This paper combines SHARE Corona Survey and SHARE Wave 7 data for 25 European countries and Israel ( N = 40,919) with institutional and epidemic-related country characteristics to investigate healthcare access for Europeans aged 50+ during the outbreak of COVID-19. We use a micro–macro approach to examine whether and to what extent barriers to accessing healthcare measured by reported unmet healthcare needs vary within and between countries. We consider various aspects of barriers and distinguish among: (1) respondents who forewent medical treatment because they were afraid of becoming infected with the Coronavirus; (2) respondents who had pre-scheduled medical appointments postponed by health providers due to the outbreak; and (3) respondents who tried to arrange a medical appointment but were denied one. Limited access to healthcare during the initial outbreak was more common for the occupationally active, women, the more educated and those living in urban areas. A bad economic situation, poor overall health and higher healthcare utilisation were robust predictors of unmet healthcare. People aged 50+ in countries of ‘Old’ Europe, countries with higher universal health coverage and stricter containment and closure policies were more likely to have medical services postponed. Policymakers should address the healthcare needs of older people with chronic health conditions and a poor socio-economic status who were made more vulnerable by this pandemic. In the aftermath of the health crisis, public health systems might experience a great revival in healthcare demand, a challenge that should be mitigated by careful planning and provision of healthcare services.

Yugoslavia was a union of countries at the crossroads of cultures, rich in diversity, bringing together heterogeneous populations with very different demographic transition pathways, particularly with respect to fertility. This paper studies the trends and patterns of cohort fertility in former Yugoslav countries, similarities and differences between the countries, and their possible clustering. Do former Yugoslav countries exhibit persistent diversity to this day, or is there convergence in terms of cohort fertility behaviour? If so, what might account for this homogeneity within Yugoslavia’s heterogeneity? We trace how fertility behaviour changed from the turn of the twentieth century, when Yugoslav countries began their progression from agrarian into industrial capitalist societies. We consider the factors related to a rapid transformation to socialist modernity after 1945 and proceed to investigate the federation’s breakup and the successor states’ transitions to market economies in the early 1990s. Our study thus covers a century of socioeconomic and fertility developments within the region. We analyse census data on children born by means of the completed cohort fertility rate, parity progression ratios, and parity composition. Our results show that while fertility levels decreased in all former Yugoslav republics, this happened at different speeds and taking different paths. Parity progression to higher birth orders was particularly responsible for this development, as well as for the differences and similarities between the respective republics. Former Yugoslav republics are clustered into three groups, where Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia form the low fertility group, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, and Montenegro belong to a higher fertility group. Kosovo remains a special case with exceptionally high fertility in the European context. We conclude that this clustering stems from a complex interplay of historical, political, economic and social factors.

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Koristeći se podatcima za 29 zemalja iz devete runde Europskoga društvenog istraživanja, ovaj rad istražuje međugeneracijske promjene u tranziciji u odraslu dob u Europi. Fokus je na ključnim životnim događajima koji obilježavaju tranziciju u odraslu dob; u radu se odvojeno prema spolu analiziraju međugeneracijske promjene i razlike među europskim regijama u ulasku na tržište rada, napuštanju roditeljskog doma, prvom suživotu s partner(ic)om, sklapanju prvog braka i prvom roditeljstvu. Rezultati pokazuju da se tranzicija u odraslu dob različito odvijala za tihu generaciju (rođene između 1928. i 1945.), baby boomere (rođene između 1946. i 1964.), generaciju X (rođene između 1965. i 1980.) i milenijalce (rođene između 1981. i 1996.), a međugeneracijske promjene u tranziciji u odraslu dob odvijale su se drukčijim intenzitetom u sedam analiziranih europskih regija. Prvo roditeljstvo povezano je s drugim životnim događajima koji obilježavaju tranziciju u odraslu dob, a suživot s partner(ic)om i ulazak u brak pritom se ističu kao najjači prediktori za prvo roditeljstvo. Povezanost drugih životnih događaja u sklopu tranzicije u odraslu dob s prvim roditeljstvom varira među generacijama i među europskim regijama. Nalazi upućuju na važnost socioekonomskih, institucionalnih i normativnih čimbenika u objašnjavanju drukčijih putanja u sklopu tranzicije u odraslu dob. K tome, uključivši u analizu i bivše socijalističke zemlje koje su rijetko bile dio sličnih prijašnjih istraživanja, ovaj rad pridonosi spoznajama o validnosti primijenjenih teorijskih paradigmi o tranziciji mladih u odraslu dob u širem europskom makrokontekstu, a da istodobno ukazuje i na kompleksnost istih u svjetlu njihovih razlika među različitim europskim regijama.

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