Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

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 ...

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 ...

The role of pre-pandemic depression for changes in depression, anxiety, and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Results from a longitudinal probability sample of adults from Germany

Background: The present study aims to delineate the role of preexisting depression for changes in common mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using mixed-effects linear regression models, we analyzed data on the course of depressive (Patient Health Questionnaire-2) and anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2) symptoms as well as loneliness (three-item UCLA Loneliness Scale) ...

The Economic Well-Being of Nonresident Fathers and Custodial Mothers Revisited: The Role of Paternal Childcare

Based on panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1998 to 2018, we investigate the association between paternal childcare and parental economic well-being after separation in Germany. Referring to the post-separation year, we explore a sample of 176 separated couples with resident mothers and nonresident fathers, where fathers differ in their childcare involvement during ...

From low emission zone to academic track: Environmental policy effects on educational achievement in elementary school

Umweltzonen verringern die lokale Luftverschmutzung, indem sie emissionsintensive Fahrzeuge von der Zufahrt zu den ausgewiesenen Gebieten abhalten und nachweislich die Gesundheit der Bevölkerung verbessern. Über die Auswirkungen von Fahrverboten auf andere Lebensbereiche ist wenig bekannt. Dieses Papier untersucht die Auswirkungen von Umweltzonen auf die schulischen Leistungen von Grundschülern in ...

The Health of Catholic Order Members: A Comparison with the General Population (Chapter 3.1)

Diverging Trends in Single-Mother Poverty across Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom: Toward a Comprehensive Explanatory Framework

To explain single-mother poverty, existing research has either emphasized individualistic, or contextual explanations. Building on the prevalences and penalties framework (Brady et al. 2017), we advance the literature on single-mother poverty in three aspects: First, we extend the framework to incorporate heterogeneity among single mothers across countries and over time. Second, we apply this extended ...

Income Comparison and Happiness within Households

This paper applies the German Socio-Economic Panel to analyse the effect of within household income comparison on individual life satisfaction. Our estimates indicate, a primary breadwinner wife decreases spousal individual happiness by roughly nine per cent. To state the economic significance, a €70,000 increase in external, peer reference income corresponds to a similar individual happiness decrease. ...

Care and careers: Gender (in)equality in unpaid care, housework and employment

This article examines whether reducing care and housework duties and redistributing them within different-sex couples could further enhance gender equality on the labor market in terms of labor market participation for different employment types and actual working hours. Women around the world perform the majority of unpaid care and housework, with a large and persistent gap to men. Most research explains ...