Self-perceived job insecurity is characterised by a considerable variation across European countries; this is mostly attributed to different labour market conditions and welfare-state institutions. In addition to the previous, often static examination of these determinants, this study asks how labour market dynamics and changes in welfare-state interventions are linked to individuals’ perceptions of job insecurity. It is argued that the changing context represents a set of shared experiences that serves as a frame of reference for the perception of job insecurity. Hence, time series of context indicators provided by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and data from the European Social Survey are used to conduct multilevel analyses. The results reveal that job insecurity is dynamic, as it increases in countries facing an economic crisis, such as Greece, but decreases in countries with prosperous development like Poland. Furthermore, the results reveal that the past development of the labour market and changes in welfare-state interventions contribute to the explanation of individuals’ perceptions of job insecurity. The response to these changes differs, however, depending on the dimension of job insecurity and the socio-economic characteristics of the workers.

Views differ on how migration affects the timing of childbearing. Whereas migration has long been considered a break in the life course, hindering family formation, this disruption hypothesis has recently been challenged. New findings indicating that there is often an acceleration of childbearing shortly after migration have led to the formulation of the interrelation hypothesis. Examining the childbearing behaviour of Polish women, this study extends previous research by combining information from the countries of origin and of destination. Using retrospective data from Poland (derived from the European Social Survey) and Britain (derived from the Labour Force Survey), discrete-time event history methods are applied to study the transition to a first birth in relation to the timing of migration. The results show that there is a disruption of childbearing prior to migration, as well as an acceleration of fertility in the years immediately following the move.

While the detrimental health effects of self-perceived job insecurity are well documented, less is known about the mechanisms through which insecurity affects health. In this article, potential explanations for this relationship are examined separately for three age groups (18-35, 36-50, and 51-65). Mediation analyses based on the German Socioeconomic Panel show an 'immediate shock effect' that occurs when a person becomes worried, as well as a 'prolonged stress effect' that sets in when job loss worries persist over a longer period. Second, the results reveal that for middle-aged workers, both effects of self-perceived job insecurity are largely explained by the following factors: perceived financial problems, feelings of stress, exhaustion, and anxiety, a perceived lack of control, and family dissatisfaction. Yet it appears that these factors do not fully explain the detrimental health effects of job insecurity among younger or older workers.

Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus, in many Western countries, there appears to be a considerable share of people questioning the existence and anthropogenic cause of climate change. Climate change disbelief includes the absolute rejection of the existence of anthropogenic climate change (climate change denial) as well as a lack of sureness about the anthropogenic cause of climate change (climate change uncertainty). Although considerable research on this phenomenon has been conducted, the roots of climate change disbelief are not yet fully understood. In this article, data from Round 8 of the European Social Survey are used to study the possible socioeconomic roots of climate change disbelief at the individual, regional, and country level. Results show that climate change denial is a marginal phenomenon among European populations but that a great share of people attributes climate change equally to human influences and natural processes. Thereby, it appears that the level of climate change disbelief varies between countries, and even more so between regions within countries. Results of various three-level multilevel models show that socioeconomic factors can partly explain this variation. Individuals who feel insecure about their economic future are significantly more likely to reject the existence of anthropogenic climate change. Furthermore, climate change denial and uncertainty are more common in more rural and less prosperous regions and in countries more economically dependent on fossil fuels. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of climate change disbelief among the European population and have important implications for climate change mitigation efforts.

Despite widespread belief in anthropogenic climate change and high levels of concern about its consequences, behavioral changes necessary to adequately address climate change appear difficult to achieve. This concern–behavior gap is often explained by the public goods character of climate change mitigation, which is associated with a high individual incentive to take a free ride when possible. This paper examines cooperation beliefs and their impact on individuals’ energy conservation behavior. Analyzing data from the European Social Survey, it appears that cooperation beliefs are rather low in Europe and that most people do not expect others to limit their energy use to help mitigate climate change. This low trust contrasts with individuals’ reported level of energy conservation behavior and the general high level of energy conservation in most European countries. This trust gap has important implications for pro-environmental behavior as high trust in others’ pro-environmental behavior fosters individuals’ attempts to save energy.