Mihaela Vancea

E-migrant Women in Catalonia: Mobile Phone Use and Maintenance of Family Relationships

Abstract The rapid dissemination of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in contemporary societies has given rise to a new technological, geographical, and social (TGS) space that defines the e-migrant. This analytical perspective allows us to address the relationship between mobile phone use and the maintenance of family relationships from a distance. In this article, we focus on the transnational communication practices of three distinct groups of migrant women in Catalonia: Ecuadorian, Moroccan, and Romanian. The results show that the three groups of women tend to use mobile phone mainly for (transnational) family communications. Mobile phone use allows migrant women to move into a new TGS space where family relationships are significantly redefined in technological and geographical terms, but far less in social terms. Their self or socially perceived traditional family roles perpetuate, but in a different way, as distance transforms familial patterns of interaction

How unemployment and precarious employment affect the health of young people: A scoping study on social determinants

Background: The impact of unemployment and precarious employment on the health of young people is not well understood. However, according to social causation, higher socio-economic positions and thus better working conditions are beneficial to health in general. We tried to synthesize the results of studies that test this hypothesis in the case of young people. Methods: We conducted a scoping study mapping all the academic articles published in the period 2006–2016 in Europe. The literature was searched in PubMed/Medline, Science Direct, Web of Science and Scopus. Results: We identified 1770 studies, of which only 46 met the inclusion criteria. There are more studies that focus on the relationship between unemployment and health than between precarious employment and health (28 and 16, respectively). The vast majority of the studies (44) found support for the social causation hypothesis, the most common health outcomes being mental health disorders, health risk behaviour, poor quality of life and occupational injuries. The causal mechanisms behind this association relied mainly on the life-course perspective, the breadwinner model, and the lack of social and economic benefits provided by standard employment. Conclusions: There is evidence that young people are especially vulnerable to health problems when unemployed or working in precarious conditions. Active labour market and training programmes, inclusive social security measures, improved working conditions and targeted health programmes are important for addressing this vulnerability. Further research should strive to enhance the causal model by including a gender perspective, longitudinal data, more indicators on precariousness and third factor explanations.

School-to-work transition: the case of Spanish NEETs

ABSTRACT The school-to-work transition in Spain has become much more difficult and extended than before, with many young people today experiencing long periods of temporary employment, unemployment or inactivity. This article investigates the main socio-demographic characteristics of Spanish young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs). It also aims to compare them with their non-NEET counterparts in terms of social capital and family background. Analyses were based on a representative sample, corresponding to the year 2016, of Spanish young individuals ages 18–35 years (n = 1.826). All analyses were stratified by gender and age group. Overall, the Spanish NEETs had lower educational levels, were mainly unemployed and married, except for NEETs between 18 and 24 years, who were rather inactive and single. They also experienced previous unemployment, had more unemployed friends, and were coming from poorer family backgrounds in comparison with their non-NEET counterparts.

El transnacionalismo político de las asociaciones de inmigrantes en Barcelona

espanolEl objetivo de este articulo es explorar en que medida las asociaciones de inmigrantes se im-plican en el transnacionalismo politico y que determina las diferencias en su implicacion. El estudio compara los niveles de transnacionalismo politico de 24 asociaciones de inmigrantes en Barcelona, indagando como influyen variables de nivel meso y macro en dicho proceso. Los resultados senalan que el compromiso politico transnacional no sigue un patron generalizado entre las asociaciones de inmigrantes y presenta un nivel relativamente bajo de regularidad. El analisis de los datos tambien apunta la importancia de la estructura de oportunidades politicas en el pais de origen, las redes sociales y la financiacion de la organizacion como elementos clave para entender su nivel de implicacion politica transnacional. EnglishThis article aims to addresses two fundamental questions: to what extent immigrant associations engage in political transnationalism; and what are the main determinants of their transnational political activism. The study compares the degree of political transnationalism of 24 immigrant associations in Barcelona, by exploring the influence of meso- and macro- level determinants. The results show that transnational political engagement is not generalized among all immigrant associations and presents a relatively low level of regularity. They also indicate the importance of the political opportunity structure in the home country, the social networks and the sources of funds as significant factors to understand the level of their transnational political engagement.