Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

Does Parental Unemployment Affect the Quality of their Children’s First Job?

In this paper the relationship between parental unemployment at time of children's labor market entrance on the quality of their children's first job is analyzed. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the years 1991-2012 the quality of the first job in terms of wage, permanent position and full-time employment is examined. The results show a negative correlation between ...

Does moving for family nest-building inhibit mothers' labour force (re-)entry?

BACKGROUND: Couples tend to move house around first childbirth and often into suburban or rural neighbourhoods, conforming to the normative belief that children should grow up in a ‘proper family home.’ Such moves are likely to increase housing costs and both partners might need to contribute to the household income. But the move might also necessitate long commutes, inhibiting mothers’ labour force ...

Do Spa Visits Improve Health: Evidence From German Microdata

The health benefits of spas have been hypothesized for centuries. If this hypothesis is correct, spa therapy offers a low cost alternative to more expensive and potentially more invasive medical treatments for ailments such as back pain and arthritis. We use individual-level panel data to isolate the effect of spa therapy on missed work days and hospital visits in Germany. Simple correlations suggest ...

Follow-up study regarding the medium-term effectiveness of the home-visiting program “Pro Kind” at age 7 years: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Pro Kind is a German adaptation of the US Nurse Family Partnership program. It is an intervention based on home visits targeting first-time mothers from disadvantaged populations. Pro Kind was implemented as a randomized control trial from 2006 to 2012 with N = 755 first-time mothers (TG n = 394, CG n = 391). The 7–8-year follow-up aims to assess the mid-term effects of the program.

Saving and Consumption When Children Move Out

Based on the German Socio-economic Panel (SOEP), we show that household consumption drops and saving rises significantly within four years after a child moves out of a household. Per capita consumption of parents is approximately leveled up to that of childless peers after all children are gone. We conclude with respect to the adequacy of saving rates that calibrated life-cycle models assuming a smoothing ...

The Advantages of Demographic Change after the Wave: Fewer and Older, but Healthier, Greener, and More Productive?

Population aging is an inevitable global demographic process. Most of the literature on the consequences of demographic change focuses on the economic and societal challenges that we will face as people live longer and have fewer children. In this paper, we (a) briefly describe key trends and projections of the magnitude and speed of population aging; (b) discuss the economic, social, and environmental ...

Gender Wage Differentials and the Occupational Injury Risk - Evidence from Germany and the US

Numerous studies, in particular for the US, have shown that individuals in occupations with high injury risk are compensated for that risk by corresponding bonus payments. At the same time, male workers are overrepresented in the most dangerous occupations like scaffolders or miners, while females typically work in relatively safe occupations with respect to occupational injuries. It is therefore remarkable ...

Labor Force Status Dynamics in the German Labor Market - Individual Heterogeneity and Cyclical Sensitivity

The aggregate average unemployment rate in a given country is essentially the result of individual workers' transitions between the three core labor force states, employment, unemployment, and inactivity. The dynamics of these transitions depend both, on individual duration in a particular state and the transition probabilities between states. Individual transitions, in turn, depend on observable ...

Low-wage Jobs — Springboard to High-paid Ones?

We examine whether low-paid jobs have an effect on the probability that unemployed persons obtain better-paid jobs in the future (springboard effect). We make use of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and apply a dynamic random effects bivariate probit model. Our results suggest that low-wage jobs can act as springboards to better-paid work. The improvement of the chance to obtain a high-wage ...

Minimum Wages and their Alternatives: A Critical Assessment