Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

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. ...

Unhealthy Conditions? A Longitudinal Analysis of the Health of Children in One- and Two-parent Households

Families produce health, but changes in familial structures are made responsible for many negative health trends in the population. How does the health of younger children today in Germany develop when comparing whether the parents live together or separately? Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), we are able to show that children in traditional marriages are not generally healthier ...

Happy Newcomers? Subjective Well-Being of First-Generation Immigrants in Germany

First-generation immigrants in Germany are surprisingly satisfied with their life. We test to what extent selection, adaptation, or resilience explains their comparatively high level of subjective well-being (SWB). Using Panel data from 1984-2014, we run simultaneous probit and growth curve models and identify competing mechanisms of positive integration. We find mixed evidence for health selection: ...

Love and Death in Germany: The Marital Biography and Its Effect on Mortality

Why Managerial Women are Less Happy Than Managerial Men

Women with managerial careers are significantly less satisfied with their life than their male counterparts. Why? In a representative German panel dataset (GSOEP) we find biological constraints and substitutive mechanisms determining the subjective well-being of female managers. Women’s terminated fertility has a negative impact on women’s life satisfaction between the ages of 35 and 45, when managerial ...

Income packages of households with children: a cross-national correlation analysis

This paper presents stylized facts about household disposable income and its components (the ‘income package’) in ten OECD countries, using data from the Luxembourg Income Study database for the period 1994–2000. The research design is an extension of the design in Todd and Sullivan (2002). Cross-national correlations reveal that there are systematic differences among nations in the relationship between ...