Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute

Sedentary lifestyles often develop during adolescence and may be deleterious to physical and mental health. Sedentarism is known to be common in high-income countries; this study examines its prevalence in a remote city in India, including the amount of time school-going adolescents spend being sedentary and the activities that make up this time. We developed a 24-hour time-use survey and collected data with a sample of school-going adolescents ages 12-17 years in a mid-sized South Indian city (n = 395). We built measures of daily sedentary minutes and frequency (bouts) of sedentary activities and calculated population-based prevalence of sedentary activities across gender and school type. We used survey-weighted distributions and linear regression models to estimate sedentary time after accounting for socio-demographic characteristics. On average, adolescents had 7.3 sedentary bouts/day, amounting to 527.7 minutes/day. Compared to private-school students, those in government schools spent 2 fewer hours (-134.5 minutes;-174.4, -194.6) sedentary, including 82 (-122, -42.0) fewer minutes in classroom and tutoring time and an hour (-57.82; -69.4,46.2) less in vehicle-based commuting. Girls spent 44 minutes less time in class and in tutoring (-75.88, -12.11)and more time watching television than boys. Adolescents spent comparable time doing homework and reading for leisure. Sedentary lifestyles are reaching children even in remote communities in India. A large component of this time is dedicated to learning. Private school students spent the most time sedentary, making them an especially vulnerable group for cardiometabolic disease, in spite of socioeconomic advantages.

Socioeconomic inequalities in mortality are large and persistent. While the differential timing and impact of the smoking, alcohol, and obesity epidemics among socioeconomic groups likely influenced past trends in socioeconomic mortality inequalities, the evidence is scarce. We estimated the combined impact of smoking, alcohol, and obesity on past trends in educational inequalities in remaining life expectancy at age 30 (e30) in England and Wales, Finland, and Italy (Turin). To do so, we used long-term timeseries of annual individually-linked mortality data by educational level (low, middle, high), sex, and age (30+). We multiplicatively aggregated estimates of smoking-, alcohol-, and obesity-attributable mortality by educational level to obtain "lifestyle-attributable mortality" (LAM) by educational level. We compared trends in educational inequalities in e30 with and without LAM using segmented regression. We found that smoking-, alcohol-, and obesity-attributable mortality individually contributed 23%, 14%, and 10%, respectively, to the average educational inequality in e30 of 4.4 years in 1992-2017, and 44% combined (males: 51%; females: 34%). LAM contributed 57%, 63%, and 43%, respectively, to the increase in educational inequalities in e30 among Finnish males (1987-2008), Finnish females (1987-2017), and Italian males (1990-2018); tempered the decline in inequalities among British females (1992-2017); and was responsible for the reversal in 2008 from increasing to declining inequalities among Finnish males. Targeting socioeconomic inequalities in smoking, alcohol, and obesity could, thus, substantially reduce socioeconomic inequalities in e30, and the increasing time trends in these inequalities. The observed country differences in the importance of these lifestyle factors demonstrate the need for context-specific strategies.

Seasonal mortality fluctuations significantly affect national life expectancy, yet their role in regional inequalities remains underexplored. Understanding this is crucial for targeted health policies aimed at reducing spatial mortality differences. We quantify the impact of seasonal excess mortality on regional life expectancy levels (e0) and inequalities in Italy. Using monthly mortality data from the Italian National Statistical Institute by region (N = 20), sex and age between 2005 and 2019, we assessed e0 losses due to seasonality by using the general approach of comparing observed e0 with minimum achievable levels. Seasonal effects on inequalities in e0 were quantified by comparing standard deviations with and without excess seasonal mortality. We then analysed regional contributions using decomposition analysis. Seasonal excess mortality led to an average loss in e0 of 1.4 years (1.36–1.70) across Italian regions. This effect was most pronounced in southern and insular regions (Campania and Sicilia), especially for winter-related excess mortality. Our analysis showed that spatial inequality in e0 would have been reduced on average by 11.2% by eliminating excess seasonal mortality, mostly due to excess winter mortality (−7.5%). However, during the years with high mortality burdens (2005 and 2015), seasonality contributed to spatial mortality inequality by 10% and 5.2%, respectively. The regional contributions to e0 inequality revealed that Campania and Sicilia also had the strongest role in increasing spatial mortality variation throughout the period. The pronounced regional inequalities in e0 losses due to seasonal excess mortality contributed significantly to shaping regional e0 variation in Italy, mostly due to different impacts of winter mortality within the countrySupplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10680-025-09753-7.

What does retirement preparation and retirement situation of non-western migrants look like? A qualitative study Retirement poverty levels are high (40%) among the rapidly increasing group of first-generation non-Western migrants in the Netherlands. How do they deal with their economic position? We studied this question using 26 semi-structured qualitative interviews with retirees born in Morocco, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tunisia, and Turkey. Four aspects of dealing with retirement were covered and we discuss implications for scholars and policymakers: 1) Retirement knowledge; 2) Retirement preparation; 3) Social security benefits (AIO); 4) Social contacts. Our study reveals that non-Western migrants were not prepared for their retirement and are somewhat aware of their entitlement to social benefits.

Abstract People's life trajectories and family dynamics have become increasingly complex, bringing shifts in fertility, gender equality, work-life balance, and economic stability. The scientific challenge is to capture these complexities and understand their causes and consequences. The Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) provides key insights into these developments, serving as a vital resource for researchers and policymakers. The GGS is a cross-national longitudinal survey collecting data on individuals aged 18 to 79 across topics such as union formation, fertility, household dynamics, work, well-being, and gender attitudes. Its key strengths include cross-national comparability, a panel design with prospective and retrospective data, large sample sizes, and multi-mode data collection. The GGS consists of two rounds: GGS-I, launched in the early 2000s in over 20 countries, established a foundation for comparative research, while GGS-II, started in 2020, builds on GGS-I with methodological innovations such as mixed-mode data collection and refreshed samples. This data brief provides an overview of the GGS, outlining its development, design, implementation, and key features. It also highlights the survey's contributions to demographic and social research, and explores the new research opportunities emerging with GGS-II.

Chronic diseases tend to accumulate into multimorbidity, with severe implications for health care needs, costs, and economic productivity, as well as for quality and duration of life. The accumulation of diseases may result from exposures and experiences concurrently and earlier in life. Objectives: We investigated multimorbidity among immigrant and native-born people across Europe, examining the importance of country of birth and country of residence for multimorbidity. Methods: We used the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), a cross-national, multidisciplinary panel survey representative of older adults in Europe (n=112,612 native-born and 11,266 foreign-born in 2002-2017). Self-reported chronic conditions used to define multimorbidity were: heart attack, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, stroke, diabetes, chronic lung disease, cancer, stomach ulcer, Parkinson’s disease, cataracts, and hip fracture. We used multinomial logistic regression to identify patterns of multimorbidity and assessed interaction between country of birth and of residence. Results: More than a third of people living in Europe had multimorbidity, including 37.7% of migrants and 35.1% of native-born individuals. People living in Eastern Europe had the highest prevalence of multimorbidity. Across countries, compared to native-born people, multimorbidity was higher among migrants from Eastern Europe (OR:1.41) and Central and West Asia (OR:1.16), and lower among migrants from Asia (OR:0.66). Country of birth modified associations between county of residence and multimorbidity. Discussion: Country of birth and country of residence are each associated with multimorbidity, suggesting that early-life conditions can have different implications for health depending on later-life.

Highly educated individuals have their first child at later ages compared to less-educated individuals, and parental investment is associated with the childbearing of adult children. However, no studies have explored the association between maternal and paternal investment and the timing of parenthood for adult daughters and sons, and whether this association varies by education level. Based on the parenthood penalty and life-history theory, it is hypothesized that parental investment decreases the age at first birth of highly educated adult children and increases the age at first birth of less educated and those currently enrolled in education, particularly between mothers and adult daughters. Event-history analyses were conducted on 4,111 participants and 894 first births from 13 waves of the longitudinal and population-based German Family Panel Analysis of Intimate Relationships and Family Dynamics Study (Pairfam). Results show that contact with mothers was associated with earlier parenthood in less-educated adult children and later parenthood in highly educated adult children. However, contact with fathers was associated with later parenthood in currently enrolled adult children and earlier parenthood in highly educated adult sons. Europe's fertility decline is largely due to delayed age at first birth and parental investment in adult children can contribute to and counteract this trend.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12110-025-09502-z.

The Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) is one of the largest ongoing longitudinal studies of aging in Latin America, with six waves over 20 years. MHAS includes sociodemographic, economic, and health data from a nationally representative sample of adults 50 years and older in urban and rural Mexico. MHAS is designed to study the impact of diseases on adults' health, function, and mortality. As Mexico is experiencing rapid population aging, providing adequate information to study this phenomenon is vital for designing and implementing public policies. The availability of biomarker and genetic data and longitudinal survey data elevates opportunities for research on aging in a low-middle-income country. This manuscript describes the profile of biomarkers and genetic data available in the MHAS study, including sample sizes and sociodemographic characteristics of participants who provided biospecimens for biomarker analyses, emphasizing recent genetic data. The sample size of individuals with anthropometric biomarkers was 2 707 (Wave 1-2001), 2 361 (Wave 2-2003), 2 086 (Wave 3-2012), and 2 051 (2016). Capillary blood samples were collected from 2 063 participants in 2012 (Wave 3) and 1 141 in 2016. Venous blood samples for blood-based biomarkers were collected from 2 003 participants in 2012 (Wave 3) and 752 in 2016. Venous blood samples were also collected for genetic data from 2 010 participants in 2012 (Wave 3) and 750 in 2016. A total of 7 821 participants provided saliva in 2018, and 2 671 provided hair in 2018. From these samples, a total of 7 204 have genome-wide genetic data, 8 600 have apolipoprotein-E genotype data, and 7 156 have genetic ancestry data.

Lower levels of education are associated with higher mortality. Lower levels of education are also associated with lower income, which is also associated with higher mortality. We investigate the impact of education on mortality and the extent to which this is mediated through income over the life course. We account for both selective educational attainment and selective income over the life course, through inverse propensity weighting (IPW) of the mortality hazard. We decompose the educational gain, that is, the decrease in mortality from more education, in the hazard into an indirect effect of education, running through changes in income and a direct effect of education, running through other factors. We use Swedish conscription data (men only), linked to parental information and individual annual income for the period 1968 till 2012. Our empirical results indicate large educational gains in mortality. We also find that this educational gradient runs through changes in income, especially for the more educated, and does not run through other factors related to education. We conduct several robustness and sensitivity checks that indicate that the results are robust.