Gender inequalities in the disruption of long-term life satisfaction trajectories during the COVID-19 pandemic and the role of time use: evidence from a prospective cohort study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women's mental health. However, most evidence has focused on mental illbeing outcomes, and there is little evidence on the mechanisms underlying this unequal impact.

Aims: To investigate gender differences in the long-term trajectories of life satisfaction, how these were affected during the pandemic and the role of time-use differences in explaining gender inequalities.

The midlife health of only children: chronic disease indicators and biomarkers by sibship size in three nationally representative UK cohorts.

Background: Despite persistent concerns about only children's disadvantage relative to individuals with siblings, existing health-related evidence is inconsistent. Recent evidence from Nordic countries about only children having poorer health outcomes may not apply elsewhere because selection processes differ across contexts. We investigate the midlife health of only children in the UK where one-child families tend to be socio-economically advantaged relative to large families.

Defining and Identifying Only Children: A Research Note on the Concept and Measurement Illustrated With UK Survey Data.

Despite increasing interest in the circumstances and outcomes of only children in the demographic literature, the conceptualization of this group has received limited scholarly attention. This research note argues for greater engagement by demographers and social scientists in the conceptualization and identification of only children by addressing three aims. First, we outline potential definitions of only children, present a framework to guide researchers' decisions, and evaluate whether only children can be reliably identified using the British birth cohort studies.

Sibling group size and BMI over the life course: Evidence from four British cohort studies.

Only children, here defined as individuals growing up without siblings, are a small but growing demographic subgroup. Existing research has consistently shown that, on average, only children have higher body mass index (BMI) than individuals who grow up with siblings. How this difference develops with age is unclear and existing evidence is inconclusive regarding the underlying mechanisms.