Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Socio-Economic Status and Mortality

Receiving Social Assistance in Germany: Risk and Duration

Although receiving social assistance is a dynamic process, analyses of such processes tend to be static. This is particularly so in Germany where there is no empirical data base for studying processes of poverty and receipt of social assistance, except for the Bremen Longitudinal Social Assistance Sample (LSA). This article draws on the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) to complement analyses of ...

The German East-West Mortality Difference: Two Crossovers Driven by Smoking

Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, mortality was considerably higher in the former East Germany than in West Germany. The gap narrowed rapidly after German reunification. The convergence was particularly strong for women, to the point that Eastern women aged 50–69 now have lower mortality despite lower incomes and worse overall living conditions. Prior research has shown that lower smoking rates among ...

Care for Money? Mortality improvements, increasing intergenerational transfers, and time devoted to the elderly

Background: After the reunification of Germany, mortality among older eastern Germans converged quickly with western German levels. Simultaneously, the pension benefits of eastern Germans rose tenfold. Objective: We make use of German reunification as a natural experiment to show that, first, increasing financial transfers from the elderly to their children led to increasing reverse transfers in the ...

The impact of regional and neighbourhood deprivation on physical health in Germany: a multilevel study

Background: There is increasing evidence that individual health is at least partly determined by neighbourhood and regional factors. Mechanisms, however, remain poorly understood, and evidence from Germany is scant. This study explores whether regional as well as neighbourhood deprivation are associated with physical health and to what extent this association can be explained by specific neighbourhood ...

Using geographically referenced data on environmental exposures for public health research: a feasibility study based on the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP)

Background: In panel datasets information on environmental exposures is scarce. Thus, our goal was to probe the use of area-wide geographically referenced data for air pollution from an external data source in the analysis of physical health. Methods: The study population comprised SOEP respondents in 2004 merged with exposures for NO2, PM10 and O3 based on a multi-year reanalysis of the EURopean Air ...

Does the profile of income inequality matter for economic growth?

Early childhood, agency, and capability depreviation - A quantitative analysis using German socio-economic panel data

From a capability perspective early childhood is a very important, special stage in human life. It is important because functionings achieved in this early phase of life have been shown to substantially determine future capabilities. It is special because – more than in other stages of life – it depends very much on other people’s agency whether a young child has most important capabilities and can ...

Income Distribution in 14 OECD Nations, 1967-2000: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study

Better Overeducated than Unemployed? The Short- and Long-Term Effects of an Overeducated Labour Market Re-entry

Previous studies have shown that overeducation is inferior to adequate employment. For example, overeducated workers have lower earnings, participate less often in continuing education and training, and are less satisfied with their jobs. This article changes perspectives by asking whether it is better for the unemployed to take up a job for which they are overeducated or to remain unemployed and continue ...