Data Release • 18.06.2024Publication of data from the German GGS-II

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The internationally coordinated questionnaire and the standardised instructions for conducting the survey enable international comparative analyses. In Germany, the GGS data collection is based on the FReDA surveys. The GGS Round II Quick Guide contains all the necessary information on data access.

Cross-national survey

This is already the second major survey wave of the GGS. In the first round of data collection (GGS-I) from 2004 to 2012, data was collected from people in 19 countries. These included Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation and Sweden. For Germany, the first round of the survey was conducted by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB).

The new, second round of data collection, GGS-II, has been running since 2020. A new questionnaire was developed for this purpose, combining the strengths of the GGS-I instrument with new multidisciplinary modules. The survey has been launched with fresh sampling and innovations in the survey design, including the ability to conduct the questionnaire online.

The German GGS-II is based on the first survey wave of the German Family Demographic Panel FReDA. The data of the 18- to 49-year-old German resident population was collected in 2021 in a self-administered survey mode. By the end of 2023, around 18 other countries and territories from Europe, Asia and Latin America had already taken part in GGS-II in addition to Germany.

Unique international longitudinal study

Compared to other demographic surveys, the GGS is characterised by the following features:

• International comparability: International comparative analyses are made possible by the surveys conducted by numerous partners in different countries, by an internationally coordinated questionnaire and by standardised instructions for conducting the survey.
• Structural relevance: A database ("Contextual Database") is available in which the relevant macro data is collected and processed in order to be able to use the structural framework conditions of the respective country as a possible explanatory factor for international differences in behaviour.
• Panel design: By interviewing respondents several times over a longer period of time, developments over the life course and cause-and-effect relationships that are delayed in time can be analysed.
• Prospective questions: Through the consistent use of forward-looking questions, behaviour at a certain point in time can be compared with intentions and plans of action at an earlier point in time.
• Focus on intergenerational relationships: The GGS looks at relationships between parents and their children - including between aged parents and adult children, including from the perspective of the older generation.
• Focus on gender relationships: Respondents are asked for information about their current partner (if any) as well as the quality of the relationship and the division of labour in the partnership.

The survey is therefore unique: on the one hand, this is due to the wide geographical coverage, particularly the survey in Central and Eastern European countries. Secondly, the GGS is the only comparative longitudinal panel study that covers the entire age range of adults. The surveys are repeated regularly at three-year intervals so that changes over time can be analysed.

This provides researchers with high-quality, up-to-date data on families and the life courses of individuals, which they can use to provide political decision-makers with answers to current social challenges.

Background

The Generations and Gender Survey is coordinated by a central coordination team, which is based at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) in The Hague and in which the French Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques (INED) and the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) are involved. The NIDI coordinates the individual GGS surveys and processes the data into a harmonised data set.

Data access

The GGS-II data and all other data products of the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) can be requested free of charge for scientific purposes via the GGP-Website.