The Laboratory for Comparative Social Research announces the next regular seminar, which will be held as a zoom session on March, 28 at 02:30 p.m. CET (04:30 p.m. Moscow time). Laura Altweck (University of Greifswald, Germany) will deliver a report "Exploring Employment and Family Life Courses in Young Adulthood and Effects on Subjective Well-being in Older Age". Co-authors: Stefanie Hahm, Holger Muehlan, Silke Schmidt (University of Greifswald, Germany).

The seminar will take place online. To participate, please, register via the link.

Abstract:

Objective. In this study we explored the relationship between employment and family life courses in young adulthood and their effects on subjective well-being (SWB) in older age. Specifically, we aim to examine how life trajectories in these domains between 1945 and 1990, during the contrasting reign of capitalist and former Socialist regimes, influence SWB in older age. Furthermore, we seek to understand the extent to which these effects differ across sex and country.

Methods. Data from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) was used for this analysis. In SHARE, participants over 50 years are surveyed regarding a number of health outcomes and are asked to retrospectively reconstruct their life course along specific domains (e.g., employement and family). Multi-channel sequence and cluster analysis were conducted separately for both sex and country (East Germany, West Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, France). Regression analysis was then employed to examine the associations between these types of life course trajectories and SWB in older age.

Results. Our findings revealed differences in life course trajectories between men and women, as well as across the selected countries. Notably, women were predominantly responsible for child care and household chores. Moreover, clusters displaying no employment were exclusively observed in women from Capitalist countries. Interestingly, we also identified several significant associations between these types of life courses and SWB in older age.

Conclusions. This study sheds light on the profound influence that the divergent policies of capitalism and former Socialist regimes have had on individuals' life trajectories regarding work and family. The preliminary results offer valuable insights into the long-term impact of these trajectories on subjective well-being in later years, with notable variations observed across sex and country. Further exploration of these findings can contribute to a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between employment, family life, and overall well-being over the life course.

Everyone interested is invited!

Working language is English.