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Schulklasse beim Unterricht (refer to: Verbal or numerical? How report cards change parents' views of their children's school skills) | Source: © contrastwerkstatt / Adobe Stock

Press releaseVerbal or numerical? How report cards change parents' views of their children's school skills

A new study by BiB shows that most parents overestimate their children's school skills. Written assessments in report cards have little effect on this, whereas grades have a stronger impact on parents.

Peer-Reviewed Articles in Scientific JournalsWork-related Travel over the Life Course and Its Link to Fertility. A Comparison between Four European Countries

Rüger, Heiko; Viry, Gil (2017)

European Sociological Review 33(5): 645–660

DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcx064

In contemporary societies, travelling intensively to and for work has become an important part in many people’s lives. A life course approach suggests that spatial mobility may, however, conflict with other life domains such as fertility, especially for women. Using longitudinal survey data from France, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland, our study provides novel evidence that the interdependence of fertility and work-related spatial mobility behaviours is largely shaped by national contexts. Based on innovative techniques of sequence analysis, our results indicate that long-term experiences of daily and weekly long-distance commuting and overnight work travel are associated with lower fertility mainly among women in Germany and Switzerland. In France and Spain, the association is weaker or absent. Interestingly, male overnight travellers in Germany and Switzerland show similar tendencies. These men have a comparatively lower fertility than other men, although the cross-national differences are less pronounced than among women. Our study discusses the role of national family policies, social norms, and labour market structures in facilitating or hindering the reconciliation between fertility and work-related spatial mobility.