IAB-SOEP Migration Sample

Study Description

The IAB-SOEP Migration Sample is a household survey conducted jointly by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at DIW Berlin. The project aims at overcoming the limitations of previous datasets by drawing a series of samples that take into account changes in the structure of migration to Germany since 1995.

Sampling

IAB-SOEP Migration Sample M1 was drawn from administrative records in the IAB’s Integrated Employment Biographies (IEB) database, and the households in the sample were first surveyed in 2013. A multi-step sampling procedure was carried out in 250 regional units, with every person in the target population having an equal probability of being selected. In each of the 250 regional units, 80 addresses were randomly selected, with some countries of origin having been assigned a higher probability of selection to ensure a sufficient number of observations. These groups included immigrants from the new EU Member States and individuals from southern Europe.

The households in the second IAB-SOEP Migration Sample (M2) were first surveyed in 2015. The target population of this IAB-SOEP Migration Sample consisted of immigrants to Germany who arrived between 2010 and 2013—mainly migrants from the new EU Member States in Eastern Europe. The data from this sample will make it possible to better describe the dynamic recent evolution of immigration to Germany. Sample M2 consists of 1,096 households, and, like Sample M1, it was drawn from register data from the Federal Employment Agency.

The households in the third IAB-SOEP Migration Sample (M7) will be surveyed for the first time in 2020. The target population of this IAB-SOEP Migration Sample consists of immigrants to Germany who arrived between 2016 and 2018 from the countries of Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. The data from this sample will make it possible to better describe the dynamic recent evolution of immigration to Germany. Like Samples M1 and M2, it has been drawn from register data from the Federal Employment Agency.

The households in the IAB-SOEP Migration samples (M8a, M8b, M8c, and M8d) will be surveyed for the first time in 2020 (M8a), 2022 (M8b), 2023 (M8c), and 2024 (M8d). The samples M8a to M8d were designed to help evaluate the skilled worker immigration law (Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz), which came into effect March 1, 2020, and targeted migrants from third countries that have been granted permission to work in Germany.

The Survey

All household members aged 16 years or older first complete either an individual biographical questionnaire or a youth questionnaire, which also contains biographical questions. Then one household member completes a household questionnaire. Starting with the second year of the survey, the other SOEP questionnaires are used, in particular, the age-specific questionnaires for mothers (or the mother-and-child questionnaires).

The data from the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample offer insights into various aspects of migration, including the living situations of recent immigrants to Germany and the potential for skilled worker recruitment. Findings based on these data can be used to derive recommendations for immigration, integration, and labor market policies in Germany. The survey covers the following topics:

• Migration history: point in time of immigration, past migration history, search and information behavior.
• Education history: highest educational or vocational qualifications, years of schooling, educational attainment in Germany and abroad, procedure for recognition of foreign educational qualifications, language proficiency.
• Employment history: employment, self-employment, unemployment in Germany and country of origin.
• Labor market information: earnings, full- and part-time employment, working hours, benefit receipt, reservation wage, participation in measures of active labor market policy.
• Return migration: Return migration intentions, return migration, limited survey of return migrants.
• Other: remittances to home countries, life satisfaction, risk preferences, social integration, and recognition.

The IAB-SOEP Migration Sample substantially increases the available sample size in the SOEP-Core study for research on migration and the lives of immigrants in Germany. 4,964 persons residing in 2,723 households participated in the first wave of this survey.

Table 1: Development of case numbers in the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample

Since the data from the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample are also included in the regular SOEP data release, migrants from the other SOEP-Core samples can also be included in analyses, further increasing the number of observations.

Data Access

The data also provide supplementary samples to the SOEP-Core study and are integrated into every version of the SOEP data starting with v39 as Sample M1 and M2 (identical questionnaires, with additional questions on the respondent’s migration situation). All SOEP users with a valid contract for data use either have already been receiving the data since SOEP v39 or can order the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample data separately in the usual ways. Data users receive a personal safe download link, allowing them to download the dataset free of charge.

To find out how you can order the data, see here.

Record Linkage

Survey data from the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample can be linked with administrative labor market and income data if the respondents in question provided explicit consent to record linkage. But since this linked dataset contains weakly anonymized social data, the datasets are only accessible on site at the Research Data Center of the German Federal Employment Agency at the IAB (FDZ IAB). Researchers can use FDZ IAB data on a guest visit to the IAB or through remote data processing, which can also be arranged with the IAB. Requests for data access should be directed to FDZ IAB, since a contract with IAB for data use is required (further information).

Documentation on the data

All documents such as methodological reports, questionnaires, and publications on the study can be found under Documentation on the SOEP Studies.

By using the filter “type of documentation”, you can narrow your search.