“Farewell Life, Farewell Love”: Analysis of Survival Inequalities Among Soldiers Who “Died for France” During World War I
Olivier Guillot and Antoine Parent
Foreword, Jean-Marc Rohrbasser
This study looks at the differences in survival times among French soldiers who died in World War I, with a focus on identifying any contextual effects ssociated with the place of recruitment and assigned regiment. The analysis was erformed using a sample of more than 17,000 men recognized as “Morts pour la France” in 1914–1918. The survival time of these soldiers is defined here as the number of days between 2 August 1914, the date on which general mobilization began, and the occurrence of death. We have tried to shed light on both the determinants of this survival time and the explanatory factors of early death, i.e. a death occurring in the year 1914. The results show that the average survival time and the probability of dying in 1914 varied significantly according to place of recruitment and, at least as regards infantry soldiers, between regiments. These disparities suggest the possible influence of the military staff’s strategic choices and perhaps the negative impact of factors more political in nature. The estimated effects are, however, on a smaller scale than those associated with rank and corps.
Young Adult Excess Mortality in Switzerland: The Role of Socioeconomic Vulnerability
Adrien Remund
Early adulthood is often characterized by a phase of excess mortality. It is not clear whether this temporary increase in the risk of death occurs because of biological or contextual forces, nor whether this threat concerns all individuals of the same cohort. Age-specific mortality differentials from 10 to 34 years of age are calculated using a unique dataset that includes all individuals living in Switzerland born between 1975 and 1979. Certain risk factors act with variable intensity and follow patterns similar to the hump observed in the overall age-specific mortality risk. The results suggest that socioeconomic mortality differentials partly shape the hump. The division of the cohort into multiple subpopulations representing various levels of vulnerability shows that although a minority of Swiss youth experience a phase of temporary excess mortality, this is not the case for all groups of individuals. Overall, the results indicate that a favourable social context offsets the stress associated with the transition to adulthood and helps avoid the phase of heightened risk of death during this period of life.
Whose Integration Do We Measure? Immigrants’ Remigration and Labour Market Integration in France
Louise Caron
Most quantitative studies on immigrants’ integration in France are based on the implicit assumption that all immigrants would settle permanently in the country of destination. However, many immigrants eventually remigrate, either returning to their country of origin or pursuing an onward migration to a third country. This article explores the mechanisms of remigration and their empirical and methodological consequences for the analysis of immigrants’ trajectories in France. Taking advantage of large administrative longitudinal data from the Permanent Demographic Sample (EDP), this article examines departures from France between 1975 and 1999. The results show that immigrants who remigrate over the period are characterized by specific family and work situations, which might affect the validity of studies on integration. However, by comparing measures of immigrants’ economic integration drawn from cross-sectional and panel estimations, this study finds no evidence of a bias due to selective remigration for standard measures of immigrants’ trajectories in the French labour market. This approach calls for further questioning the classical conceptual framework of permanent migration in quantitative analyses of integration processes.
Sex Imbalance at Birth in Vietnam: Rapid Increase Followed by Stabilization
Valentine Becquet, Christophe Z. Guilmoto
Vietnam is one of several countries in the world where sex-selective abortion has increased the proportion of male births in recent years. In the absence of exhaustive vital statistics data, we use two indirect methods based on the 2014 intercensal survey to identify trends in the sex ratio at birth (SRB) and to estimate preferences for children of a given sex. These methods provide similar results and confirm the steady increase in the SRB in Vietnam first observed in 2003. However, annual data from the General Statistics Office indicate that the SRB levelled off at between 112 and 113 male births per 100 female births in 2014, and the latest provisional data (2017) suggest that it has since remained relatively stable. Our analysis reveals the disparities in the SRB, which is more skewed in the northern regions and among the most affluent couples, as well as the diffusion of prenatal sex-selection across these regions and across socioeconomic groups over a five-year period. Parity progression ratios also point up differences in reproductive behaviour by showing that Vietnamese couples tend to have more children if they do not already have a son.
Breastfeeding practices among immigrants and natives in France, from the ELFE cohort
Claire Kersuzan, Christine Tichit, Xavier Thierry
In France, as in English-speaking countries, rates of breastfeeding at birth vary significantly between native mothers (67%) and immigrant mothers (88%). Using data from the French Longitudinal Study of Children (Étude longitudinale française depuis l’enfance, ELFE), this article aims to describe breastfeeding practices (initiation and duration) according to the parents’ geographical origin. Migration status (migrant/non-migrant) has more effect than migration origin (native with/without immigrant background) on differences in breastfeeding. Regardless of region of birth, immigrant mothers breastfeed more at birth and at six months than natives. Immigrants from the Maghreb breastfeed the most in the maternity hospital (93%) and those born in a sub-Saharan African country breastfeed the most at six months (55%). Having an immigrant husband has a positive effect on breastfeeding in natives, whether or not they have a migrant background. On the other hand, marital diversity has little effect on the breastfeeding practices of immigrants. However, the correlation between the mother’s foreign origin and breastfeeding is reduced in the second generation. African descendants from an endogamous marriage breastfeed slightly more at birth.
