Ariana Need

Educational differentials in the Netherlands : Testing rational action theory

In this paper, we test how well Rational Action Theory, as developed to explain educational differentials, applies in the Dutch situation. The question we address is the extent to which the mechanisms assumed to be at work can explain class and gender differentials in participation in higher education. After explaining the Dutch educational system and outlining Rational Action Theory, we formulate four hypotheses that we test using data from a panel survey among high school pupils first interviewed in 1991. Evaluating the theory, we conclude that the mechanisms assumed to be at work can indeed explain class differentials in participation in higher education. Moreover, we find support for the hypothesis that the mechanism of relative risk aversion is the most crucial factor in the model. We could not convincingly show that the theory explains gender differentials.

Well begun, half done? Long-term effects of labour market entry in the Netherlands, 1950–2000

This article looks at the career effects of different entries into the Dutch labour market: as unemployed, non-standard or permanent worker. Using the bridge versus trap analogy, it is investigated whether or not a ‘bad’ career start will have long-term negative consequences.To do this, event history analysis is used.The results show that non-standard work has no negative consequences with respect to later career unemployment or upward and downward mobility. However, certain negative effects are associated with unemployment at the career start. Moreover, this effect is larger when the duration of the period of unemployment is longer. Several other hypotheses - about macro-economic effects and about the effects for groups with a weak labour market position - are refuted. Overall, the data show that early career unemployment can work as a trap, but that early career non-standard work can work as a stepping stone towards a better labour market position.

Declining cleavages and political choices: the interplay of social and political factors in the Netherlands

Many social scientists believe that in the Netherlands there has been a decline in the political impact of traditional class and religious divisions over the last quarter-century. In understanding the evolving political impact of social divisions it is important to recognise that political behaviour results from the interplay between social and political forces. In this paper we test empirically the interplay between the available political options and the social situation of voters. For this purpose we use Dutch election surveys from 1971 to 1998. Comparing changes in the importance of the two traditional divisions, we find a decline in the importance of social class that does not depend on political changes. On the other hand, the decline in religious-based voting seems to be affected by the merging of the three main denominational political parties into the Christian Democrats (CDA) as well as by a linear decline of the party loyalty of Catholics.

Enemies at work : can they hinder your career?

This paper addresses the question to what extent foes deteriorate a persons labor market position and block persons in their labor market position. We improve upon earlier research by explicitly focusing on the negative effects of social capital. A second way to improve upon earlier findings is to use a life-course approach. A third way to improve our knowledge regarding the influence of social capital on labor market careers is to focus explicitly on career immobility. With this research we do not only show that foes matter in the occupational career. We elaborate upon earlier research by the inclusion of foes, and we also show to what extent foes matter, for whom they matter and under what conditions they are especially harmful.

Analysing patterns of religious participation in post-communist Eastern Europe

It is generally thought that processes of modernization generic to industrialized societies have resulted in a process of secularization with respect to conventional religious participation and observance in most Western countries. It is not at all clear, however, whether the post-communist societies of Eastern Europe have followed this pattern. In this we paper we examine whether levels of religiosity in ten post-communist societies--five generally Catholic in orientation and five Orthodox--are consistent with secularization theory, or whether instead they display, as some have suggested, the impact of seven decades of atheistic communism followed by a recent resurgence among the young. For this purpose we examine denominational membership and church attendance using descriptive and multivariate analysis of large-scale national sample surveys conducted in the mid-1990s. We find that age and educational differences in participation rates follow patterns expected on the basis of secularization theory with no evidence of resurgence among younger groups. Also, however, Catholic participation rates are significantly higher than Orthodox ones, indicating the importance of denomination in understanding patterns of religiosity in the post-communist context.

A review of abortion laws in Western-European countries. A cross-national comparison of legal developments between 1960 and 2010

The extent to which women have had access to legal abortions has changed dramatically in Western-Europe between 1960 and 2010. In most countries, abortion laws developed from completely banning abortion to allowing its availability on request. Both the timing and the substance of the various legal developments differed dramatically between countries. Existing comparative studies on abortion laws in Western-European countries lack detail, usually focus either on first-trimester abortions or second trimester abortions, cover a limited time-span and are sometimes inconsistent with one another. Combining information from various primary and secondary sources, we show how and when the conditions for legally obtaining abortion during the entire gestation period in 20 major Western-European countries have changed between 1960 and 2010. We also construct a cross-nationally comparable classification of procedural barriers that limit abortion access. Our cross-national comparison shows that Western-Europe witnessed a general trend towards decreased restrictiveness of abortion laws. However, legal approaches to regulating abortion are highly different in detail. Abortion access remains limited, sometimes even in countries where abortion is legally available without restrictions relating to reasons.

Child mortality in the Netherlands in the past decades: An overview of external causes and the role of public health policy

Among European countries, the Netherlands has the second lowest child mortality rate from external causes. We present an overview, discuss possible explanations, and suggest prevention measures. We analyzed mortality data from all deceased children aged 0–19 years for the period 1969–2011. Child mortality declined in the past decades, largely from decreases in road traffic accidents that followed government action on traffic safety. Accidental drowning also showed a downward trend. Although intentional self-harm showed a significant increase, other external causes of mortality, including assault and fatal child abuse, remained constant. Securing existing preventive measures and analyzing the circumstances of each child’s death systematically through Child Death Review may guide further reduction in child mortality.

Faulty genes or faulty parents? Gender, family and survival in early and late childhood in the Netherlands, 1860–1900

According to the famous economist and Nobel prize winner Amartya Sen women have a significant biological advantage over men. Despite this fact women do not always live longer. In todays third world, but also in some areas in Europe at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century we find so-called excess female mortality. In this paper we examine child mortality in The Netherlands in general and gendered patterns of child mortality in particular. The focus is on differential mortality patterns by gender for infants, older children, and young adults up to age 20 in the second half of the 19th century. The analysis takes place at three levels. We start off with an exploration of sex differentials in mortality at the national level, based on the existing literature. We next examine gender differentials in mortality at the level of several Dutch communities, in the region called Twente, focussing on the differences between the city and the countryside. The final part of the analysis focuses on the micro level of the individual and his or her family in the rural community of Lonneker located in the Twente region. In this part of our study we make use of longitudinal individual level data which are analysed with event history methodologies. Our analysis clearly demonstrates that young women and girls in The Netherlands were not always in a position to fully capitalise upon their greater biological advantage and suffered instead considerable excess mortality. Especially in the rural parts of the country girls had lower survival chances. The individual level analysis confirms the importance of sex in explaining child and adolescent mortality. These gendered mortality risks can however not be attributed to social and economic household characteristics. The analysis also shows that, when death came, it literally affected the entire family. This phenomenon, better known under the label ‘death clustering’, may have been an effect of parental incompetence.

Explaining the Breakdown of the Religion–Vote Relationship in The Netherlands, 1971–2006

This article examines the extent to which changes in the effect of religion on voting in The Netherlands since the 1970s can be explained by ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ approaches. The first includes religious integration and education. The latter category encompasses the restructuring of the party system and changes in party positions. Hypotheses are tested employing logistic and conditional logistic regression analyses of the Dutch Parliamentary Election Studies (1971–2006) supplemented by data from the Comparative Manifesto Project. Weakening religious integration largely explains the decline of political boundaries between non-religious voters and Catholics and Calvinists. In line with earlier research, the article finds that the creation of a single Christian Democratic Party (CDA) has reduced the religion–vote relationship. However, this merger effect largely disappears after taking into account party positions. Moreover, party positions influence the religion–vote association: the effect of religion on voting increases as religious parties emphasise traditional moral issues in their manifestos.

Women’s earnings and household inequality in OECD countries, 1973–2013

This article shows that women’s rising earnings contributed to reducing inequality in household earnings, with respect to couples. We use data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) on 1,148,762 coupled households, covering 18 OECD countries and the period from 1973 to 2013. In this period, women’s share of household earnings grew, spouses’ earnings became more strongly and positively correlated in various countries, and inequality in women’s earnings was reduced. Inequality in household earnings increased due to the rising correlation between spouses’ earnings, but was reduced more by the decline of inequality in women’s earnings. Had women’s earnings remained unchanged since the 1970s and 1980s, inequality in household earnings would have been higher around 2010 in all observed OECD countries. Household inequality was reduced least by trends in women’s earnings in countries with a long history of high female labor-force participation, such as Finland (3% reduction) and Sweden (5%), and most in countries that observed a stronger increase in female labor-force participation in recent decades such as Spain (31%) and the Netherlands (41%). As more countries are reaching a plateau in the growth of women’s employment and earnings, the potential for further stimulating women’s employment and earnings to counter both women’s and household inequality seems to be increasingly limited.