This article addresses the question of life course de-standardisation in Portugal, drawing on a trajectory-based holistic approach. The de-standardisation hypothesis presupposes that, over recent decades, occupational and family trajectories became gradually more variable. Our methodological strategy to test these hypotheses uses entropy measures and assesses how cohort and gender influence standardisation. We used these measures to determine the heterogeneity in co-residence and occupational trajectories between the ages of 7 and 35. In a second stage, we used regression models to estimate if cohort, gender, education and socio-economic class associate with co-residence and occupational entropy. The paper draws on data from the ‘Family Trajectories and Social Networks: The life course in an intergenerational perspective’ research project (n = 1500), which included questions on co-residence and work employment history of Portuguese individuals born in three different cohorts (1935-40; 1950-55; 1970-75). Findings show that standardisation and de-standardisation dynamics coexist, operating differently depending on the life domain and the stage of life. While early family trajectories are more standardised in younger cohorts, later stages are slightly more diverse, particularly among women. As far as occupational trajectories are concerned, formative years are much more standardised in the younger cohort, while adulthood is de-standardised in all cohorts. We discuss results in light of the life course regime and gendering hypotheses.

While observers acknowledge that the 2007–2008 crisis increased food insecurity, few studies considered how being food poor affects children's daily lives. In this paper, I discuss how children from low‐income families in Portugal experience food and deal with food scarcity. I draw on data from a larger European study, which employed a case study approach with a combination of semi‐structured interviews and photo‐elicitation. Children's accounts reveal how food poverty is embedded in their lives, affecting the quality and quantity of food, reducing opportunities to socialize with kin and friends and creating emotional stress. Visual methods added depth to our understanding.

Much of the research on contemporary youth in Western societies has shown that transitions to adulthood are being postponed, protracted, and becoming more complex (i.e., less likely to follow a predictable and “orderly” sequence as in earlier generations). Extended schooling periods, changes in the labor market and challenges to obtaining autonomous housing are some of the top drivers for such change. Demographers interpret such developments as a sign of a second demographic transition, whereas sociologists stress that they are a consequence of the broader process of social individualization, by which individuals are assuming an increasingly central role in the organization of their lives. While in younger cohorts the evidence base is strong concerning transitions to adulthood, in some national contexts comparisons with the past rely on impressionistic accounts or to easily assume that some social, economic, and cultural factors were present. Drawing on data from the “Family Trajectories and Social Networks: The life course in an intergenerational perspective” research project, this paper re-examines the transitions to adulthood of three Portuguese cohorts (born in 1935–1940, 1950–1955 and 1970–1975), namely in what concerns their timing, duration, and sequence. This is achieved by looking at their life-calendars across different domains (namely family and intimate relations, school, and work). Analysis of the results allows us to discuss critically to what extent current transitions to adulthood are different and to assess cohort heterogeneity according to class and gender. Additionally, it enables us to frame discussions on generational and structural change more adequately in Portugal.

This paper addresses the importance of school meals in balancing food budgets and diets among 45 lowincome families in Portugal. Drawing on interviews with both parents and children (aged 11–15 years) we found that children’s views on the quality of school meals affect their willingness to eat at school and heighten parental concerns with health, food and resources. For parents, school meals are crucial to ensure children’s dietary variety and balancing tight food budgets. Schools’ role in food poverty alleviation is also critically addressed, contributing to current and future sociological studies of children, school meals and food poverty.

A imprevisibilidade dos percursos profissionais na era do capitalismo pós-fordista é uma problemática amplamente discutida na sociologia contemporânea. Partindo da segunda metade do século XX, o artigo contextualiza a discussão no contexto português. Mobilizando o conceito de trajetória profissional, desenvolvido a partir da análise sequencial às trajetórias de portugueses de três coortes etárias, oferece-se uma tipologia dos percursos que articula modalidades contratuais e atividade profissional. Os resultados revelam ampla variedade de trajetórias e a segmentação entre percursos com diferentes graus de vulnerabilidade contratual.

Food insecurity is increasingly recognised as a social problem in industrialised countries, bearing severe social, economic and health costs for governments and individuals. Across European countries, the rise in food insecurity has been closely linked to rising unemployment and falling wages (Loopstra, Reeves and Stuckler 2015). Under Austerity, such effects have been amplified and become ubiquitous. There has also been a sharp increase in the number of individuals and families resorting to emergency food help (food banks and others) across Europe. And in several countries, there have been reports of an increase in the number of children arriving at school hungry. Additionally, there is growing concern about the long-term effects of food insecurity on the well-being of individuals and families and/or specific age-groups such as children or the elderly.