The demographic window identifies the period during which countries can maximize the benefits of the favourable evolution of the age structure of the population. The work aims to analyse the phenomenon of demographic window in the Mediterranean during the period 1950-2010, with an extension in 2100, based its discussion on the most common approaches. The first part is devoted to the presentation and analysis of the evolution of the components of population dynamics (fertility, mortality and migration) over the past 60 years. The second part tries to estimate, for each country, the opening and closing of the demographic window periods. The third part will be to identify possible future demographic windows by using high and low variant population projections of the United Nations in 2100 (World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision) .

This article intends to approach the phenomenon of population aging within the conceptual framework of structural transition. In this work the authors put forward a method of defining the variety of evolutionary trajectories – the result of different sets of fertility-mortality interactions – on the global level and hence identify the position of each Balkan country within the worldwide demographic order of the past four decades (1971–2015). The authors then propose a specific index – the structural dissimilarity index – to measure the corresponding transformations inherent to the population age structure and link the results with the prospects that emerge on the basis of the interaction between fertility and mortality. This has finally enabled the authors to formulate some broad assumptions regarding the current and future intensity and trends of structural transformations. For this purpose, the authors have gathered a sample of 142 national populations, including all Balkan countries, with the exception of Montenegro, and employed different techniques such as Partial Order Structuple (Scalogram) Analysis with Coordinates (POSAC) and the cohort-component population projections for the timeframes 1971–2015 and 2015–2060.

Il secolo appena iniziato presenta, rispetto al passato, una scarsità relativa di talenti che non conosce uguali nella storia dell’umanità e che, rimanendo inalterata in futuro, potrebbe generare un forte rallentamento nel processo di crescita economica dell’intero pianeta. Nessun Paese, nessun organismo – sia pubblico che privato – è destinato a essere competitivo se rimane privo di talenti che, rispetto ad altri tipi di risorse, costituiscono la vera e propria forza motrice del sistema economico mondiale. Per tutte le economie del globo, pertanto, si pone l’urgenza di introdurre politiche che favoriscano lo sviluppo nonché la spendibilità delle competenze e delle abilità di ogni individuo.

The article summarises the intensity and timing trends in human fertility, mortality and mobility since the 1950s in the various countries of the Mediterranean Basin and analyses their impact on age and gender structure. It concludes with the general trend to population aging and the societal challenges this involves.

L’article résume les tendances (en termes d’intensité et de calendrier) de la fécondité, de la mortalité et de la mobilité des personnes à l’œuvre depuis les années 1950 dans les différents pays du Bassin méditerranéen et analyse l’impact de ces tendances sur la structure par sexe et par âge. Il conclut sur la tendance générale au vieillissement des populations considérées et sur les défis et les enjeux de société associés à ce phénomène.

En España la prevalencia de las parejas de hecho no puede considerarse marginal y, a diferencia de otros países europeos como Francia, la cohabitación se considera una alternativa temporal que, generalmente, termina con la legalización de la unión (matrimonio). El propósito principal de este artículo es examinar la incidencia, duración y desarrollo de las primeras cohabitaciones a través de un enfoque comparativo basado en el curso de vida, identifi cando también los perfi les de las cohabitantes que se separan y de las que deciden casarse. Los resultados muestran que la transición de la primera cohabitación en España se caracteriza por ser muy rápida y orientada al matrimonio, con lo que puede considerarse como un preludio y no como una alternativa defi nitiva a la unión matrimonial.

This paper analyses post-divorce vulnerability in Spain and Italy; the focus of the study regards cross-country comparisons: Being divorced in Italy or Spain has different impacts on post-divorce lives? Is more difficult to be divorced for men or women in Italy or in Spain? This research study the consequences that marital disruption has for its protagonists in the economic, health and social ambits comparing the outcomes obtained for both Italy and Spain and the identifying gender gaps. The results seem to confirm a post-divorce situation that is clearly difficult for women in both countries.

Depuis les années 1990, en Italie, comme dans les autres pays de l'Union européenne, l’immigration concerne un nombre croissant de familles dont la structure a évolué ce qui n’est pas sans effet sur la configuration des communautés étrangères, le statut socio-économique des migrants étrangers et leur projet migratoire davantage axé sur un établissement sédentarisé durable et/ou permanent. Cet article se propose d’analyser les caractéristiques socio-économiques et les liens familiaux au sein des familles étrangères en Italie par comparaison systématique des situations des familles nucléaires (dont les membres sont tous présents) et des familles transnationales. En particulier, on cherchera à mettre en évidence si le statut des acteurs au sein des familles multi-situées est plus fragilisé que celui des acteurs intégrés à des réseaux familiaux complets.

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the major empirical relevancies on the brain drain phenomena. The researches by Carrington and Detragiache (1998), Adams (2003), Dumont and Lemaitre (2003), Docquier and Rapoport (2005), Defoort (2008) and Docquier, Lowell and Marfouk (2009) have been particularly useful to establish a methodology to quantify the brain drain in terms of outflows from Developing countries and inflows into Developed countries. However, on a preliminary basis, it may be noted that the lack of reliable data as well as the absence of a harmonic definition - at an international level – on “qualified migrants”, makes it difficult modeling and analyzing this particular type of international mobility.

Il concetto “stile di vita” associato alla famiglia riveste un ruolo fortemente indicativo del comportamento dei componenti, le cui azioni possono essere osservate nella loro specificità e singolarità come nell’ambito della rete di relazioni che si compongono in ogni nucleo familiare. La famiglia, in particolare, rappresenta un elemento portante della convivenza socio-economica, sia nella sua dimensione relazionale, sia in quella legata al consumo. Di qui, l’utilità di un’indagine sugli stili di vita familiari specie in un momento storico caratterizzato da una generalizzata crisi economica, iniziata nel 2008, che ha implicato l'Italia in modo particolare come altri paesi dell'Europa del Sud.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the incidence of co-residential unions (cohabitations and marriages) and to compare the socio-demographic profile of unmarried and married couples in Portugal and Spain. The analysis of the actual partnership behavior compares the factors that affect the likelihood of being in a cohabiting relationship relative to being in a marital relationship of young adults at the time of the survey. The factors that shape current partnership formation patterns are examined with logistic regression models applied separately for each country, considering relevant individual, parents and partner characteristics in the analysis. Data for both countries is drawn from the European Social Survey conducted in 2008 by the Center for Comparative Social Surveys.