SOEP-Overview
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»Living in Germany«
SOEP is a wide-ranging representative longitudinal study of private households in Germany. The same private households, persons and families have been surveyed annually since 1984. As early as June 1990—even before the Economic, Social and Monetary Union—SOEP expanded to include the states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), thus seizing the rare opportunity to observe the transformation of an entire society. An immigrant sample was added as well to account for the changes that took place in Germany society in 1994/95. Further new samples were added in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2006. The survey is constantly being adapted and developed in response to current social developments.
The data include information on many objective living conditions, values, willingness to take risks, and about the dynamic relationships currently being undergone in these areas of life their changes. The data is used not only for basic academic research but also for policy-related social reports directed at a broader audience. SOEP data make it possible to test a wide range of economic and social theories as well as psychological theories. SOEP places great value on integrating users' input for improvements and theory-based extensions to the survey.
SOEP data open up a range of unique analytical possibilities for research through:
- Longitudinal data: panel design
- Household context: all adult household members are surveyed
- Regional comparisons: use of geo-code context indicators are possible
- Migrants: the largest regular survey of foreigners and immigrants in the Federal Republic of Germany, including households whose head is Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Greek or former Yugoslavian as well as ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe ((Spät-)Aussiedler).
Development of the Sample
SOEP has a high degree of stability over time. In 1984, 5 921 households containing a total of 12 245 individual respondents participated in "SOEP West", and after 25 waves, 3 154 of these households with 5 626 respondents were still participating in 2008.
In the "SOEP East" sample, 2 179 households with 4 453 members were surveyed in 1990, and in 2008, 2 892 of these individuals in 1 592 households provided information on their living situation.
Good participation rates were maintained as well for the 1994/95 Immigrant Sample D, which in 2008 included 328 of the original 522 households and 602 as compared to the original 1 078 respondents.
In 1998 Supplementary Sample E was added, extending SOEP by 1 910 people in 1 056 households, of whom 1 071 people in 602 households were surveyed again in 2007.
In 2000, Innovation Sample F was added, covering 10 890 individuals in 6 052 households, of whom 6 276 individuals in 3 513 households remained in 2008. By pooling all the SOEP subsamples, Innovation Sample F significantly improved the possibilities for studying small societal groups.
In the year 2002, SOEP added an overrepresentation of high-income households, Sample G. Initially covering 1 224 households with 2 671 respondents, it still includes 787 households in the year 2008 with a total of 1 574 individual respondents.
Finally, Sample H was started in 2006 comprising 1 506 households and 2 616 individual respondents, in 2008 1 082 households and 1 904 persons could be interviewed again.
Thematic Areas
SOEP data cover a wide range of subjects including:
- Personality traits
- Physical and mental health
- Occupational and family biographies
- Childcare and education participation
- Employment participation and professional mobility
- Earnings
- Household composition, living situation
- Social participation and time allocation
- Personal satisfaction
as well as subjects covered in topical modules of the survey. These modules cover such topics as:
- Family and social services
- Education and training
- Social security
- Environmental behavior.
Respondents
The questioning population of the SOEP are private households and their members who reach the age of 17. Since the year 2000, data on issues related specifically to children and teenagers are collected through the Youth Questionnaire distributed to all 16-17 year old household members. Since 2003, a questionnaire given to mothers of newborns provides information on central indicators that can help to better understand child development. From the year 2005 on, parents of two-to-three year old children receive a special questionnaire. Thus, since birth cohort of 2003 SOEP also represents a real cohort study. In the year 2008, the parents of four-to-five year old children will be surveyed in particular, and from 2010 on, the parents of older children will be surveyed, as well as teenagers themselves before they reach their seventeenth birthday and become regular respondents.
Who can analyse the Data?
The scientific use file of the SOEP with anonymous microdata is made available to scientists at universities and other research institutes for research and teaching purposes free of charge (to cover the costs of shipping and handling, users inside the EU currently pay a 30 € fee and users outside the EU pay a $125 fee). Use of the data is subject to special regulations, because data privacy laws necessitate that all users sign a data transfer contract with DIW Berlin. About 500 research groups in Germany and around the world are currently working with SOEP data.
Cross-National Equivalent Files
The »Cross-National Equivalent Files« (formerly PSID-GSOEP Equivalent file) contain panel data from Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and since Switzerland.
For further information on the CNEF see:
The Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF) and its Member Country Household Panel Studies | PDF, 160.7 KB
In: Schmollers Jahrbuch, Vol. 127, No. 4 (2007), S. 627-654
(Joachim R. Frick, Stephen P. Jenkins, Dean R. Lillard, Oliver Lipps, and Mark Wooden)
Selected Publications
For research results and publications based on SOEP data please see our SOEPlit database.
Headey, Bruce and Holst, Elke (eds.): SOEP Wave Report 1-2008 | PDF, 3.66 MB . A Quarter Century of Change: Results from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Berlin: DIW Berlin, 2008.
Frey, Bruno S.: Happiness: A Revolution in Economics. Cambridge and London: The MIT Press, 2008.
Goodin, Robert E.; Rice, James Mahmud; Parpo, Antti und Eriksson, Lina: Discretionary Time - A New Measure of Freedom. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Markus M. Grabka and Martin Kroh (eds.), Proceedings of the "7th International Conference of German Socio-Economic Panel Study Users (SOEP2006). Schmollers Jahrbuch – Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften 127 (1), 2007.
Zuckerman, Alan S.; Dasovic, Josip and Fitzgerald, Jennifer Partisan Families – The Social Logic of Bounded Partisanship in Germany and Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Oesch, Daniel, Redrawing the Class Map – Stratification and Institutions in Britain, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. Basinstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006.
Mattil, Birgit, Pension Systems – Sustainability and Distributional Effects in Germany and the United Kingdom . Heidelberg: Physica, 2006.
Anger, Silke, Overtime Work in Germany – The Investment Character of Unpaid Hours. Aachen: Shaker, 2006.
Felix Büchel, Conchita D'Ambrosio and Joachim R. Frick (eds.),
Proceedings of the "6th International Conference of German Socio-Economic Panel Study Users (SOEP2004). Schmollers Jahrbuch – Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften 125 (1), 2005
Ulrich Kohler and Frauke Kreuter, Data Analysis Using Stata. Texas: Stata Press, 2005.
Schils, Trudie, Early Retirement Patterns in Europe. A comparative Panel Study . Amsterdam: Dutch University Press, 2005.
Bernard M.S. Van Praag and Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Happiness Quantified - A Satisfaction Calculus Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Kenjoh, Eiko, Balancing Work and Family Life in Japan and Four European Countries: Econometric Analyses on Mothers' Employment and Timing of Maternity (Tinbergen Institute Research Series No. 337; PhD thesis). Amsterdam: Thela Thesis / Tinbergen Institute, 2004.
Frances McGinnity, Welfare for the Unemployed in Britain and Germany - Who benefits?. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2004.
Elke Holst, Jennifer Hunt and Jürgen Schupp (eds.), Proceedings of the 5th International Conference of Socio-Economic Panel Users. Schmollers Jahrbuch, 123 (1), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2003.
Gangl, Markus, Unemployment Dynamics in the United States and West Germany – Economic Restructuring, Institutions and Labor Market Processes. Heidelberg: Physica, 2003.
Peter Krause,Gerhard Bäcker, and Walter Hanesch, Combating Poverty in Europe: The German Welfare Regime in Practice (Studies in cash and care). Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003
Peggy Schyns, Income and life satisfaction - A cross-national and longitudinal study. Delft: Eburon, 2003.
Beblo, Miriam, Bargaining over Time Allocation. Economic Modeling and Econometric Investigation of Time Use within Families. Heidelberg, New York: Physica, 2001.
Elke Holst, Dean R. Lillard and Thomas A. DiPrete (eds.), Proceedings of the 2000 Fourth International Conference of German Socio-Economic Panel Study Users (GSOEP 2000). Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, 70(1), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 2001.Mary Daly, Gender Division of Welfare. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Robert E. Goodin, Bruce Headey, Ruud Muffels, and Henk-Jan Dirven, The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge University Press, 1999.
Thomas A. Dunn, Joachim R. Frick and James C. Witte (eds.), Proceedings of the 1998 Third International Conference of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study Users. Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, 68(2), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1999.
Thomas A. Dunn and Johannes Schwarze (eds.), Proceedings of the 1996 Second International Conference of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study Users. Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, 66(1), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1997.
Richard V. Burkhauser, Michaela Kreyenfeld and Gert G. Wagner, The German-Socio-Economic Panel: A Representative Sample of Reunited Germany and its Parts. In: Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, 66(1), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1997, pp. 7-16.
Richard V. Burkhauser and Gert G. Wagner (eds.), Proceedings of the 1993 International Conference of German Socio-Economic Panel Study Users. Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung 63 (1/2), Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1994.
Johannes Schwarze, Friedrich Buttler and Gert Wagner (eds.), Labor Market Dynamics in Present Day Germany. Frankfurt/Main, New York: Campus; Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press, 1994.
Contact person: Michaela Engelmann