151consider aspects associated with the position of individuals in social
structures, such as birth cohort, level of education, and gender, and sec-
ondly, aspects associated with individuals’ position in family structure,
such as being in a conjugal relationship with a partner and living together,
either married or not (a situation referred to as partnership in the follow-
ing paragraphs), parenthood, and the presence of siblings.
Regarding the birth cohort, individuals born between 1950 and 1955
are in their late 50s at the time of the interview, while individuals born
between 1970 and 1975 are in their late 30s, two very different life stages.
This means they have very distinct demographic reservoirs. The differ-
ences between the two birth cohorts are striking for different types of
configurations. In all three countries Beanpole configurations, which
include grandchildren, are found in the 1950–1955 birth cohort, whereas
Parent configurations, which include parents, are found in the 1970–1975
birth cohort. This finding is clearly related to the availability of those ties
in their demographic reservoir: younger respondents who do not yet have
grandchildren and older respondents often having lost their parents.
Nevertheless, these results remain worth highlighting, as demographic
reservoirs do not systematically translate into active family networks (De
Carlo et al. 2014 ). Indeed, individuals living in Switzerland do not
develop Beanpole configurations, as we have seen above. There are other,
less visible differences between cohorts. Individuals of the 1950–1955
birth cohort have more often developed personal configurations around
their children. This may be explained by the fact that parents are more
likely to see young children as part of themselves, rather than as distinct
social actors. Individuals in their late 30s tend to have more Mixed con-
figurations. In Portugal and in Lithuania, younger individuals are also
more likely to have Extended conjugal configurations. Finally, in Lithuania
only, older individuals are slightly more likely to develop more Friendship
configurations. This means that, in overall terms, friends are important
for individuals regardless of their age. There is no cohort divide in favour
of younger cohorts, indicating an increasing importance of friendship
from generation to generation. Friendship continues to increase in
importance for younger generations, and these similarities between the
two cohorts may reflect a life stage effect. Indeed, many respondents in
their late 30s may be involved in a very active child-rearing period, tem-
porarily diminishing the role of friends.
Mapping the Plurality of Personal Configurations