German Ageing Survey

Summary

Due to the panel design of the German Ageing Survey, individual changes in work and productivity over time (a period of up to 15 years), as well as differences in work and productivity between cohorts (social change) and retirement policies can be analysed. However, the survey does not provide detailed retrospective data but mainly data on current employment instead. What is more, the survey also provides information on the employment situation of officially unemployed persons (job-seeking, black labour, 1Euro-Jobs etc.). Moreover, the German Ageing Survey includes variables on a wide variety of topics combining psychological, economic and sociological aspects, as well as subjective indicators which can be linked to research on work and productivity. Moreover, the survey provides information on the educational attainment and the occupational position of the current and the last partner of the respondent, as well as for his/her parents and children. Therefore, intergenerational occupational mobility can be analysed. Moreover, information on the occupational positions of network members is provided. However, the first wave of the DEAS was limited to participants with German citizenship, but since 2002, the inclusion criteria is the ability to speak and understand German. Despite the effort to include foreigners and people with migration background, the DEAS still is not representative for this sub-population. In addition, it should be pointed out that there is a good documentation (survey instruments, methodological reports, codebooks, correspondence of variables) provided on the website of the Research Data Centre (https://www.dza.de/en/fdz/research-data-centre-of-the-german-ageing-survey-fdz-deas/deas-documentation.html ).

Type of data

Data Source
Survey

Type of Study
Survey same
Crosssection regular
Other: Cohort-sequential design

Data gathering method
Face-to-face
Self administered questionnaire

Access to data

Conditions of access
Available for scientific, non-profit use

Type of available data (e.g. anonymised microdata, aggregated tables, etc.)
anonymised microdata

Formats available
SPSS, STATA

Coverage

Coverage Years of collection, reference years, and sample sizes
Wave 1: Data collected in 1996 (DOI 10.5156/DEAS.1996.M.001) with a sample size of 4, 838 individuals. Wave 2: Data collected in 2002 (DOI 10.5156/DEAS.2002.M.001) with a base sample of 3,084 individuals, a migrant sample of 586 individuals, and a panel sample of 1,524 individuals. Wave 3: Data collected in 2008 (DOI 10.5156/DEAS.2008.M.001) with a base sample of 6,205 individuals and a panel sample of 1,995 individuals. Wave 4: Data collected in 2011 with a panel sample of 4, 855 individuals. Wave 5: Data will be collected in 2014.

First year of collection
1996

Stratification if applicable
age (40-54, 55-69, 70-85 years), sex, region (East/West)

Base used for sampling

Geographical coverage and breakdowns
national, NUTS3-level (Kreise)

Age range
baseline samples: 40-85 years; Panel sample: 40-90 years

Statistical representativeness
Other, please specify

Coverage of main and cross-cutting topics
Up to 120 variables within the work domain are available in each wave, covering • education and first employment • the current employment (position, average number of working hours, number of employees, workplace sector), • breaks in employment and their reasons and durations • the last employment (position, hours worked, number of employees, part-time employment prior to retirement) • transition to retirement • work beyond retirement (hours, motivation and reasons ), • subjective indicators such as satisfaction with current working conditions (working hours, income, further education etc.), stresses and strains • and a self-assessment of the probability of unemployment and the chances of finding new employment • education and employment of the current and the last partner

Linkage

Standardisation
Most instruments are standardised questions and scales (e.g. ISCO-88: International Standard Classification of Occupation).

Possibility of linkage among databases
Not possible

Data quality

Entry errors if applicable
Raw data is cleaned by project organisers and checked for inconsistencies. Data is further checked by the Research Data Centre and then the scientific use file (SUF) is created.

Breaks
Research group changed between first and second wave (1996: Freie Universität Berlin, since 2002: German Centre of Gerontology). In 1996, interviews were conducted via PAPI, since 2002, however, they have been conducted via CAPI.

Consistency of terminology or coding used during collection
Due to a change of research group, the documentation for 1996 is incomplete.

Governance

Contact information

Research Data Centre of the German Ageing Survey, German Centre of Gerontology (DZA Berlin)
Manfred-von-Richthofen-Straße 2
12101 Berlin Germany Phone: +49 (0)30 - 260740-0
Email: fdz(at)dza.de
Url: http://www.dza.de/en/fdz/research-data-centre-of-the-german-ageing-survey-fdz-deas/access-to-deas-data.html

Timeliness, transparency
The scientific use file is available about 2 years after data collection.