Population registers are less well known and documented than other standard systems of demographic information (vital records, censuses, surveys). Although not found everywhere, they do exist in many European countries. They are always run on a municipal basis but computerization now makes it possible to centralize the data and establish national registers. In this overview of 30 European countries, Michel Poulain and Anne Herm present a comparative analysis of the history of these population registers, both old and new, their varied modes of operation, their advantages and drawbacks. They highlight the potential now available for rapid production of demographic data and for research. They call for closer cooperation between statistical institutes and researchers, and for access to individual data in strict compliance with the rules governing personal data protection. More generally, the concept of a register is, under the UNECE definition (2007), "a systematic collection of unit-level data in such a way that updating is possible". Eurostat and Danmarks Statistik (1995) specify what is meant by updating:[U]pdating of a register is the processing of identifiable information with the purpose of establishing, bringing up to date, correcting or extending the register in such a way that it can be maintained as a continuous set of records.Central PoPulation registers as a sourCe

Sexual debut is an essential aspect of the socialization process (Balandier, 1984;Courtois, 1998). It is a major component of social control, and the manner in which it occurs provides information about how each society constructs the social and gendered identities of its members, and reveals the different rules of behaviour imposed upon girls and boys (Bozon, 2008).Recent representative surveys indicate that in most societies, first sexual intercourse is occurring at an earlier age today, and is more dissociated from union formation (a more recent development for girls) than in previous cohorts (Bozon, 2002; Wellings et al., 2006). In some parts of the world, however, it is still hard to assess the extent of the phenomenon. In Arab countries in particular, it is regarded as unacceptable or even "immoral" even to ask men and women at what age they first had intercourse. Consequently, in the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and other studies conducted in these countries, only married women are asked about their sexual lives (Bozon, 2003), and there are no official figures for non-marital sexuality. (2) However, a number of recent quantitative and qualitative research projects (Bajos et al.

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The extent to which education in France has been democratized is subject to debate: although school enrolment rates have continued to rise, does this trend reflect a true reduction in the social inequality of access to the various levels and courses of school and university education? Following an article published in Population in 2000, whose title evoked this controversial issue, Marie Duru-Bellat and annick kieffer conduct a detailed analysis of the mechanisms by which inequalities are reproduced in higher education in France. Their results bring clear critical evidence to the debate by showing that the quantitative opening-up of the education system is still accompanied by a marked social differentiation of students enrolled in different courses and subjects.