Early career occupational mobility of Turkish and Moroccan second-generation migrants in Flanders,Belgium

This article analyses the early career occupational mobility of people from a Turkish or Moroccan descent in Flanders (Belgium). Previous research showed that second-generation migrants are less successful than natives when entering the labour market. We compare the progress in socio-economic status (SES) that youngsters of native and non-native descent make from their first to later jobs at the start of their career. Both second-generation immigrants and native majority young adults experience upward occupational mobility during this crucial phase of their occupational career. The gap between native and ethnic minority youth, however, does not narrow over the course of the years. The first job offers less SES for non-natives compared to that of natives, and the minority-native gap in occupational attainment remains constant afterwards. The future career is largely determined by the characteristics of the start of the occupational career, and educational attainment even before. Promising, however, might be the finding that a first job with a relative low occupational status does offer better opportunities for Turkish and Moroccan second-generation migrants than for native majority youth to do some catching up later on. In combination with a long-term negative impact of initial unemployment, ethnic minority youth perhaps are best off with starting to work as soon as possible after school leaving.     

Consequences of Eye Color,Positioning, and Head Movement for Eye‐Tracking Data Quality in Infant Research

Eye tracking has become a valuable tool for investigating infant looking behavior over the last decades. However, where eye‐tracking methodology and achieving high data quality have received a much attention for adult participants, it is unclear how these results generalize to infant research. This is particularly important as infants behave different from adults in front of the eye tracker. In this study, we investigated whether eye physiology, positioning, and infant behavior affect measures of eye‐tracking data quality: accuracy, precision, and data loss. We report that accuracy and precision are lower, and more data loss occurs for infants with bluish eye color compared to infants with brownish eye color. Moreover, accuracy was lower for infants positioned in a high chair or in the parents' lap compared to infants positioned in a baby seat. Finally, precision decreased and data loss increased as a function of time. We highlight the importance of data quality when comparing multiple groups, as differences in data quality can affect eye‐tracking measures. In addition, we investigate how two different measures to quantify infant movement influence eye‐tracker data quality. These findings might help researchers with data collection and help manufacturers develop better eye‐tracking systems for infants.     

Social interaction and the social meanings of action: A time budget approach

Social Isolation' can be construed both in the sense of the absence of positive interpersonal relationships and in the sense of disassociation from the norms, values and culture of one's society. In this paper the relationship between both of these characteristics of alienation is examined. By using the time-budget method it was possible to collect data on the meanings people attribute to their actions (as an indicator for ‘societal’ or ‘social’ alienation) in combination with information on the interaction-partners involved in these actions (as an indicator for isolation). The analyses bear on the effect of (1) the presence of different types of interaction partners; (2) the time spent together with different types of interaction partners and (3) the involvement in different social groups on the meanings people attribute to their actions. The data used to test the hypotheses, derive from an aselect sample of 466 Flemish people between 20 and 40 years old.     

A generalized quantile regression model

A new class of probability distributions, the so-called connected double truncated gamma distribution, is introduced. We show that using this class as the error distribution of a linear model leads to a generalized quantile regression model that combines desirable properties of both least-squares and quantile regression methods: robustness to outliers and differentiable loss function.     

Predictors of strike voting behavior: The case of university faculty

This study examines the impact of demographic characteristics, job variables, and attitudinal factors on the strike voting behavior of faculty members at a Canadian university. The results show that married faculty members and those from single-income households were more inclined to vote against the strike. Regarding the attitudinal factors, faculty members who were satisfied with existing research facilities and were loyal to the Faculty Association were likely to favor the strike, whereas faculty who were satisfied with working conditions and with the university administration were opposed to the strike. Beliefs about unions, however, did not appear to have an influence on voting behavior. The author thanks J. Dart, A. Dastmalchian, R. Long, D. Maki, and two anonymous referees for their helpful comments.     

Change and stability in commensality patterns: a comparative analysis of Belgian time-use data from 1966, 1999 and 2004

The decline of the family meal is a popular concern in contemporary Western society. This article assesses how commensality patterns have evolved in Belgium over the last four decades and which factors have an impact on commensality. The study uses Belgian time-budget data from 1966 and 1999 to obtain an insight into the evolution of commensality patterns. Flemish time-use data from 2004 are used to determine the factors that affect commensality patterns. It is concluded that there has been a significant decrease in family commensality between 1966 and 1999, while eating has become more individualized during the same period. This holds for all days of the week and for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The data also revealed that a number of factors that are often assumed to entail the individualization of eating practices, such as the increased availability of products for self-catering, have little impact on commensality patterns in practice. The factor with the strongest impact on commensality patterns is living arrangements. People who live alone generally do not have anyone with whom to share their meals. Married and cohabiting couples, on the other hand, tend to eat together on a regular basis, while parents still share the majority of meal-times with their co-resident children.     

Spouse “Together Time”: Quality Time Within the Household

During the last decade more and more time-use data were gathered on a household level in stead of on an individual level. The time-use information of all members of the household provides much more insight in research fields that until now largely used data gathered at the individual level. One of these research fields is the study of quality of life, based on the (quality) time partners within a household spend together which in turn is often linked to studying the associations between the amount of time spent together and relationship satisfaction. The amount of face-to-face spousal interaction is considered to be critically important for marital quality and is assumed to be violated within dual-earner couples, especially those with women working long hours. In this contribution we analyze the time-use of couples in the Belgian Time Use Surveys of 1999 and 2005. We identify which activities couples do together and which they do apart, and what household characteristics predict couples’ together time. Working times in general seem the most decisive factor influencing the amount of together time. The increased labor market participation of women, on the other hand, seems not to be so much a threat for the time a couple spends together.     

Active Participation and Well-Being Among the Elderly in Belgium and the USA: A Cross-National Time-Use Perspective

Active participation of the elderly is a recognized response to address the societal and individual challenges of rising life expectancy such as releasing the pressure of age-related public spending, reducing social isolation and improving well-being. How much time older people devote to active participation and whether their time allocation is associated with well-being remains under-investigated. Using time-use data from Belgium (n?=?1384) and the USA (n?=?2133), we investigate the time older people (65–80 years) spent on active participation and examine how this relates to their life satisfaction as an indicator of well-being. The countries vary in the amount of time spent on paid employment and volunteering, but not on informal help. Belgian older people spend much less time on paid employment than their American counterparts. This implies more are available to volunteer and provide informal help. Yet participation rates in these activities are higher in the USA. Multivariate analyses show that associations between active participation and life satisfaction vary between both countries and within both countries by gender and age. Overall, positive associations between paid work and volunteering and life satisfaction suggest that governments would do well to mobilize elderly into active participation, especially in Belgium. Negative associations between informal help and life satisfaction suggest governments should provide greater support for informal carers.

     

Balancing Work and Family: A Panel Analysis of the Impact of Part-Time Work on the Experience of Time Pressure

In this article we consider the consequences of work-family reconciliation, in terms of the extent to which the adjustment of the labour market career to family demands (by women) contributes to a better work-life balance. Using the Flemish SONAR-data, we analyse how changes in work and family conditions between the age of 26 and 29 are related to changes in feelings of time pressure among young working women. More specifically, by using cross-lagged models and synchronous effects panel models, we analyse (1) how family and work conditions affect feelings of time pressure, as well as (2) reverse effects which may point to (working career) adjustment strategies of coping with time pressure. Our results show that of all the considered changes in working conditions following family formation (i.e. having children), only the reduction of working hours seems to improve work-family balance (i.e. reduces the experience of time pressure). Part-time work is both a response to high time pressure, and effectively lowers time pressure. The effect of part-time work is not affected by concomitant changes in the type of paid work, rather, work characteristics that increase time pressure increase the probability of reconciling work with family life by reducing the number of work hours.