Conference on different life patterns existing in the post-war generation

Ignacio Cabib, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Health at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, will give an online and face-to-face (hybrid) lecture on the diversity of lifestyles among the post-war generation in liberal countries, organised by the UAB Centre for Demographic Studies.

On campus: Àngels Torrents Room, CED
Online: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7905645674
Code: 1984

Most studies examining the diversity of life patterns in countries characterised as liberal regimes tend to focus on a single country. As a result, the high or low diversity of life histories that is assumed to exist between liberal countries and between disadvantaged groups in these settings does not derive from empirical evidence but rather from the extrapolation of an analytical construct.

In this study, what is explored is the diversity of patterns of working life, marriage and fertility among the post-war generation, by gender and educational level, in five countries characterised by being pro-liberal: England, Ireland, Switzerland, the United States and Chile. They use global, harmonised and cross-national life-history data and longitudinal statistical methods.

Contrary to hypotheses, the results do not show consistent patterns of high occupational diversity and low marital and fertility diversity among liberal regimes. Moreover, people in structurally disadvantaged positions (women and those less educated) do not always follow more diverse occupational and family trajectories.

These discoveries highlight the limitations of cross-sectional and aggregate perspectives in taking into account life course patterns across national borders, and the advantages of adopting longitudinal and comparative perspectives to assess similarities and differences in life course trajectories between and within countries.