Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Welfare receipt misreporting in survey data and its consequences for state dependence estimates: new insights from linked administrative and survey data

In many advanced welfare states, welfare recipients often receive benefits for long periods. This persistence of welfare receipt can be caused by two distinct mechanisms: genuine or spurious state dependence. Knowledge of which of the two mechanisms drives the observed state dependence is important because the policy implications are different. Most of the empirical evidence on state dependence relies ...

A new targeting: a new take-up? Non-take-up of social assistance in Germany after social policy reforms

We present first estimates of rates of non-take-up for social assistance in Germany after the implementation of major social policy reforms in 2005. The analysis is based on a microsimulation model, which includes a detailed description of the German social assistance programme. Our findings suggest a moderate decrease in non-takeup compared to estimates before the reform. In order to identify the ...

Getting a job and leaving home in Europe

SOEP Wave Report 2016

SOEP Wave Report 2017

The Role of Partners’ Support for Women’s Reentry Into Employment After a Child-Related Career Break in Germany

In the present study, the effect of partners’ social support on women’s reentry into the labor market is examined by means of discrete-time event history analysis using the German Socio-Economic Panel (1984-2013). In doing so, we take into account partners’ instrumental and emotional support. A special focus is placed on the moderating effect of partners’ relative resources on partners’ support. Results ...

The Economic Consequences of Divorce in Germany: What Has Changed since the Turn of the Millennium?

Our analysis of data from almost 30 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) shows that the economic consequences of divorce are still more negative for women than for men despite increased female labour force participation and, correspondingly, increased numbers of dual earner households. After reviewing recent shifts in the institutional fabric and the social structure of the conservative ...

Headwind or Tailwind: Do Partners’ Resources Support or Restrict Promotion to a Leadership Position in Germany?

In Germany, as in other modern societies, a low representation of women in top positions remains a stable form of gender inequality in the labour market. This article examines the extent to which a partner’s labour market and financial resources influence gender-specific probabilities of obtaining a leadership position. Well-established theories are examined that provide different assumptions as to ...

Girls preferred? Changing Patterns of Sex Preferences in the Two German States

Why are middle-aged people so depressed? Evidence from West Germany

Does happiness vary with age? The evidence is inconclusive. Some studies show happiness to increase with age (Diener et al. 1999; Argyle 2001). Others hold that the association is U-shaped with either highest depression rates (Mroczek and Christian, 1998; Blanchflower and Oswald, 2008) or highest happiness levels occurring during middle age (Easterlin, 2006). Current studies suffer from two shortcomings. ...