life-event

views updated

life-event Defined for the purposes of event-history or life-course analysis, a life-event may consist of any demarcated change in demographic, educational, employment, health, or other individual circumstances locatable to a particular point in time. The temporal sequencing of such events may then be analysed to provide information on the interrelationships between different life-events.

Major events in the life of an individual would include the age of puberty and marriage; the birth of any children; death of a spouse, parent, sibling, or other significant person in that person's life; migration to another region or country; major illnesses; and the onset of physical incapacity in old age. Some would add major events connected with employment, such as getting a job, redundancy or unemployment, any return to further education in adult life, or changes of employer or occupation; others would treat these as secondary events. Life-events constitute significant turning-points in a person's life, in the roles and activities they are encouraged to adopt, and the groups they interact with, and may be associated with changes in attitudes and values.