Between reforms and birth rates: Germany, Japan, and family policy discourse

Globalization, Fertility, and Marital Behavior in a Lowest-Low Fertility Setting

Declines in marriage and fertility rates in many developed countries have fostered research debate and increasing policy attention. Using longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we analyze the effects of exposure to globalization on fertility and marital behavior in Germany, which was a lowest-low fertility setting until recently. We find that exposure to greater import competition from Eastern Europe led to worse labor market outcomes and lower fertility rates. In contrast, workers in industries that benefited from increased exports had better employment prospects and higher fertility. These effects are driven by low-educated individuals, married men, and full-time workers and reflect changes in the likelihood of having any child (the extensive margin). We find evidence of some fertility postponement and significant effects on completed fertility, but we see little evidence of a significant impact on marital behavior. Our results inform the public debate on fertility rates in settings with lowest-low fertility, such as Germany, during the period under investigation.

Women's employment, work-life balance policies, and inequality across the life course: a comparative analysis of Japan, Sweden and the United States

We draw from a number of theoretical perspectives and frameworks on the life course, age and gender scholarship to argue their value in furthering critical discussions on work-life balance policies and their contributions to women's employment and economic security in later life. Using OECD and other big data sets, we examine the patterns of women's employment over the life course in Japan, Sweden and the United States, as three illustrated cases of welfare states with different nation's work-life balance policies. We summarize findings before offering concluding thoughts to advocate for women's security in later life.

Democratization, post-industrialization, and East Asian welfare capitalism: the politics of welfare state reform in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan

This review article provides an overview of the scholarship on the establishment and reform of East Asian welfare capitalism. The developmental welfare state theory and the related productivist welfare regime approach have dominated the study of welfare states in the region. This essay, however, shows that a growing body of research challenges the dominant literature. We identify two key driving factors of welfare reform in East Asia, namely democratization and post-industrialization; and discuss how these two drivers have undermined the political and functional underpinnings of the post-war equilibrium of the East Asian welfare/production regime. Its unfolding transformation and the new politics of social policy in the region challenge the notion of “East Asian exceptionalism”, and we suggest that recent welfare reforms call for a better integration of the region into the literature of advanced political economies to allow for cross-fertilization between Eastern and Western literatures.

Impact of a Changing Population Structure and Clustering of Cancer in Prostate Cancer Patients Depending on a First-Degree Family History

INTRODUCTION

In the last century, there have been major changes within the population structure in Germany. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a changing population structure on identification of familial prostate cancer (PCa), and to investigate how many and which types of other cancers have occurred in patients and their first-degree relatives.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A total of 19,540 patients were evaluated in a prospectively collected PCa family database and divided into four birth cohorts: 1925-1934 (cohort A), 1935-1944 (cohort B), 1945-1954 (cohort C), and 1955-1964 (cohort D). Other primary cancers and cancers of first-degree relatives were evaluated.

RESULTS

The percentage of PCa patients with ≥2 sons declined (A: 28.9% to D: 21.6%). The percentage of patients whose fathers lived for ≥65 years increased (B: 64.2% to D: 73.0%). Malignancies of the skin, the urinary tract, and the lymphoid/hematopoietic tissue were more common in patients with a positive first-degree PCa family history and their first-degree relatives. Additionally, first-degree relatives reported more often neoplasms of respiratory/intrathoracic organs and the female breast.

CONCLUSIONS

A small family size, an early deceased father, and a high number of sporadic cases complicate the identification of familial PCa patients. Thus, a detailed family history should also include unaffected first-degree relatives to avoid any misclassification. Findings of other primary cancers in patients and their relatives warrant further investigation.