Erich Striessnig

Rising life expectancy and population ageing necessitate a better understanding of quality of later life in rapidly ageing societies like India. As this country undergoes a rapid demographic transition, it is anticipated to have a significantly higher proportion of older adults in the future. This study tries to shed light on the well-being of the older-adult population in India and its major states by employing the novel ‘Years of Good Life’ (YoGL) indicator. According to the YoGL approach, a person-year is counted as ‘good’ if spent simultaneously out of poverty, free from severe activity limitations and cognitive impairments, along with positive life satisfaction. Thus, rather than focusing merely on the fulfillment of material wants and needs, this index is based on ‘capabilities’. Our YoGL estimates for Indian states reveal substantial sub-national variation in well-being by gender and place of residence. Despite enjoying higher life expectancy, females can expect to enjoy considerably fewer good years than males. At age 60, YoGL for rural women is 4.6 years (less than one fourth of their remaining life expectancy), while YoGL for urban males is 10.2 years (around half of their remaining life expectancy). Decomposition analyses reveal that males are losing good life to poor functional health while females are being penalized in YoGL-terms due to cognitive impairment. We conclude that YoGL can be an effective socio-demographic tool for measuring and monitoring human well-being at the sub-national level to provide potential inputs for policy framing in India.

Preventing premature death is a global policy objective reflected in the SDGs. While numerous studies have found socioeconomic factors to be significantly associated with premature death everywhere in the world, the debate on the relative effect of such factors on mid-age (15 to 59 ages) has not received enough attention, particularly in low-income countries, where this question is pertinent due to scant resources in the healthcare sector. Using nationally representative, longitudinal data from the India Human Development Survey, we assess the relative importance of individual- and community-level education vs. income and wealth in India, where approximately 3 million premature deaths occur annually in mid-ages. We find a clear downward gradient in mid-age mortality with increasing education within each wealth category, whereas no consistent mortality advantage with increasing wealth status is visible within education subgroups. Multilevel logistic regression models show that the decline in the risk of death across the education spectrum by far exceeds (14% for male and 13% for female) the decline moving along the wealth distribution, even after controlling for other relevant demographic, socioeconomic, regional variables. Along with the direct effect of individual-level educational attainment, we also find a protective effect of education at the community level, particularly for women. Based on these findings, we infer that educational attainment is essential for reducing mid-age mortality in India. Population and health policies in developing countries, therefore, should focus on education to prevent adult mortality.

Amid rising concerns about climate change, in recent years, demographers have increasingly examined whether environmental concerns have become a factor in shaping reproductive intentions and outcomes. However, little is still known about the potentially reciprocal relationship between environmental concerns and fertility, in part due to the lack of longitudinal analyses of sufficient temporal scope. Our study provides new results based on unique data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), which contains both full fertility histories and yearly (1984 to 2020) measurements of environmental concern. We follow individuals born between 1965 and 2000 and investigate (a) whether environmental concerns predict first-birth quantum and timing and (b) whether environmental concern trajectories vary between eventual parents and the childless. Overall, results indicate no significant link between environmental concerns—whether early in life or across the life course—and (the timing of) the transition to parenthood, or the number of children achieved by age 40. However, we find a negative association between environmental concerns and the chances of becoming a parent for older birth cohorts, suggesting a potential generational shift in how ecological awareness intersects with fertility decisions. Moreover, parents seem to be more worried about the environment than the childless, though these differences seem to be largely explained by unobserved heterogeneity rather than parenthood itself.

Achieving a good life for all within planetary boundaries is essential for sustainability. But analysing this goal is hindered by problems of definition, measurement, and the large number of potentially relevant factors. The indicator ‘years of good life’ (YoGL) is defined as the number of years a person can expect to live above absolute poverty, enjoy good physical and cognitive health, and experience positive life satisfaction 1. YoGL has been quantified 2, but how it depends on resource requirements and other potential determinants has not yet been studied. We analysed this question for ~110 countries from 1990 to 2019, revealing that the relationship between YoGL and resource use (materials, energy) and emissions follows saturation curves. YoGL/resource use ratios improve over time, which we analyse in fixed effects and between-effects panel analyses considering factors hypothesized to affect this ratio. We find that education, health expenditures, and per-capita GDP covary with YoGL, whereas ambient air pollution and income inequality are negatively related to YoGL. In panel analyses considering all factors simultaneously, resource and emission indicators lose importance and are often negatively related with YoGL. In countries with high-YoGL (upper three deciles), income becomes insignificant, while other factors remain important. Reducing income inequality and air pollution, as well as promoting education and healthcare, while minimizing the use of physical resources and emissions hence emerge as essential strategies for raising social wellbeing sustainably.

This study investigates researcher variability in computational reproduction, an activity for which it is least expected. Eighty-five independent teams attempted numerical replication of results from an original study of policy preferences and immigration. Reproduction teams were randomly grouped into a ‘transparent group’ receiving original study and code or ‘opaque group’ receiving only a method and results description and no code. The transparent group mostly verified original results (95.7% same sign and p -value cutoff), while the opaque group had less success (89.3%). Second-decimal place exact numerical reproductions were less common (76.9 and 48.1%). Qualitative investigation of the workflows revealed many causes of error, including mistakes and procedural variations. When curating mistakes, we still find that only the transparent group was reliably successful. Our findings imply a need for transparency, but also more. Institutional checks and less subjective difficulty for researchers ‘doing reproduction’ would help, implying a need for better training. We also urge increased awareness of complexity in the research process and in ‘push button’ replications.

Climate change represents one of the most pressing challenges for societies in the 21st century. This special issue of the Vienna Yearbook of Population Research (VYPR) brings together interdisciplinary contributions from 51 authors to explore the demographic dimensions of climate change. In many ways, human populations are at the center of the current climate crisis. On the one hand, anthropogenic forces are responsible for the unprecedented changes in the climate system that are currently being observed. It is the burning of fossil fuels that has significantly increased greenhouse gas concentrations, driving global warming and altering natural climate patterns. On the other hand, human populations are also profoundly affected by these changes, as they are facing increased risks from extreme weather events, rising sea levels and shifting ecosystems, which, in turn, impact livelihoods, food and water security, and health and well-being. This special issue provides a comprehensive overview of both the role of population as a driving force of climate change and the significance of its impacts in the areas of health andmortality, migration, and fertility and reproductive behaviors. In addition to 10 research articles, the special issue features seven debate articles by leading scholars, who provide reflections on the climate-population nexus and the role of demographic science in climate changemitigation. Demography offers a wide range of perspectives and methodological tools to understand and address the climate-population nexus, including in the areas of health and population data, mathematical and statistical modeling, and projections. We advocate for a holistic research perspective that incorporates issues related to increasing climate risks into demographic thinking, and vice versa. A thorough understanding of the intricate relationship between populations, population dynamics and climate change is necessary for the development of effective and equitable mitigation and adaptation strategies that address both global and local challenges over time.

Many industrialized societies have experienced increases in life expectancy and in the mean age at first birth (MAFB). This has likely impacted the lifetime that parents share with their children; i.e., parenthood expectancy (PEX).