Prior work has highlighted increases in life expectancy in the USA during the Great Depression. This contradicts the tenet that life expectancy is positively correlated with human welfare, but it coheres with recent literature on mortality and recessions. We construct Lee-Carter interval estimates of life expectancy during the Great Depression, based on trends before 1929. In this analysis, all-race life expectancy did not grow unusually during the Great Depression. However, nonwhites did see greater-than-expected increases in life expectancy in 1930–1933. We discuss potential explanations. We conclude by urging scholars of mortality during this time period to focus on race whenever the data permit it.

This study was conducted to estimate the magnitude of infant death clustering as well as the mortality risk associated with death of a preceding child and investigate how these have changed over three decades (1980–2013) in Nigeria. Birth history data from the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey for 1990, 2003, 2008 and 2013 were analysed using dynamic random effects models. The effect of death of an immediate preceding child (sibling mortality correlation) was estimated by controlling for background characteristics and unobserved heterogeneity.A total of 232,090 single births to 56,123 women were analysed. Results showed that 13.2% in the oldest maternal cohort (≤ 1969) experienced death of at least two infants and they accounted for 40.2% of all infant deaths. Among the 1970–1979 maternal cohort, it was 8.6% and 31.6% respectively. In the youngest maternal cohort (≥ 1980), 3.3% had recorded multiple infant deaths but accounted for 20.3%. Model results revealed that sibling mortality correlation increased the probability of infant death by 0.080 and 0.061 in the 1980–1989 and 2010 birth cohorts respectively.There is a substantial level of infant death clustering in Nigeria, and this is closely driven by sibling mortality correlation both of which have declined very slowly over time. To achieve desired progress in child survival, death clustering should be addressed alongside other barriers to child survival.

Spain, which has long been a country of emigration, has become, within a few years, one of the European countries which welcomes the most foreign nationals onto its territory. These foreign nationals constitute a boon from a demographic point of view, limiting the depopulation of the territory induced by its accelerated ageing. Nevertheless, the establishment of foreign nationals is not a phenomenon that is equally distributed over the area. Indeed, foreign nationals are not equally located over Spanish territory. The spatial inequalities in their distribution merit specific attention, especially as they show significant differences according to countries of origin. Relying on data from municipal population registers (Padrón), this article offers a fine-scale, detailed exploration of the distribution of foreign nationals in Spain, to highlight the logic of differentiated occupation of Spanish space. The results show that certain nationalities occupy the territories without much sharing (Romanians and Bulgarians in rural areas for example), while others cohabit with different nationalities (Germans and English in recreational areas). Finally, certain nationalities (Moroccans in particular) are present in very specific locations, where there is an alternation of shared territories and exclusive occupation.

Mortality forecasts are essential for predicting the future extent of population ageing, and for determining the sustainability of pension schemes and social security systems. They are also useful in setting life insurance premiums, and in helping governments plan for the changing needs of their societies for health care and other services (European Commission 2009). Nowadays, the societal importance of accurate mortality forecasts is greater than ever before. As a strategy for dealing with rapid population ageing, recent pension reforms in a number of low-mortality countries have made an explicit link between the retirement age and/or retirement payments and past and future anticipated mortality and life expectancy values (Carone et al. 2016; OECD 2016). Because of the large and increasing societal relevance of accurate mortality forecasts, the field of mortality forecasting is growing and advancing.

What happens when citizens from societies with strong son preference culture migrate to countries in which preference for having a child of each sex prevails? Using data from Swedish population registers, we investigate the sex ratio at birth by parity and the sex composition of previous children in Sweden. Our results showed that women with Chinese, Korean, and Indian background had a substantially elevated sex ratio at the third parity if previous children were both girls. Strikingly, this skewed ratio became less pronounced after 2000, suggesting a shift for a more neutral sex preference for children among these groups in the new century.

Types of discrimination are usually distinguished by economic theory in statistical and taste-based. Using a correspondence experiment, we analyze which of the two affects Italian labor market the most. In this respect, we studied the difference in discrimination reserved to first- and second-generation immigrants, taking gender differences into account. Even if we want to admit a rational discrimination based on perceived productivity differences (statistical discrimination) against first-generation immigrants (concerning language and education gaps), the same would not be reasonable for second-generation ones. Since they are born and educated in Italy, where they have always lived, the associated discrimination must be taste-based.

In the face of rapidly aging population, decreasing regional inequalities in population composition is one of the regional cohesion goals of the European Union. To our knowledge, no explicit quantification of the changes in regional population aging differentiation exist. We investigate how regional differences in population aging developed over the last decade and how they are likely to evolve in the coming three decades, and we examine how demographic components of population growth contribute to the process. We use the beta-convergence approach to test whether regions are moving towards a common level of population aging. The change in population composition is decomposed into the separate effects of changes in the size of the non-working-age population and of the working-age population. The latter changes are further decomposed into the effects of cohort turnover, migration at working ages, and mortality at working ages. European Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS)-2 regions experienced notable convergence in population aging during the period 2003–2012 and are expected to experience further convergence in the coming three decades. Convergence in aging mainly depends on changes in the population structure of East-European regions. Cohort turnover plays the major role in promoting convergence. Differences in mortality at working ages, though quite moderate themselves, have a significant cumulative effect. The projections show that when it is assumed that net migration flows at working ages are converging across European regions, this will not contribute to convergence of population aging. The beta-convergence approach proves useful to examine regional variations in population aging across Europe.

The rapid population growth of many African cities has important implications for population health, yet little is known about factors contributing to increasing population, such as the fertility of internal migrants. We examine whether in-migrants to Kinshasa have different fertility patterns than lifetime Kinshasa residents, and identify characteristics of migrants that may explain differences in fertility. We also use detailed migration histories to examine whether fertility differs by features of migration. We use representative data from the PMA2020 Project for 2197 women in Kinshasa, including 340 women who moved to Kinshasa. We examine differences between migrants and non-migrants in fertility and other fertility-related characteristics. We also examine whether fertility differs by duration of residence in Kinshasa, number of lifetime moves, age at first migration, urban/rural classification of birthplace, and the distinction between intra-Kinshasa migration and migration to Kinshasa.. Migrants have significantly higher fertility than permanent Kinshasa residents, but the difference is relatively small in magnitude. This higher fertility appears due in part to patterns of contraceptive use among migrants. There is noteworthy heterogeneity among migrants: higher fertility among migrants is associated with longer duration in Kinshasa, more lifetime moves, urban-Kinshasa migration, older age at first migration, and moving to Kinshasa from outside (as opposed to intra-Kinshasa migration).

Previous research has stressed the importance of social networks and participation for maintaining good health at all stages in the life cycle. Evidence specifically for disabled people, or persons more likely to be restricted in their social life and with reduced opportunities for social integration, is very sparse, however. In this study we aimed at assessing if and to what extent different domains of social integration are associated with self-rated health of Italian disabled persons. Empirical analyses were based on the Italian Survey Social inclusion of people with functional limitations carried out by the Italian Institute of Statistics in 2011. Our findings show that, more than family or friendship ties , social engagement is a crucial factor in improving disabled Italians’ perception of good health. In addition, we found that the availability of support afforded by social networks, more than social networks themselves, is key to reducing self-rated health inequalities. Finally, all the identified integration domains act in a differentiated way according to individual socio-demographic characteristics. This study highlights the fact that efforts to improve opportunities for disabled persons to engage in social activities and facilitate access to support should receive greater attention from policy makers and, more generally, from the whole community. Elena PIRANI, Researcher, Department of Statistics, Informatics, Applications, University of Florence, Italy. E-mail: pirani@disia.unifi.it .