Survey

The conditions surrounding the end of life in France are not well known. This survey of medical decisions is therefore expected to provide objective information that will clarify the public debate on end-of-life issues. The results of this survey of physicians will provide the health authorities and public opinion with scientific data about actual end-of-life conditions in France, particularly with regard to: • the availability of palliative care, • the types of end-of-life medical decisions: to continue, to stop or to reduce active care, pain relief and/or sedation, • the conditions in which these decisions are taken, • implementation of the provisions of the Act of 22 April 2005 on the rights of the patient and the end of life (the "Leonetti Act") (expected directives, appointment of a trusted person).

To learn more :

The French end-of-life survey

Migration and ageing are now major challenges for France’s overseas départements, even if the pace and intensity of their effects vary between them. At the cross-section of these phenomena lie changing family dynamics, which influence migration strategies and determine types of inter-generational solidarity. While each of these issues warrants a thorough investigation in itself, it is equally important - and more innovative - to observe their combined impact on the economic and social life of these overseas regions. By studying these realities, the Migration, Families and Ageing Survey (Enquête Migration, Familles, Vieillissement) intends to make an unprecedented contribution to scientific knowledge and public policymaking on all these issues. Three key categories of actors will be surveyed: people born in the département; return migrants (people born in the département who left for more than six consecutive months but were resettled there at the time of the survey); and immigrants (people who were born outside the département but were settled there at the time of the survey).

To learn more:

Migration, families and ageing

In autumn 2005, INED and INSEE collected the first round of the Étude des relations familiales et intergénérationnelles (ERFI) survey, the French component of the "Generations and Gender" comparative surveys launched on the initiative of the United Nations Population Activities Unit. The issues addressed in the survey relate to recent changes in the socio-demographic landscape. Europe’s ageing population, resulting from low or very low fertility rates combined with increases in life expectancy, challenges the balance between generations and raises new questions on the roles of policy and the family in old age care. The redefinition of male and female roles in the second half of the twentieth century, with women’s increased access to education and employment, simultaneously raises the question of gender relations and roles within the couple and the family. The complementary issues of gender and generations are central to the overall debate and represent key components of the trend towards new family configurations. ERFI is a panel survey in three waves conducted three years apart. The use of longitudinal data makes it possible to work out the direction of causality in order to identify more accurately the explanatory factors in demographic behaviour in France compared with other countries. Some 88% of the original respondents agreed to being contacted again three years later, so were "tracked" and interviewed again in autumn 2008. The third and final wave is scheduled for autumn 2011.

To learn more:

"Gender and Generations" survey

The Event Histories and Contact Circle Survey is a retrospective survey of 2,830 people from the birth cohorts of 1930 to 1950 who were living in Île-de-France (greater Paris) at the time of the survey. In addition to the individual respondents, the survey asks questions about the respondents’ family history over five generations (from their grandparents to their grandchildren), their spouse(s) and close relatives. Each event history can thus be placed in a family and historical context spanning the period from 1900 to 2000.
This survey offers a wealth of data for analysis, in particular in terms of careers and occupational mobility, residential and family formation patterns. The information is factual but the questions were also designed to gather a large quantity of information on individual perceptions. The large size of the sample, taken from one region, offers opportunities to study large specific sub-populations (four-generation families, foreigners, tenants in social housing, orphans, stepfamilies, etc.). This enables original perspectives and studies of specific situations, impossible with more generalist samples.
In terms of methodology, the rich, complex data set lends itself to experimentation with new types of analysis and modelling, such as harmonic analysis, multi-level analysis, perception modelling, family simulation model and network analysis.

To learn more:

Family and contact circle in urban society