SOEP-Core v34i (international edition, data 1984-2017)

The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study is a wide-ranging representative longitudinal study of private households, located at the German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin. Every year, there were nearly 15,000 households, and more than 25,000 persons sampled by the fieldwork organization TNS Infratest Sozialforschung. The data provide information on all household members, consisting of Germans living in the Eastern and Western German States, foreigners, and immigrants to Germany. The Panel was started in 1984. Some of the many topics include household composition, occupational biographies, employment, earnings, health and satisfaction indicators. As early as June 1990—even before the Economic, Social and Monetary Union—SOEP expanded to include the states of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), thus seizing the rare opportunity to observe the transformation of an entire society. Also immigrant samples were added in 1994/95 and 2013/2015 to account for the changes that took place in Germany society. Two samples of refugees were introduced in 2016. Further new samples were added in 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012. The survey is constantly being adapted and developed in response to current social developments.

Summary: This is the international Science Use Version of the SOEP-Core dataset 10.5684/soep.v34. It contains 95% of all households from the first wave of each SOEP subsample based on a random sampling of the original households in each subsample. It is released for worldwide use.

Dataset Information

Title: Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), Data from 1984-2017, International Scientific Use Version

DOI: 10.5684/soep.v34i
Collection Period: 1984-2017
Publication Date: 2019-03-05
Principal investigators: Jürgen Schupp, Jan Goebel, Martin Kroh, Carsten Schröder, Charlotte Bartels, Klaudia Erhardt, Alexandra Fedorets, Andreas Franken, Marco Giesselmann, Markus Grabka, Selin Kara, Peter Krause, Hannes Kröger, Simon Kühne, Maria Metzing, Janine Napieraj, Jana Nebelin, David Richter, Diana Schacht, Paul Schmelzer, Christian Schmitt, Daniel Schnitzlein, Rainer Siegers, Knut Wenzig, Stefan Zimmermann

Data collector: Kantar Public Germany

Population: Persons living in private households in Germany.

Selection method: All samples of SOEP are multi-stage random samples which are regionally clustered. The respondents (households) are selected by random-walk or register sample. 

Collection mode: The interview methodology of the SOEP is based on a set of pre-tested questionnaires for households and individuals. Principally an interviewer tries to obtain face-to-face interviews with all members of a given survey household aged 12 years and over. Additionally one person (head of household) is asked to answer a household related questionnaire covering information on housing, housing costs, and different sources of income. This covers also some questions on children in the household up to 12 years of age, mainly concerning attendance at institutions (kindergarten, elementary school, etc.)

Citation of the data set: Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), data for years 1984-2017, version 34i, SOEP, 2019, doi:10.5684/soep.v34i.

Publications using this file should refer to the above DOI infoFind an explanation on the usage of DOI here.and cite following references

  • Goebel, Jan, Markus M. Grabka, Stefan Liebig, Martin Kroh, David Richter, Carsten Schröder, and Jürgen Schupp. 2019. The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik (Journal of Economics and Statistics) 239 (2), 345-360. (https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2018-0022)

If you do not exclude the cases of the migration samples in your analysis, then please also cite the following reference:

  • Herbert Brücker, Martin Kroh, Simone Bartsch, Jan Goebel, Simon Kühne, Elisabeth Liebau, Parvati Trübswetter, Ingrid Tucci & Jürgen Schupp. 2014. The new IAB-SOEP Migration Sample: an introduction into the methodology and the contents. SOEP Survey Paper 216 (PDF, 444.25 KB), Series C. Berlin, Nürnberg: DIW Berlin.

If you do not exclude the cases of the refugee samples in your analysis, please also cite: 

  • Herbert Brücker, Yuliya Kosyakova, Nina Rother, Sabine Zinn, Elisabeth Liebau, Wenke Gider, Silvia Schwanhäuser, & Manuel Siegert. 2025. Exploring Integration and Migration Dynamics: The Research Potentials of a Large-Scale Longitudinal Household Study of Refugees in Germany. European Sociological Review. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcaf032.

If you use data from the SOEP-LEE2 surveys, please also cite:

  • Wenzel Matiaske, Torben Dall Schmidt, Christoph Halbmeier, Martina Maas, Doris Holtmann, Carsten Schröder, Tamara Böhm, Stefan Liebig, and Alexander S. Kritikos. 2023. SOEP-LEE2 : Linking Surveys on Employees to Employers in Germany. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik Data Observer, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2023-0031.

If you would like to refer more specifically, please also cite:

  • Schröder, Carsten, Johannes König, Alexandra Fedorets, Jan Goebel, Markus M. Grabka, Holger Lüthen, Maria Metzing, Felicitas Schikora, and Stefan Liebig. 2020. The economic research potentials of the German Socio-Economic Panel study. German Economic Review 21 (3), 335-371. (https://doi.org/10.1515/ger-2020-0033)
  • Giesselmann, Marco, Sandra Bohmann, Jan Goebel, Peter Krause, Elisabeth Liebau, David Richter, Diana Schacht, Carsten Schröder, Jürgen Schupp, and Stefan Liebig. 2019. The Individual in Context(s): Research Potentials of the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) in Sociology. European Sociological Review 35 (5), 738-755. (https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcz029)
  • Jacobsen, Jannes, Magdalena Krieger, Felicitas Schikora, and Jürgen Schupp. 2021. Growing Potentials for Migration Research using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik 241 (4), 527-549. (https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2021-0001)
  • Fedorets, Alexandra, Stefan Kirchner, Jule Adriaans, and Oliver Giering. 2022. Data on Digital Transformation in the German Socio-Economic Panel. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik 242 (5-6), 691-705. (https://doi.org/10.1515/jbnst-2021-0056)


Individual (PAPI) 2017: Field-de 3) Individual (PAPI) 2017 Field-en Var-de Var-en
Household (PAPI) 2017: Field-de 8) Household (PAPI) 2017 Field-en Var-de Var-en
Biography (PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Catch-up Individual (PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Youth (16-17-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Early Youth (13-14-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Pre-teen (11-12-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Mother and Child (Newborns, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Mother and Child (2-3-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Mother and Child (5-6-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Parents and Child (7-8-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Mother and Child (9-10-year-olds, PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en
Deceased Individual (PAPI) 2017: Field-de Var-de Var-en

Please find all sample specific questionnaires of this year and all questionnaires of previous years on this site

1) Supplementary of the IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees in Germany (M5) 2017

2) Dokumentation der Kompetenztestung im Rahmen der IAB-BAMF-SOEP-Befragung von Geflüchteten 2017, Stichproben M3-M5

3) SOEP-Core v34 – Documentation of Sample Sizes and Panel Attrition in the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) (1984 until 2017)

4) Documentation of ISCED Generation Based on the CAMCES Tool in the IAB-SOEP Migration Samples M1/M2 and IAB-BAMF-SOEP Survey of Refugees M3/M4 until 2017

5) SOEP-Core – 2017: Report of Survey Methodology and Fieldwork

6) SOEP-Core v34 – Biographical Information in the Meta File PPATH (Month of Birth, Immigration Variables, Living in East or West Germany in 1989)

7) SOEP-Core v34 – PPATHL: Person-Related Meta-Dataset

8) SOEP-Core v34 – HPATHL: Household-Related Meta-Dataset

9) SOEP-Core v34 – PBRUTTO: Person-Related Gross File

10) SOEP-Core v34 – HBRUTTO: Household-Related Gross File

11) SOEP-Core v34 – PGEN: Person-Related Status and Generated Variables

12) SOEP-Core v34 – HGEN: Household-Related Status and Generated Variables

13) SOEP-Core v34 – Codebook for the $PEQUIV File 1984-2017 : CNEF Variables with Extended Income Information for the SOEP

14) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOIMMIG: Generated variables for foreign nationals, immigrants, and their descendants in the SOEP

15) SOEP-Core v34 – HEALTH

16) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOPAREN: Biography Information for the Parents of SOEP-Respondents

17) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOAGEL & BIOPUPIL: Generated Variables from the “Mother & Child”, “Parent”, “Pre-Teen”, and “Early Youth” Questionnaires

18) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOSIB: Information on siblings in the SOEP

19) SOEP-Core v34 – The couple history files BIOCOUPLM and BIOCOUPLY, and marital history files BIOMARSM and BIOMARSY

20) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOAGE17: The Youth Questionnaire

21) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOSOC: Retrospective Data on Youth and Socialization

22) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOJOB: Detailed Information on First and Last Job

23) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOEDU: Data on educational participation and transitions

24) SOEP-Core v34 – BIORESID: Variables on Occupancy and Second Residence

25) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOBIRTH: A Data Set on the Birth Biography of Male and Female Respondents

26) SOEP-Core v34 – BIOTWIN: TWINS in the SOEP

27) SOEP-Core v34 – PFLEGE: Documentation of Generated Person-level Long-term Care Variables

28) SOEP-Core v34 – LIFESPELL: Information on the Pre- and Post-Survey History of SOEP-Respondents

29) SOEP-Core v34 – MIGSPELL and REFUGSPELL: The Migration-Biographies

30) SOEP-Core v34 – Activity Biography in the Files PBIOSPE and ARTKALEN

31) SOEP-Core v34: Codebook for the EU-SILC-Like Panel for Germany Based on the SOEP

1) Handgreifkraftmessung im Sozio-oekonomischen Panel (SOEP) 2006 und 2008

2) The Request for Record Linkage in the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample

3) Job submission instructions for the SOEPremote System at DIW Berlin – Update 2014

4) Editing and Multiple Imputation of Item Non-response in the Wealth Module of the German Socio-Economic Panel

5) Die Vercodung der offenen Angaben zu den Ausbildungsberufen im Sozio-Oekonomischen Panel

6) SOEP 2010 – Preparation of data from the new SOEP consumption module: Editing, imputation, and smoothing

7) Kognitionspotenziale Jugendlicher - Ergänzung zum Jugendfragebogen der Längsschnittstudie Sozio-oekonomisches Panel (SOEP)

8) Multi-Itemskalen im SOEP Jugendfragebogen

9) Missing Income Data in the German SOEP: Incidence, Imputation and its Impact on the Income Distribution

10) Zur Erhebung des adaptiven Verhaltens von zwei- und dreijährigen Kindern im Sozio-oekonomischen Panel (SOEP)

11) SOEP 2006 – TIMEPREF: Dataset on the Economic Behavior Experiment on Time Preferences in the 2006 SOEP Survey

12) Assessing the distributional impact of "imputed rent" and "non-cash employee income" in microdata : Case studies based on EU-SILC (2004) and SOEP (2002)

All documentation for filtering can be found on this page

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