Content and objectives
The objective of this course is not demography per se but to examine how key demographic transformations influence society and well-being. The advanced societies have over the past half Century undergone what demographers call ‘the second demographic transition’, a term  that encompasses major changes in life course transitions, family formation, fertility behaviour, gender relations, and also aging. The transformation of demographic behaviour has, in turn, major consequences for the distribution of social risks and for social policy. 

This course provides both a theoretical and empirical overview of ongoing demographic processes with special attention to those aspects that directly impinge upon social risks and social policy, namely transformations of household structure and family formation, of female fertility and employment behaviour, and of population aging. These transformations, in turn, will be related to income and welfare distributions. And, finally, the course will examine how demographic change challenges existing welfare models.

Literature
Those readings marked with an * are obligatory.

• *Lesthaege, R. 1995. "The second demographic transition in western countries: an interpretation." in Gender and Family Change in Industrialized Countries, edited by K. Opphenheim-Mason and A-M. Jensen. Oxford: Clarendon.
• Coleman, 2004 ‘Why we don’t have to believe without doubting in the Second Demographic Transition’. Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, 2004.
• Billari, F. 2004 ‘Becoming an adult in Europe’. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Special Collection Working Paper S-3-2 (April)
• *Hotz, V. Et.al., 1997 ‘The economics of fertility in developed countries’. In M. Rosenzweig and O. Stark, eds. Handbook of Population and Family Economics. Volume 1A. Amsterdam: Elsevier
• *Sleebos, J. 2003 ‘Low fertility rates in the OECD countries’. OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Paper, 15-
• Ahn, N. and Mira,  P. 2001. ‘A note on the relationship between fertility and female employment rates in developed countries’. Journal of Population Economics, 15, 4: 667-82
• Kohler, H.P., Billari, F., and Ortega, J.A.  2002 ‘The emergence of lowest-low fertility in Europe’. Population and Development Review, 28, 4: 641-80
• Gustafsson, S. 2001. ‘Optimal age at motherhood: theoretical and empirical considerations on postponement of maternity in Europe’. Journal of Population Economics, 14, 2: 225-247
• McDonald, P. 2000 ‘The toolbox of public policies to impact on fertility’. European Observatory on Social Situation, Demography and Family. Sevilla.
• S. Morgan and M. Taylor 2006 ‘Low fertility at the turn of the twenty-first century’. Annual Review of Sociology, 32: 375-99
• Andersson, G. 2003. ‘Dissolution of unions in Europe’. Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research Working Paper, 2003-004
• *Ellwood, D. And Jencks, C. 2001. ‘The growing difference in family structure: what do we know? Where do we look for answers?’ Unpublished paper, J.F.Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (August).
• Kuijsten, A. 1995 ‘Recent trends in household and family structure in Europe’. Pp 53-84 in E. Van Imhoff et.al., eds. Household Demography and Household Modeling. New York: Plenum Press
• Mare, R. and Winship, C. 1991 ‘Five decades of assortative mating’. ASR, 56: 15-32
• Blossfeld, H.P. and Timm, A. 2003 Who Marries Whom? Kluwer
• Oppenheim-Mason, K. And Jensen, A. 1995 Gender and Family Change in Industrialized Countries.
• Neckerman, K. Ed. Social Inequality. New York: Russell Sage
• *Lutz, W., O’Neill, B. And Sherbov, S. 2003 ‘Europe’s population at a turning point’. Science, Vol. 299: 1991-92
• OECD, 1998. Maintaining Prosperity in Old Age. Paris: OECD
• *Esping-Andersen, G. & Myles, J. (2006) ‘Sustainable and equitable retirement in a life course perspective’. In G. Clark et.al. eds, Handbook of Retirement Economics.
• *Haveman, R. and Wolfe, B. 1994 Succeeding Generations. New York: Russell Sage (chapters 1-3)
• McLanahan, S. And Percheski, C. 2008 ‘ Family structure and the reproduction of inequalities’. Annual Review of Sociology: 34: 257-76
• Gornick, J. And Meyers, M. 2003. Families that Work. Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment. New York: Russell Sage.
• * Esping-Andersen, G. 2006 ‘Families, Government and the distribution of skills’. (Will be circulated)
• Esping-Andersen, G. 2005. ‘Social Bases of Changing Income Distributions’. American Behavioral Scientist.
• Hyslop, D. 2001 ‘Rising US earnings inequality and family labour supply’. American Economic Review, 91, 4: 755-77
• Waldvogel, J. 2002. ‘Child care, women’s employment and child outcomes’. Journal of Population Economics, 15: 527-48