Demographic and territorial characteristics of COVID-19 cases and excess mortality in the European Union during the first wave

Journal of Population Research - This article explores for a large number of countries in the European Union (plus the United Kingdom) the main demographic differentials in positive tested COVID-19...     

The effect of child care and part time opportunities on participation and fertility decisions in Italy

Economic models of household behavior typically yield the prediction that increases in schooling levels and wage rates of married women lead to increases in their labor supply and reductions in fertility. In Italy, low labor market participation rates of married women are observed together with low birth rates. Our explanation involves the Italian institutional structure, particularly as reflected in rigidities and imperfections in the labor market and characteristics of the publicly-funded child care system. These rigidities tend to simultaneously increase the costs of having children and to discourage the labor market participation of married women. We analyze a model of labor supply and fertility, using panel data. The empirical results show that the availability of child care and part time work increase both the probability of working and having a child. Received: 14 February 2000/Accepted: 20 February 2001     

Comparative Use of Complementary Medicine,Allied Health,and Manual Therapies by Middle-Aged and Older Australian Women

We compared use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines (CAM) and therapies, Allied Health interventions (AH), and Manual Therapies (MT) in middle-aged and older Australian women. Cross-sectional data from the 2007 phase of the Longitudinal study of Aging in Women (LAW study) was analyzed. Self-reported 12-month usage patterns of CAM, AH, and MT were determined by mailed questionnaire. Results revealed that 56.2% of the middle-aged group, and 55.0% of the older group used CAM, AH, and MT services in the previous 12 months (a nonsignificant difference). In contrast, there was a highly significant difference between the overall use of CAM products by middle-aged women (88.2%) and older women (67.7%: p = .002).     

Finding Relevant Linear Manifolds in Classification by Gaussian Mixtures

In this article, we present a strategy for producing low-dimensional projections that maximally separate the classes in Gaussian Mixture Model classification. The most revealing linear manifolds are those along which the classes are maximally separable. Here we consider a particular probability product kernel as a measure of similarity or affinity between the class-conditional distributions. It takes an appealing closed analytical form in the case of Gaussian mixture components. The performance of the proposed strategy has been evaluated on real data.     

Does speaking or writing Italian make differences?

Although researchers acknowledge the key role of language in immigrant integration, empirical analyses on how proficiency in Italian differently shape the social outcomes of immigrants living in Italy are limited. Using the Italian Survey on Social Condition and Integration of Foreign Citizens, we model individual demographic and linguistic patterns, setting apart communication ability from other linguistic skills. Clustering immigrants by mother tongue linguistic group, we leverage the age at arrival and knowledge of Italian during childhood to address endogeneity. Findings reveal how deficiencies in Italian affect integration outcomes of immigrants: the magnitude of effects due to poor proficiency in communication (understanding and speaking) is larger when compared to more formal linguistic skills (reading and writing). Women suffer from higher linguistic barriers in the employment outcomes than men do. Results give empirical argumentations to support immigrant integration through the development of language-training programmes in destination languages tailored on immigrants' demographic and linguistic profiles.     

The Role of Scientific Expertise in COVID-19 Policy-making: Evidence from Four European Countries

Public Organization Review - Immense uncertainty and the need for drastic interventions cause politicians to rely heavily on scientific advice for underpinning or legitimating their COVID-19...     

Improving the protection of migrant workers with work histories in the European Union and Ibero-America: Enhancing the coordination of international social security instruments

Migration affects almost every nation, emphasizing the need to guarantee social security rights for all migrants and their families. This article focuses on the rights of workers who migrate between the countries of the European Union (EU) and the Ibero-American community. In the EU, social security systems are increasingly coordinated through Regulation No. 883/2004 and its Implementing Regulation No. 987/2009. In the Ibero-American community, coordination is sought through the Ibero-American Social Security Convention. Despite convergence between these two international instruments, coordination is still lacking between them. This article presents a comparative analysis to articulate the necessary mechanisms to guarantee coordination, to respect the social security rights of migrant workers. We focus on the cooperation and coordination between regional as well as national systems, specifically looking at the need for and aims of a rapprochement between these two major international coordination instruments to provide greater EU-Ibero-American cooperation. Finally, the importance of promoting greater international cooperation in social security policy and administration is highlighted, to engender the adequate protection of the rights as well as the free movement of migrant workers.     

Comparing COVID-19 fatality across countries: a synthetic demographic indicator

Journal of Population Research - The case fatality rate (CFR) is one of the most important measures for monitoring disease progression and evaluating appropriate policy health measures over the...