Volume I, Issue 1-2, 2007


Editor’s message

Traian Rotariu, Beginning of a New Journey


Articles

Perspectives on contemporary Romanian population

Dumitru Sandu – Community selectivity of temporary emigration from Romania

Abstract

The paper examines the key patterns of temporary emigration from Romania after 2000 by reference to origin communities. Individual and regional criteria are used as to give the context of migration selectivity.
The relations between community profiles and migration characteristics are different function of the regional context: Emigration patterns are context bounded (work emigration is favoured by rural residence in Moldova historical region but in Transylvania has a higher probability for city dwellers; life satisfaction plays differently for work vs. non-work intentions to emigrate etc.).
A five-class typology of communities from the migration point of views allowed for capturing basic patterns of community selectivity (as opposed to individual selectivity) of temporary emigration.
There are clear sign for the existence of different cultures of (e)migration: Community structure of emigration seems to be better structured than the regional culture of phenomena; Moldova, by its more developed communes, is one of the very few regions of the country with a well structured culture of migration; Transylvania is the favoured place for non-work migration and South regions are the locus for low temporary emigration.
Policy implications are derived from analysis. They support the view that migration and development policies should rely not only on country and sectoral inputs but also on origin community characteristics. Poor communities of low temporary emigration deserve a special attention. Distinctions between work vs. non-work emigration communities and those between low and high temporary emigration all could be relevant for designing migration and development policies. The paper relies on large census and survey data that support reciprocally in a multilevel approach.


Cornelia Mureşan – Advancement of Romania in the second demographic transition

Abstract

This study tries to overview the onset of the Second Demographic Transition in Romania, using Council of Europe’s indicators, i.e. Recent Demographic Developments in Europe 2004. Comparisons with two neighbour countries, Bulgaria and Hungary, have been made, yet we also make comparisons with The Netherlands as a benchmark country. We found that most of the “threshold levels” were surpassed in the period 1991-1996, especially those concerning fall and long-lasting low fertility, postponement of childbearing and marriage, and drop in marriage rates. However, a few other “threshold levels” have not yet been surpassed: marriage is still stable, cohabitation is still marginal, and ultimate celibacy is rare. The onset of the early stage of the Second Demographic Transition in Romania is confirmed. However, put into the European context, Romanian society continues to place a high value on marriage and childbearing.


Cristina Oaneş – Intergenerational differences regarding the first sexual intercourse and contraception of Romanian women

Abstract

The paper is constructed around the experience of the first sexual intercourse, which designates the entrance of a person in the adult sexual life. The recent studies show that the entrance in the sexual life in Romania takes place earlier for the younger generations, as compared to the older ones, this reality being accompanied by the progressive separation, in the last seventeen years, of the sexual life from the context of marriage. This goes together with what happened earlier in other western European countries. To support this idea, the paper offers a short international outline about the entry into adult sexuality, from a comparative point of view. The paper aims at the analysis of the moment of sexual initiation for different age-groups and to the comparison of the tendencies for ten cohorts of women aged between 18-84 who belong to a representative sample taken from the national research Demography and Lifestyle of Romanian Women, carried out in 2004. In addition, the paper launches a short discussion about some socio-demographic factors that shape the initiation of the sexual life (place of residence, historical region, education and religion). The paper begins with a brief overview of the main aspects of the socio-economic context of sexuality in Romania, using data from the four successive reproductive health surveys carried out in Romania between 1993 and 2004, and from the survey on the students’ sexuality carried out in 2002. An examination of the age at the first sexual intercourse on cohorts and of the relationship between the moment of the sexual life initiation and the socio-demographic characteristics of Romanian women follows up next. The last section of the paper examines the level of contraception used at the first sexual intercourse, taking into account the different conditions of life of women in Romania. Where necessary, the paper also stresses on the differences between males and females referring to the experience of the sexual debut. The paper ends with some concluding remarks.


Mihaela Hărăguş – Is Romania going toward the “one child family” model?

Abstract


Oana-Ramona Ilovan – Demographic ageing risk in the land of Năsăud – causes and impact

Abstract

Modernisation of society has reflected itself in people’s professional structure, in economic and professional profile diversification, in higher territorial mobility (migration), in birth rate decrease and in less numerous families, in religious pluralism, and in the educated ones’ diversified structure. The Land of Nãsãud (a region in Bistriþa-Nãsãud County, in the north of Romania) offers an example of the regional impact of some factors such as unsuccessful Romanian social and economic practices or the promise of a better life and of a more grateful society to those who work, to be found only abroad. The changes characteristic of the people’s demographic behaviour in the Land of Nãsãud, far from being watched with calm or with bitterness, they surely are the source of much worry. The statistical data of the last 17 years point out a negative trend for the future of the region: the human resource diminishes and loses some of its attributes.




Perspectives on Romanian population history

Constanţa Vintilă-Ghiţulescu – The father and his daughter. Marriage strategies and issues in Romanian society (18th century)

Abstract

This article analyses matrimonial strategies and practices in the noble and rural classes in Romanian society of the eighteenth century, with special emphasis on two aspects: the father-daughter relationship and the relation between dowry and patrimony. Under the law and according to the moral tradition, the head of the family had a duty to marry off and provide endowment for all his children, and thus he needed to recourse to various strategies and solutions inherent to the hereditary and marriage practices. Conflicts naturally arose between relatives, and my main argument is that besides the financial reasons there was a strong emotional side involved, generated principally when fathers sought to continue to protect their daughters even after marriage.


Ioan Bolovan, Sorina Bolovan – Demographic phenomena and behaviour in Transylvania during World War I

Abstract

As in other territories, during World War I in Transylvania there were significant political and military, social and economic, but also cultural and mentality mutations that influenced the demographic situation of the province. The dynamics and the structure of the population in Transylvania during this period accurately mirror both the domestic and the international circumstances that caused ampler or less perceptible variations in demographic behavior. Some of it was immediate, whereas other consequences were to be felt in the following decades or they even went beyond the interwar period, up to the second half of the 20th century. Birth rate had the most dramatic evolutions, but mortality rate also reflected the socio-economic and the political-military circumstances. Marriage and the couple’s morality were visibly influenced by the war state; people reacted in a complex manner when faced with the new framework of their daily life. The increased mobility of the population, especially of those drafted during those years, contributed to the “contamination” of large segments of the population with practices, attitudes, and feelings that would have hardly been noticeable in normal conditions of peace and traditional mentality background.


Enikö Veress – The demographical evolution of the zone of Cristuru Secuiesc between 1880-1930

Abstract

All over Europe the 19th century is being considered as the most dynamical period of social change. In most cases this concept is related to industrialisation and modernisation. This is mainly true for almost all of the regions from Central and Eastern Europe where the transition to modernity has meant the great step from the mainly agrarian economy to modern capitalist structures. Framing it in this historical background this paper intends to show some of the demographical aspects of how this change has ocurred in a rather peripheral zone from Transylvania, Cristuru Secuiesc. This will be done with the help of historical demographical data that reflect the level of structural changes in this area.




Perspectives on European population

Wilfried Heller – Die demographische Lage Deutschlands. Ein Überblick

Abstract

The demographic situation in Germany. An overview
Germany is a state that now belongs to the category of states with Lowest Fertility Rates from a comparative perspective. The conditions for this situation are to be found in the early ’70 of the XX century. The interplay between fertility rates, mortality rates and migration can help us to understand and explain this demographic phenomenon. It is clear that the decline of population was counterbalanced by immigration. But it seems that this resource is not able anymore to stop the numeric reduction of population and the process of over-aging of the age structure of the population from Germany. Effective social and pronatalistic policies are needed in the future.


Petr Fučík, Beatrice Chromková Manea – What does marriage homogamy mean in the Czech milieu

Abstract

This article tackles the issue of marital homogamy in the Czech Republic using paired-data gather in 2005 on a representative sample of people aged 20-40. The aim is to find an answer to the question whether homogamy or heterogamy has any practical meaning for people who live either in marriage or in cohabitation, to explore the differences in opinions with regard to marriage, childcare, gender roles and the reconciliation of family and paid work. We hypothesize that heterogamous couples will be more distant in their attitudes than homogamous couples. The results point out that the homogamy and partners’ closeness in answers are not related. Few explanations are offered in the end as a possible answer to why the working hypothesis was rejected.


Anuţa Buiga, Ioana Simina Sas, Lucia Ţiplea – Similarities and differences between European countries taking in consideration socio-economic factors

Abstract

In this study we classified the 27 EU members and other countries, such as Croatia, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland ( the last three are EFTA – European Free Trade Association- members) using data from European Union Labour Force Survey ( EU- LFS), a demographic study made in 2005 by Eurostat. At that time Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania were official candidates at the EU.
The variables taken to account refers to population classified by gender and age, active and inactive, rates and labour field, level of education and usual hours worked per week. Because the variables were too many, 86, we tried to minimize that number using principal component analysis (PCA). The classification of those states is based on the six factors resulted of PCA, which explains adequate the studied phenomenon. Using Cluster Analysis each country would be a member of the fifth groups and the states would be similar in each group taking in consideration all the factors, but the groups would differ significantly.




Book Review and discussions

Sorina Voiculescu, Oraşele din Câmpia de Vest. Structuri şi funcţionalităţi urbane [Towns in the Western Field. Urban Structures and Functionalities](reviewed by Oana-Ramona Ilovan)

Alexandru Ungureanu, Ionel Muntele, Geografia populaţiei [Population Geography] (reviewed by Oana-Ramona Ilovan)

Ioan Munteanu, Banatul istoric (1867-1918). Aşezările. Populaţia [The Historical Banat (1867-1918). The Settlements and the Population], (reviewed by Adrian Bucur)

Şarolta Solcan, Populaţia domeniului Gilău în secolul al XVII-lea [The Population of the Gilau Domain in the 17th Century] (reviewed by Ioan Bolovan)

Luminiţa Dumănescu, Transilvania copiilor. Dimensiunea demografică a copilăriei la românii ardeleni/Transylvanian Children. The demographic dimension of childhood at the Romanians from Transylvania (reviewed by Bogdan Crăciun)

De la comunitate la societate. Studii de istoria familiei din Ţara Românească sub Vechiul Regim [From Community to Society. Studies on the History of the Family in Walachia under the Ancient Regime] (reviewed by Elena Crinela Holom)

Constanţa Vintilă-Ghiţulescu, Mária Pakucs Willcocks (eds), The Public Show Between Tradition and Modernity. Celebrations, Ceremonials, Pilgrimages and Tortures, (reviewed by Nicoleta Hegedus)

Ionela Băluţă, Constanţa Vintilă-Ghiţulescu (eds), Bonnes et mauvaises mours dans la société roumaine d’hier et d’aujourd’hui, (reviewed by Dana Maria Rus)

Centre for Regional and Local History, Local Population Studies, No. 78, Spring 2007 (reviewed by Luminiţa Dumănescu)

Scientific Events