Social Disparities in Destandardization—Changing Family Life Course Patterns in Seven European Countries

Bibliographic Data

ID7772093
AuthorsOkka Zimmermann (0000-0002-1719-1777, TU Braunschweig, Department of Social Sciences, Bienroder Weg 97, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany, corresponding author), Dirk Konietzka (0000-0002-9729-1902, TU Braunschweig, Department of Social Sciences, Bienroder Weg 97, 38106 Braunschweig, Germany)
Year2018
Volume34
Issue1
Pages64-78
Publication date2018-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0266-7215 • E-ISSN: 1468-2672
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/esr/jcx083
OpenAlexW2772874383
LanguageEN
Citations received36
References cited49

It is generally assumed that life courses in European societies have become less orderly and more destandardized in recent decades. Focusing on the family sphere, the article examines to what degree patterns of destandardization are stratified by educational attainment across seven European countries. Using data from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) and the National Educational Panel Survey (NEPS) (n = 70,228 respondents), the article adds to the methodological discussion of destandardization by implementing both abstract analyses of life course dissimilarity, which focus on the ‘timing’ of events; and specific analyses of common episode orders, which relate to the ‘order’ of events. While European countries differ considerably with respect to dominant life course patterns in early adulthood, a consistent finding is that destandardization is more pronounced among individuals with lower than with higher levels of education.

Course (navigation) · Demographic economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Life course approach · Sociology · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology

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