Publikationen mit SOEP-Daten: SOEPlit

A New Measure of Wage Risk: Occupation-Specific Evidence for Germany

This study proposes a new measure of wage risk based on estimated probabilities to earn an hourly wage that is below some specific lower quantile of the wage distribution. Using the German SOEP as an information rich data base, we determine wage risks overall and for nine job categories during the period from 1992 until 2015. We find that the low-wage workers in Germany are worse off after the Hartz ...

Do Mothers and Fathers in Germany Really Prefer a Traditional Division of Labor? The Impact of Working Hours on Life Satisfaction Reconsidered

In dieser Studie unterziehen wir die Ergebnisse einer Studie zum Einfluss der Arbeitszeit auf die Lebenszufriedenheit einer kritischen Überprüfung. Zunächst replizieren wir die Befunde der Ausgangsstudie, welche nahelegen, dass eine traditionelle Arbeitsteilung zwischen Müttern und Vätern deren Lebenszufriedenheit maximiert. Bei Lockerung parametrischer Annahmen, Kontrolle auf Konfundierung durch Elternschaft ...

Inequality of Opportunity in Wealth: Levels, Trends, and Drivers

While inequality of opportunity (IOp) in earnings is well studied, the literature on IOp in individual net wealth is scarce to non-existent. This is problematic because both theoretical and empirical evidence show that the position in the wealth and income distribution can significantly diverge. We measure ex-ante IOp in net wealth for Germany using data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Ex-ante ...

Lebenszufriedenheit von Familien in Corona-Zeiten: Rollenklischees, Lockdowns und der Gender-Happiness-Gap

There’s More in the Data! Using Month-Specific Information to Estimate Changes Before and After Major Life Events

Sociological research is increasingly using panel data to examine changes in diverse outcomes over life course events. Most of these studies have one striking similarity: they analyse changes between yearly time intervals. In this paper, we present a simple but effective method to model such trajectories more precisely using available data. The approach exploits month-specific information regarding ...

Is the German Middle Class Crumbling? Risks and Opportunities

Thriving middle classes are the backbone of democratic societies and strong economies, but in many countries, they face mounting pressure as their economic strength is eroding relative to higher-income households. Real wages and incomes for most middle-class households have grown only very slowly, and rising expenditures have been putting further pressure on living standards. Meanwhile, globalisation, ...

Human Wellbeing and Machine Learning

There is a vast literature on the determinants of subjective wellbeing. Yet, standard regression models explain little variation in wellbeing. We here use data from Germany, the UK, and the US to assess the potential of Machine Learning (ML) to help us better understand wellbeing. Compared to traditional models, ML approaches provide moderate improvements in predictive performance. Drastically expanding ...

Informing students about college: Increasing enrollment using a behavioral intervention?

This study sheds light on whether the provision of information on costs, financing options, and returns of college education results in higher application and college enrollment rates. Based on a behavioral intervention with more than 1,000 high school students in Germany, we provide evidence that the provision of such information increases college application and enrollment rates, in particular for ...

Armut und Ungleichheit in Deutschland: Empörungsdebatten führen in die Irre

Die Diskussion über Armut und soziale Ungleichheit in Deutschland hat in den zurückliegenden Jahren markant an Intensität gewonnen. Ungeachtet der bis zum Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie guten wirtschaftlichen Rahmendaten, einer zunehmenden Beschäftigung und steigender Einkommen hat sich in weiten Teilen der Öffentlichkeit das einseitige Narrativ verfestigt, dass die Armut in Deutschland stetig zunehme, ...

Zufriedene Mütter, zufriedene Kinder?: Zusammenhänge zwischen Übergang in die Mutterschaft, Lebenszufriedenheit, Erziehungsverhalten und kindlichem Wohlbefinden

Es wird angenommen, dass mütterliches Wohlbefinden mit optimalen Erziehungspraktiken zusammenhängt sowie positiv auf die kindliche Entwicklung wirkt (Newland, 2015). Die vorliegende Dissertation untersuchte direkte und indirekte, über das Erziehungsverhalten vermittelte, Zusammenhänge zwischen mütterlichem und kindlichem Wohlbefinden, wobei der Fokus auf der Phase des Übergangs in die Mutterschaft ...