My current research concerns fertility and childbearing, grandparenting in Europe, and friendship. Publications found at the Articles page and academia.edu
Fertility & families
We study fertility within and between countries using a multidisciplinary perspective. This includes postponement of parenthood and reasons for childlessness in Finland based on our 2008 Late Fertility-survey and its follow-up with register data; pathways to above-average fertility; and the role of emotions in fertility behaviour ( “baby fever”).
Our project Linked lives has received financing from the Academy of Finland within its MIND-programme, hooray!! More info on this on Väestöliitto’s page here.
My institute coordinates Finland’s contribution to the large-scale EU-project FamiliesAndSocieties coordinated by Stockholm, web-page to come soon!
Together with professor Ann Buchanan, we edited the book Fertility trends and population change: No time for children?, just out from Palgrave.
Our project Precarious family formation: Youth and population dynamics in three world regions is financed by the Kone foundation in 2012-14. We study family formation and mating markets in Finland, India and China / Taiwan. The project includes scholars Minna Säävälä (Väestöliitto), Stuart Basten (U of Oxford), Sangita Kulathinal (THL), Anneli Miettinen (Väestöliitto) and Lassi Lainiala (Väestöliitto) and the film documentarist Janne Laiho (Helsinki).
The cross-disciplinary project “Reproductive behaviour in contemporary societies: combining evolutionary theory with social science research“ directed by Markus Jokela (Dept. of Psychology, Univ. of Helsinki), senior researchers Virpi Lummaa (U of Sheffield) and Anna Rotkirch, is also funded by the Kone Foundation. The project organised of a workshop on Childbearing and evolutionary theory held at St John’s college in Oxford in March 2011 and a workshop on Life history and pair bonds at Örnvik, August 2012.
My project Fertility patterns and Family forms in St Petersburg, part of the REFER – Reproductive Health and Fertility Patterns consortium, continues in the form of articles, book chapters and PhD-dissertations: Anna-Maria Isola will defend her thesis in April this year.
Grandparenting
The Generational Transfers-project is studying intergenerational help of the Finnish baby boomers, their adult children and their parents, directed by the Dept of Social Sciences (U of Helsinki). The second wave of the panel survey is conducted in 2012 and financed by the Academy of Finland (2010-13).
Friendship
Studies on the evolution of gendered friendship patterns together with Tamas David-Barrett and Robin Dunbar (U of Oxford) and Minna Lyons (Liverpool Hope University).
Other stuff
With my St Petersburg colleagues Anna Temkina, Elena Zdravomyslova and others we continue to study Russian gender relations. Recent publications include paid domestic workers in Russia, the practices and values of Russian sexual therapists, and the reception of the maternity capital programme (see the Articles page).
Together with professor Tone Bleie from Tromso University, we are writing on The Body as Situation — A Darwinian reading of de Beauvoir and Moi.
My final (??) words on the life and loves of Alexandra Kollontay have just been written, for a book on Russian women to appear in Finnish this year.