences in family structure are related to the amount of informal care adult children provide to their elderly parents. Lastly, we look for cross-country differences in family location and caregiving patterns, and interpret observed differences in terms of heterogeneous institutional solutions to elderly care. Our results not only provide a new empirical perspective on the geography of the family, but also provide insights into how family-related and institutional factors shape patterns of time transfers from adult children to elderly parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]