Content and Objectives

Demographic change in Germany is accompanied by a declining labour force potential, which is associated with an increasing shortage of skilled workers in the German labour market. This shortage varies from region to region and sector to sector. The issue is already affecting the German labour market today and will be exacerbated by the current transition of the baby boomer generation into retirement. The declining labour force potential will have implications for different areas of society - how this is dealt with will show how the demographic resilience of German society and the economy is to be assessed. As the research-based institution that advises the Federal Government on demographic change, BiB's research across all research areas provides key insights into the changes that can be expected in the labour force potential and how they can be countered in the short, medium and long term.

Research at the BiB examines the various approaches to increasing the labour force potential and the volume of employment. The measures analysed focus on the entire life course. The focus is on the following aspects: the utilisation of all educational potential from the outset, the potential increase in the employment volume of women, the potential expansion of employment at the end of working life and the influence of immigration on employment potential.

Research area 1 "Family and Fertility" focuses in particular on the potential of a different distribution of gainful employment and care work over the life course and between the sexes. The focus here is on approaches to equalise the so-called "rush hour of life", which can be associated with mothers whose children are already of school age or of full age expanding their employment volume and no longer remaining in part-time employment. In many cases, this corresponds to the population's perceptions regarding the gainful employment of parents with older children. Analysing such findings in more detail empirically is the focus of various projects based on new innovative survey methods within the framework of the FReDA project. With regard to the expansion of employment at the end of life, research projects in Research Area 3 "Ageing, Mortality and Population Dynamics" deal with general trends at the macro level, differentiated by gender, education and employment sector. Forecasts are also made about future developments. At the micro level, retirement decisions are analysed in order to obtain information about the reasons why certain groups of people leave the labour market earlier or later.

International migration is another starting point for increasing the labour force. The shortage of skilled labour can also be countered by exploiting the employment potential of people with a migrant or refugee background. In this context, the BiB is focussing in particular on the potential of people from Ukraine who have fled to Germany. In Research Area 2 "Migration and Mobility" the labour market participation of the population with a migrant background and their potential to meet the demand for skilled workers is being systematically investigated, particularly in the public sector, i.e. the administration as well as the education and care sector.

In the long term, a declining labour force potential can also be countered by promoting the entire educational potential from the outset. In this context, the "Education and Human Potential" Research Group is investigating how the educational potential of socio-economically disadvantaged children and young people in particular can be better promoted at an early age. The potential of children from families with a migration background must also be developed at an early stage. What starting points can be seen in "early help" programmes or child day care? This is what the research group is looking at in terms of a preventative "skilled labour strategy".

The cross-research project is primarily concerned with collating the results from the various research projects of the research units. This primarily serves the research-based transfer to politics and the specialised public.

Contact persons

• Prof. Dr. C. Katharina Spieß
• Prof. Dr. Martin Bujard
• Dr. Nikola Sander
• Dr. Sebastian Klüsener