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This paper investigates the transmission of educational attainment from parents to offspring as a mediator of intergenerational class mobility in Europe. The study covers the last two decades with data drawn from a cross-national large-scale sample survey, namely the European Social Survey (ESS), for the years 2002–2018. Interest has focused on the question of the persistence of inequality of educational opportunities by examining the attainment of nominal levels of education and the association between the educational attainment of the parent with the highest level of education and their descendants. The study also covers new trends in social mobility that consider education as a "positional good", and a novel method of incorporating educational expansion into the transition probabilities is proposed, providing answers to whether the rising accessibility of educational qualifications attenuates the association between social origin and educational attainment. Therefore, the concept of positionality is taken into account in the estimation of intergenerational transition probabilities, and to complement the analysis, mobility measures are provided for both methods, nominal and positional. The proposed positional method is validated through a correlation analysis between the upward mobility scores (nominal and positional) with the Education Expansion Index (EEI) for the respective years. The upward mobility scores estimated via the positional method are more highly correlated with the EEI for all years, indicating a better alignment with the broader trends in educational participation and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that retired older adults are more likely to volunteer than their working counterparts. However, whether the transition to retirement is associated with increased volunteering frequency and whether this varies according to material and time resources of participants is unclear. We used four waves of data from the longitudinal Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, collected between 2011–2018 across 19 countries (n = 12,400 person-observations from 6200 individuals over 50). Within-person (or panel fixed-effect) regression analyses revealed that transition to retirement was associated with an increased volunteering frequency over time. This association was stronger among individuals with better health, higher education, improved financial situation and in countries with higher gross domestic product per capita. Overall, transition to retirement tends to open new ways of organizing everyday life and is associated with increased frequency of volunteering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Social inequalities in multimorbidity may occur due to familial and/or individual factors and may differ between men and women. Using population-based multi-generational data, this study aimed to (1) assess the roles of parental and individual education in the risk of multimorbidity and (2) examine the potential effect modification by sex. Methods Data were analysed from 62 060 adults aged 50+ who participated in the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, comprising 14 European countries. Intergenerational educational trajectories (exposure) were High–High (reference), Low–High, High–Low and Low–Low, corresponding to parental–individual educational attainments. Multimorbidity (outcome) was ascertained between 2013 and 2020 as self-reported occurrence of ≥2 diagnosed chronic conditions. Inequalities were quantified as multimorbidity-free years lost (MFYL) between the ages of 50 and 90 and estimated via differences in the area under the standardized cumulative risk curves. Effect modification by sex was assessed via stratification. Results Low individual education was associated with higher multimorbidity risk regardless of parental education. Compared to the High–High trajectory, Low–High was associated with −0.2 MFYL (95% confidence intervals: −0.5 to 0.1), High–Low with 3.0 (2.4–3.5), and Low–Low with 2.6 (2.3–2.9) MFYL. This pattern was observed for both sexes, with a greater magnitude for women. This effect modification was not observed when only diseases diagnosed independently of healthcare-seeking behaviours were examined. Conclusions Individual education was the main contributor to intergenerational inequalities in multimorbidity risk among older European adults. These findings support the importance of achieving a high education to mitigate multimorbidity risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how educational and initial vocational training systems in Europe vary regarding the way in which they structure educational routes for pupils of different academic ability. The study uses cluster analysis to explore the degree of similarity between 25 European countries, including variables related to: stratification within compulsory education; vocational orientation; links between initial vocational education and the labour market; transitions from secondary education; stratification within tertiary education; and links between educational qualifications and labour market outcomes. I identify three clusters of countries that have distinct patterns of stratification. This article contributes to the literature on educational regimes and school-to-work transitions by adding countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and integrating multiple dimensions pertaining to the link between educational and social stratification. Thus, it develops a more encompassing representation of the architecture of educational pathways in different European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Autistic individuals experience higher rates of externalising and internalising symptoms that may vary with environmental factors. However, there is limited research on variation across settings that may highlight common factors with globally generalisable effects. Data were taken from two cohorts: a multinational European sample (n = 764; 453 autistic; 311 non-autistic; 6–30 years), and a South African sample (n = 100 non-autistic; 3–11 years). An exploratory factor analysis aggregated clinical (Verbal Comprehension and Perceptual Index), adaptive traits (Vineland Adaptive Behaviour Scale) and socio-economic variables (parental employment and education, home and family characteristics) in each cohort separately. With regression, we investigated the effect of these factors and autistic traits on internalising and externalising scores (measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Cohorts showed similar four-factor structures (Person Characteristics, Family System, Parental and Material Resources). The 'Family System' factor captured family size and maternal factors and was associated with lower internalising and externalising symptoms in both cohorts. In the European cohort, high autistic traits reduced this effect; the opposite was found in the South Africa cohort. Our exploratory findings from two separate analyses represent consistent evidence that Family System is associated with internalising and externalising symptoms, with a context-specific impact in persons with high autism traits. Autistic individuals are more likely than non-autistic individuals to experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, and this includes externalising and internalising symptoms. We know very little about how different environments and family conditions impact these symptoms for autistic individuals. Improving our understanding of these relationships is important so that we can identify individuals who may be in greater need of support. In this article, we seek to improve our understanding of how environmental and family conditions impact externalising and internalising symptoms in autistic and non-autistic people. To do this, we conducted analyses with two cohorts in very different settings – in Europe and South Africa – to ensure our findings are globally representative. We used advanced statistical methods to establish environmental and family conditions that were similar to each other, and which could be combined into specific 'factors'. We found that four similar 'factors' could be identified in the two cohorts. These were distinguished by personal characteristics and environmental conditions of individuals, and were named Person Characteristics, Family System, Parental and Material Resources. Interestingly, just 'Family System' was associated with internalising and externalising symptoms, and this was the same in both cohorts. We also found that having high traits of autism impacted this relationship between Family System and mental health conditions with opposite directions in the two settings. These results show that characteristics in the Family System are associated with internalising and externalising symptoms, and autistic persons are particularly impacted, reinforcing the notion that family stressors are important to consider when implementing policy and practice related to improving the mental health of autistic people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using European Social Survey data, this article studies the prevalence of objective and subjective poverty among older women and men (60+ years) in 21 European countries. Objective poverty refers to whether one's disposable income falls below the poverty line, whereas subjective poverty relates to the capacity to make ends meet. It analyzes gender differences in these two dimensions of poverty and the role of gender as an explanation to these phenomena while controlling for other individual-level variables as well as the role of welfare state regimes. The results show that older women are more exposed to objective poverty than men, and that female gender remains strongly and positively correlated with this kind of poverty even when controlling for other variables. They also show that other individual-level variables, such as partnership, paid work and education curbs objective poverty, while the type of welfare regime does not matter. As to subjective poverty, on the other hand, there is no significant association with female gender, nor with the type of welfare regime, while individual-level variables such as subjective health, partnership and paid work are negatively correlated with this dimension of poverty. Subjective poverty is somewhat more influenced by contextual factors than objective poverty although the type of welfare state regime is not significantly associated with subjective or objective poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is a lack of studies comparing the status of dental specialties worldwide. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the differences and similarities between the number and types of dental specialties in 31 countries, including every continent, in the world. Materials and methods: Available official documents and webpages from regulatory bodies, official colleges and councils, and dental institutions were collected from 31 countries and analyzed to obtain reliable data on dental specialties. Differences were analyzed using the Lorentz curve and Gini test. Additionally, a cluster analysis was performed to obtain groups of countries with similar patterns in the number and types of dental specialties. Results: A total of 32 different specialties were officially recognized among all the analyzed countries. Orthodontics and oral surgery (100% and 93.1%, respectively) were the two most frequently officially recognized dental specialties worldwide. The total global degree of inequality in the 31 analyzed countries was 42.4%. The Anglo-Saxon countries showed the greatest similarity, approximately 15-fold higher than the European countries. Cluster analysis differentiated six main groups of countries according to the number and types of dental specialties. European countries formed one of the two largest clusters, and the other cluster was of Anglo-Saxon, Asian, African, and several Eastern European countries with a high number of specialties. Conclusions: Officially recognized dental specialties in the different continents and countries show an asymmetric organization. The number, names, and skills of officially recognized dental specialties exhibited significant differences, showing inequalities in their organization. The Anglo-Saxon pattern of dental specialties showed greater equality than the European pattern. Orthodontics was the only constant element among the different patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]