How does my partner see me? Metaperceptions of personality and couple satisfaction.

This study examined the association between congruence in the two partners' perceptions and their relationship satisfaction. We considered congruence between metaperception and partner-perception (meta-partner) and between metaperceptions and self-rated personality (meta-self). The participants were 236 heterosexual couples. Each couple member reported couple satisfaction and personality traits (in terms of self-perception, partner-perception, and metaperception). The actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) revealed that individuals who believed to be viewed by their partner as more agreeable, conscientious, or emotionally stable than their partner saw them, were less likely to have a partner who was satisfied with the relationship. When metaperceptions of "Agreeableness" were higher than self-perceptions, relationship satisfaction for both the actor and the partner was higher. These findings may help to guide therapeutic and clinical interventions aimed at promoting relationship satisfaction in the context of family and couple therapy.

Childbearing across partnerships in Italy: Prevalence, demographic correlates, and social gradient.

Studies of childbearing across partnerships-having children with more than one partner-have generally focused on countries with relatively high separation rates. We complement this previous research with analyses for Italy using nationally representative, retrospective data and event-history techniques. This study offers three key findings. First, we detected a non-negligible share of childbearing across partnerships, although at substantially lower levels relative to other wealthy countries (5 per cent of parents aged 25-54 with at least two children). Second, multivariate analyses revealed an impressive similarity to the demographic correlates found elsewhere. Finally, we showed that childbearing across partnerships was initiated by the 'social vanguard' of new family behaviours but then diffused among the least well-off. Overall, this paper adds to the growing literature on childbearing across partnerships by showing the phenomenon to be demographically and sociologically relevant, even in countries with strong family ties and a limited diffusion of union dissolution.

Retirement? Other Ways Out of the Labour Market Are Far More Worrying for Health: Results from a Matching Approach Study.

ObjectiveDespite a growing body of research, the effects of retirement on health are not clear. The study explores the role played by the path out of the labour market (formal retirement vs. unemployment or family reasons), accounting for individual heterogeneity. Methods: Propensity score matching approach is employed on longitudinal data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2015). Results: While health does not change significantly for those who formally retire, it worsens considerably for those who leave the labour market for other reasons. Moreover, health outcomes turn out to be highly heterogeneous, depending on individual socio-economic and job-related characteristics. Discussion: Leaving the labour market in one's mature years is a complex transition. Future research should focus on understanding and combating the causes of premature exit from the labour market, a relevant concern both in economic terms and on health grounds, in the light of our results.

A reflection on economic uncertainty and fertility in Europe: The Narrative Framework.

The generalized and relatively homogeneous fertility decline across European countries in the aftermath of the Great Recession poses serious challenges to our knowledge of contemporary low fertility patterns. In this paper, we argue that fertility decisions are not a mere "statistical shadow of the past", and advance the Narrative Framework, a new approach to the relationship between economic uncertainty and fertility. This framework proffers that individuals act according to or despite uncertainty based on their "narrative of the future" - imagined futures embedded in social elements and their interactions. We also posit that personal narratives of the future are shaped by the "shared narratives" produced by socialization agents, including parents and peers, as well as by the narratives produced by the media and other powerful opinion formers. Finally, within this framework, we propose several empirical strategies, from both a qualitative and a quantitative perspective, including an experimental approach, for assessing the role of narratives of the future in fertility decisions.

Is temporary employment damaging to health? A longitudinal study on Italian workers.

Working conditions have changed dramatically over recent decades in all the countries of European Union: permanent full-time employment characterized by job security and a stable salary is replaced more and more by temporary work, apprenticeship contracts, casual jobs and part-time work. The consequences of these changes on the general well-being of workers and their health represent an increasingly important path of inquiry. We add to the debate by answering the question: are Italian workers on temporary contracts more likely to suffer from poor health than those with permanent jobs? Our analysis is based on a sample of men and women aged 16-64 coming from the Italian longitudinal survey 2007-2010 of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. We use the method of inverse-probability-of-treatment weights to estimate the causal effect of temporary work on self-rated health, controlling for selection effects. Our major findings can be summarized as follows: firstly, we show a negative association between temporary employment and health that results from a statistical causal effect in the work-to-health direction, and does not trivially derive from a selection of healthier individuals in the group of people who find permanent jobs (selection effect). Secondly, we find that temporary employment becomes particularly negative for the individual's health when it is prolonged over time. Thirdly, whereas temporary employment does not entail significant adverse consequences for men, the link between temporary employment and health is strongly harmful for Italian women.