Differentiation and destandardization of family life courses: Theoretical and empirical links to sociopolitical regime types.

Abstract

Building on research on cohort-specific trends in life-course differentiation and destandardization, our study seeks to explore how patterns of family-life-course diversity relate to characteristics of sociopolitical regimes. Applying sequence analysis, we analyse cohort-specific family life courses from nine European countries and Canada, classifying them into five sociopolitical regimes (Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, Mediterranean, Continental, Eastern). We use data from the Harmonized Histories and the German National Educational Panel Survey. Our results indicate that sociopolitical regimes differentiate patterns of life-course diversity quite well in the Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, and Eastern European countries but to a lesser degree in the Mediterranean and Continental countries. In methodological terms, our results suggest that distinguishing patterns of diversity between and within life courses helps to create a more nuanced empirical account of changing life-course patterns, particularly in a cross-national perspective.