Marco Albertini

Secondhand smoke exposure in hospitality venues in Europe.

Background Although in the last few years some European countries have implemented smoking bans in hospitality venues, the levels of secondhand smoke (SHS) in this occupational sector could still be extremely high in most countries. Objective The aim of this study was to assess exposure to SHS in hospitality venues in 10 European cities. Methods We included 167 hospitality venues (58 discotheques and pubs, 82 restaurants and cafeterias, and 27 fast-food restaurants) in this cross-sectional study. We carried out fieldwork in 10 European cities: Vienna (Austria), Paris (France), Athens (Greece), Florence and Belluno (Italy), Galway (Ireland), Barcelona (Spain), Warsaw and Lublin (Poland), and Bratislava (Slovak Republic). We measured vapor-phase nicotine as an SHS marker. Results We analyzed 504 samples and found nicotine in most samples (97.4%). We found the highest median concentrations in discos/pubs [32.99 μg/m3; interquartile range (IQR), 8.06–66.84 μg/m3] and lower median concentrations in restaurants/cafeterias (2.09 μg/m3; IQR, 0.49–6.73 μg/m3) and fast-food restaurants (0.31 μg/m3; IQR, 0.11–1.30 μg/m3) (p < 0.05). We found differences of exposure between countries that may be related to their smoking regulations. Where we sampled smoking and nonsmoking areas, nicotine concentrations were significantly lower in nonsmoking areas. Conclusions Hospitality venues from European cities without smoking regulations have very high levels of SHS exposure. Monitoring of SHS on a regular basis as well as a total smoking ban in hospitality sector would be needed.

Intergenerational transfers and social class: Inter-vivos transfers as means of status reproduction?*

Research on social stratification and the transmission of inequality has largely disregarded the role of inter-vivos transfers to adult children. At the same time, the role of social class has been neglected in the literature on intergenerational transfers. In an attempt to link the two research strands, the article assesses the association between occupational social class and parental transfer behaviour. Estimation results from a tobit censored regression model on the basis of data from SHARE show substantial class differences in financial transfers. Existing theories on intergenerational transfers are largely unable to account for this finding. Even after income and wealth are controlled for, service-class parents transfer more resources to their adult children than do working-class parents. We explain the observed class effects in parental transfer behaviour by rethinking inter-vivos transfers as a means of status reproduction.

THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON PARENT–CHILD CONTACTS

ABSTRACT Previous studies on divorce have found consistent empirical evidence that a negative association exists between marital disruption and childrens wellbeing, life chances and intergenerational relations. However, there are relatively few studies on the long-term effect of divorce on parent–child contacts. Furthermore, contemporary research is confronted with two declining effect hypotheses. Firstly, it has been argued that the negative effects of divorce may possibly decrease as childrens age at time of divorce increases; secondly, it has been suggested that the consequences of divorce might be less severe the more frequent marriage dissolution is in a society. By using data from Sweden, Denmark, Belgium and France from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we analyze the existing relation between parents’ divorce and the intensity of parent–child contacts. Furthermore, we provide some empirical evidence on the two declining effect hypotheses. Our findings show that divorce has long-term negative effects on the intensity of intergenerational relations. The results do not provide any evidence in favor of either the individual or the collective declining effect hypothesis.

Childlessness and Support Networks in Later Life New Pressures on Familistic Welfare States

Childlessness is an increasingly common condition in many European societies. The consequences that this demographic phenomenon might have on welfare systems—and long-term care policies in particular—are widespread. This is particularly the case for the familistic welfare states of Southern Europe. Using data from the 2003 Italian GGS, the article explores the relation between the absence of children and support received in later life. Overall, the results support the idea that in Italy elderly nonparents, compared with those who have children, do not face significantly large support deficits in terms of the likelihood of receiving support. However, it is shown that they are likely to miss those forms of support that are most needed in the case of bad health. Next, the childless are more likely to be helped by nonrelatives and not-for-profit organizations and to a lesser extent by the welfare system.

What childless older people give: is the generational link broken?

ABSTRACT With the increase of childlessness in European societies, its consequences have become a matter of concern. Studies in this field, however, have concentrated on what childless people lack and need in terms of social, financial and moral support. In contrast, this article focuses on what childless people give to their families, friends, unrelated others and to society at large. Using 2004 data on social support and financial transfers given and received by people aged 50 or more years in ten European countries from the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the analyses show that the support networks of childless older people tend to be somewhat weaker than those of parents and that links with members of the younger generations in the family are stronger for parents than for those without children. The results also indicate, however, that the differences in transfer behaviour between parents and childless adults are small, and that the support networks of the childless are more diverse than those of parents, and characterised by stronger links with ascendants and lateral relatives and with non-relatives. Moreover, people without children tend to be more intensely involved in charities and comparable organisations.

EFFECTS OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN'S EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT IN A MEDITERRANEAN AND CATHOLIC SOCIETY

ABSTRACT Previous research has found parental divorce to have negative effects on childrens educational attainment; in addition, it has been noted that the effects of divorce are not the same in all western societies. However, research on Catholic and southern European countries is missing. The aim of this paper is to add to the research on the relation between parental divorce and the educational attainment of children in catholic and southern European societies. Italian society differs from other western societies with respect to many characteristics of its family structure, its cultural and religious systems, its social welfare system, and also with respect to the legislation, frequency and characteristics of divorce. Based on data of the Bank of Italy Survey of Households’ Income and Wealth, we find that the educational level of the children with divorced parents is lower than the educational level of children with married parents. The analysis indicates that the education of children born to the least educated divorced mothers lags significantly behind children of the least educated married mothers, while the educational level of children of highly educated mothers does not deviate from that of children of highly educated mothers who remain married. Next, contrary to what has been found in other European societies, this research shows that widowhood has a significant negative effect on childrens educational attainment as well. Finally, the study also demonstrates that the negative effect of divorce cannot be explained by the negative impact of the religious climate of the region of residence.

Childlessness and intergenerational transfers: what is at stake?

ABSTRACT In this introductory article for the special issue on Childlessness and Intergenerational Transfers, we first discuss the prior research literature and then overview the presented contributions. Up to now, childless older adults have been treated for the most part as both homogeneous and a problematic group. This does not do justice to the different pathways to childlessness: there are those who actively forgo having children, those who defer births so long that they involuntarily become childless, and those who are not fecund or lack a partner. It also neglects the changing social profile of the childless, e.g. the shift from less educated to more highly-educated women. Most importantly, it fails to recognise what childless older people give to others. The studies presented here aim to redress these two deficits in previous research. They examine how the consequences of childlessness are mediated by the pathways to and motivations for being childless and by factors such as gender, education and marital history, and they also examine what childless older adults provide to their families and to society at large. Such adults establish strong linkages with next-of-kin relatives, invest in non-family networks, and participate in voluntary and charitable activities, and broadly do so to a greater extent than older people with surviving children.

Prevalence of second-hand smoke exposure after introduction of the Italian smoking ban: the Florence and Belluno survey.

Aims and Background A law banning smoking in enclosed public places was implemented in Italy on January 10, 2005. The aim of this paper is to present a cross-sectional survey on two representative samples of non-smokers of two Italian towns (Florence and Belluno), conducted one year after the introduction of the ban, in order to assess prevalence of second-hand smoke exposure, to record the attitudes towards the ban, and the perception about its compliance in a representative sample of non-smokers. Methods Computer-assisted telephone interviews were carried out in March 2006, from a random sample of households from telephone registries. Respondents were 402 non-smokers from Belluno and 1,073 from Florence. Results About 12% of Florentines and 7% of Belluno respondents were exposed at home; 39% and 19%, respectively, at work; 10% and 5% in hospitality venues; 20% and 10% in cars. The smoke-free law was almost universally supported (about 98%) even if a smaller proportion of people (about 90%) had the perception that the ban was observed. Conclusions Second-hand smoke exposure at home and in hospitality premises has dropped to ≤10%, whereas exposure at work remained higher. These results suggest the need for more controls in workplaces other than hospitality venues.

A burden to the welfare state? Expectations of non-EU migrants on welfare support:

In recent decades European institutions have been promoting the broadening of immigrants’ social rights, while at national levels political battles have been led around the definition of the legitimate community of welfare receivers. Immigrants have been often depicted as undeserving individuals threatening welfare state sustainability, although existing research does not fully support this view. At the same time, political and academic debates on immigrants and welfare have diverted attention away from immigrants themselves, failing to address their experiences and welfare support expectations. This article aims to contribute to filling this gap by addressing to what extent non-European immigrants expect the Italian welfare state to provide support for their family. The empirical evidence builds on a survey administered, between 2014 and 2015, to about 350 immigrants from Maghreb, China and the Philippines residing in the Emilia-Romagna region. By means of a mixed-method comprising qualitative and quantitative analyses, the article shows that only a minority of respondents, particularly Maghrebis, have some expectations in terms of public welfare support. It suggests that such support is almost exclusively expected to cope with the needs of the young-family generation, while the needs of the elderly members are assumed to be met through relatives’ informal support. Moreover, the article highlights marked differences in expectations across specific groups and points to explicatory variables such as country of origin, gender, educational level, age on arrival and length of stay. It further reflects on immigrants’ degree of knowledge of the welfare state functioning and specifies the rationales, based on perceived rights or meritocratic criteria, explaining expectations for support.

Parents’ housing careers and support for adult children across Europe

Abstract Housing careers have important consequences for individuals’ well-being. The present study focuses on the role of parents’ housing careers in affecting the way and extent to which they provide economic support to their adult children. By adopting a family life course perspective, it shows that while housing tenure has relatively little effect on parents’ transfer behaviour, mobility between different tenures can elicit or suppress intergenerational support; moreover, the quality of the house positively affects intergenerational co-residence. Support received to acquire a home along one’s life course has an important demonstration effect: those parents who have received their home as a gift or have received economic support for buying it are more prone to provide help to their adult children. The empirical results do not allow to identify macro-contextual conditions that shape the effect of parents’ housing careers on intergenerational support, but they show that the demonstration effect plays only a marginal role in Southern Europe.