Publications Based on SOEP Data: SOEPlit

The Impact of Sandwich Care on Employment and Well-Being in Germany

The provision of informal care has received a lot of attention during the past few decades. In the case of recurring parental care needs, adults may find themselves confronted with the task of juggling informal care for their parents and care for their children at the same time. These carers are typically called sandwich carers. Using data from the 2001–2019 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel, ...

Wealth Inequality among Families in a Changing Demographic Landscape: Evidence from Germany

The role of demographic change for wealth inequality remains underexplored. This study analyzes how shifts in population aging, immigration, partnership status, educational attainment, and female labor force participation influenced wealth inequality in West Germany between 1988 and 2017, focusing on households with children. Our findings reveal that while overall wealth inequality remained stable, ...

On Good Deeds and the Reproduction of Social Inequality: An Empirical Study on Social Class and Volunteering in Germany

This study re-examines volunteering through Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework, arguing that in Germany and other western countries, volunteering functions as a means of accumulating symbolic capital (i.e. social recognition and status). Individuals from higher social classes are increasingly investing in this field, thereby restricting access for those from lower classes. Using data from the ...

Angry together or agitated alone? The role of social capital in the geographies of discontent

Research on the spatial variation in ‘populist’ and ‘anti-establishment’ voting focuses on the role of ‘left behind places’, where these parties are particularly successful in regions that have been left behind economically or culturally. Applying this perspective to the German case, this paper examines the spatial distribution of ‘populist’ and ‘anti-establishment’ voting. Using micro-data from the ...

Educational qualifications, recognition, training aspirations and educational attainment

Introduction

Overall conclusion

Determinants of Refugees’ Identification with Country of Origin and Host Country and Their Naturalization Intentions: Evidence from Germany

Despite extensive research on immigrants? identification and its integration implications, a substantial gap remains in understanding the factors and mechanisms underlying refugees? identification processes. This study addresses this gap by adopting a comprehensive perspective, simultaneously examining their origin-country and host-country identification alongside naturalization intentions among recently ...

Psychological traits predict who uses self-help products but usage is not associated with two-year personality change

Self-help products such as books and apps are booming, often promising personal growth and well-being gains. Despite their popularity, little research has examined the psychological predictors and consequences of self-help product use. Here, we tested predictors of self-help product use and their links with changes in personality traits, life satisfaction, and self-esteem over 2 years in a representative ...

Dynamic networks of social contact, social desire, and affect across time scales

Social relationships are central to well-being because they fulfill social affiliation needs. To explain how social needs are regulated, theories describe daily-life processes among social desire, social contact, and affect. Still, these processes remain empirically underexplored because of their complexity. In this study, we estimated multivariate associations of social desire and affect with social ...