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Old Age in Germany (D80+)
The project ran from 01/2019 to 03/2023. The results of the study were incorporated into several short reports:
- Wahrgenommene Auswirkungen der Coronapandemie auf die Lebenssituation älterer Menschen (11/2021)
- Das Einkommen der Hochaltrigen in Deutschland (12/2021)
- Erkrankungen, Pflegebedürftigkeit und subjektive Gesundheit im hohen Alter (01/2022)
- Einsamkeit in der Hochaltrigkeit (01/2022)
- Soziale Eingebundenheit (03/2022)
- Digitale Teilhabe in der Hochaltrigkeit (04/2022)
- Auswirkungen kognitiver Einschränkungen (Demenz) auf Lebensqualität und Versorgung (07/2022)
- Die Alltagskompetenzen und das Wohnumfeld hochaltriger Menschen in Deutschland (08/2022)
- Werthaltungen hochaltriger Menschen und ihre Wünsche für die eigene Lebenssituation und das gesellschaftliche Zusammenleben (09/2022)
- Lebenszufriedenheit und subjektives Wohlbefinden in der Hochaltrigkeit (10/2022)
The short reports were published with accompanying information on the D80+ study in the form of an open access publication on the project: Roman Kaspar, Julia Simonson, Clemens Tesch-Römer, Michael Wagner, Susanne Zank (Hrsg.) (2023). Hohes Alter in Deutschland. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer.
The German Survey on Old Age: Old Age in Germany (D80+) was funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ). It was conducted jointly by researchers from the German Centre of Gerontology and ceres – Cologne Center for Ethics, Rights, Economics, and Social Sciences of Health at the University of Cologne.
Persons involved in the DZA were:
German Survey on Volunteering (FWS)
The following reports, among others, were produced on this basis:
Main reports:
- Simonson, J., Kelle, N., Kausmann, C., & Tesch-Römer, C. (Hrsg.). (2022). Freiwilliges Engagement in Deutschland – Der Deutsche Freiwilligensurvey 2019. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-35317-9
- Simonson, J., Vogel, C. & Tesch-Römer, C. (Hrsg.)(2017).: Freiwilliges Engagement in Deutschland. Der Deutsche Freiwilligensurvey 2014. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-12644-5
Special evaluations:
- Kausmann, C., Simonson, J., & Hameister, N. (2017): Freiwilliges Engagement junger Menschen. Sonderauswertungen des Vierten Deutschen Freiwilligensurveys. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Online: https://www.dza.de/fileadmin/dza/Dokumente/Forschung/Publikationen%20Forschung/freiwilliges-engagement-junger-menschen-data.pdf
- Vogel, C., Kausmann, C., & Hagen, C. (2017): Freiwilliges Engagement älterer Menschen. Sonderauswertungen des Vierten Deutschen Freiwilligensurveys. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Online: https://www.dza.de/fileadmin/dza/Dokumente/Forschung/Publikationen%20Forschung/freiwilliges-engagement-von-aelteren-menschen-data.pdf
- Kausmann, C., Hagen, C., Vogel, C., & Simonson, J. (2017): Freiwilliges Engagement von Frauen und Männern. Genderspezifische Befunde zur Vereinbarkeit von freiwilligem Engagement, Elternschaft und Erwerbstätigkeit. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend. Online: https://www.dza.de/fileadmin/dza/Dokumente/Forschung/Publikationen%20Forschung/freiwilliges-engagement-von-frauen-und-maennern-data.pdf
- Kausmann, C., Simonson, J., Ziegelmann, J. P., Vogel, C., & Tesch-Römer, C. (2016). Länderbericht zum Deutschen Freiwilligensurvey 2014. Berlin: Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen. Online: https://www.dza.de/fileadmin/dza/Dokumente/Publikationen/FWS_Laenderbericht_ges_2016.09.13.pdf
Key results of the German Survey on Volunteering 2019 in form of a short report are published (in German as well as in English).
The complete survey instruments of the FWS can be downloaded here. The data set containing all indicators of the survey 2019 in form of a scientific use file (SUF) can be requested free of charge at the Research Data Centre of the DZA. The data of the surveys 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019, as well as documentation material are available for users for scientific research at the Research Data Centre of the DZA.
The German Survey on Volunteering is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ).
The following researchers were involved in the 2019 survey:
Corinna Kausmann
Céline Arriagada
Nora Karnick
Constanze Lejeune
Jennifer Schauer
Tobias Wolf
Eileen Jahnke (Forschungsassistenz)
The following researchers were involved in the 2014 survey:
Dr. Claudia Vogel
Corinna Kausmann
Doreen Müller
Dr. Jochen P. Ziegelmann
Katharina Lux (Forschungsassistenz)
Stefanie Hartmann (Forschungsassistenz)
Health Trajectories Into Old Age
The German Centre of Gerontology (DZA) and the Institute of Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Science at the Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin were cooperating on this project, which seeked to identify age-related trajectories of functional health and their predictors (DZA) as well as to identify factors that are associated with the need for long-term care (Charité). For this purpose, the team at Charité Universitätsmedizin used new data from the Medical Service of the Health Funds (MDK). The team at the German Centre of Gerontology used longitudinal data from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) to analyze functional health trajectories and identify factors that influence changes in functional health, cognitive decline, and the development of frailty. The following research questions were in the focus of our research:
- Which risk and protective factors are associated with changes in functional health?
- Are there cohort differences in the age-related trajectories of functional health?
- What are the mechanisms underlying decline of functional health in late adulthood?
- Which interventions can delay or buffer age-related declines of functional health?
Funding
National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds
This project is part of the model programme for the further development of long-term care insurance according to §8 section 3 SGB XI (Modellprogramm zur Weiterentwicklung der Pflegeversicherung gemäß §8 Abs. 3 SGB XI).
Project Duration
March 2018 to August 2021
Project Partner
Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin - Institute of Medical Sociology and Rehabilitation Science
The following persons were involved in the project:
Sonja Nowossadeck (Koordination)
Dr. Markus Wettstein
Dr. Anja Cengia
Housing Affordability in Older Households
Specifically, the question was examined whether there are risk groups for whom the housing cost burden increases excessively and the risk of old-age poverty increases due to high or rising housing costs and/or low income or income that stagnates or declines over the course of age. In particular, the effects of retirement and widowhood on the development of the housing cost burden were examined.
It was also investigated how the advantages of home ownership compared to living in rented accommodation develop in relation to the housing cost burden during retirement, i.e. how sustainable home ownership functions as part of old-age security in old age.
Funding
Research Network on Old Age Security (FNA) of the German Pension Insurance Federation
Project duration
July 2020 until February 2022
The following persons were involved in the project:
Heribert Engstler
Research Consortium AMA
The Berlin research consortium "Autonomy Despite Multimorbidity in Old Age" (AMA) was devoted to understand the conditions for autonomoy and quality of life when facing multiple chronic health impairments, disabilities and functional limitations in old age. The AMA consortium pursued the following goals: (a) Advancing methodologies suited to tap multimorbidity in old age, (b) analysing the links between multimorbidity and autonomy in old age, (c) transfer of research results in the everyday life of older people in order to support autonomy in old age. The research projects of the AMA consortium took into account different living conditions of women and men, their gender specific resources and life styles as well as differences between age groups.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Adelheid Kuhlmey (Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin)
Prof. Dr. Clemens Tesch-Römer (German Centre of Gerontology)
Prof. Dr. Matthias Riepe (Universität Ulm)
Personal Resources of Elderly People with Multimorbidity: Fortification of Effective Health Behaviour
PREFER is a series of studies on the role of personal (individual) resources for maintaining autonomy and quality of life in older people with multiple illnesses.
During the first funding period, a total of 309 individuals aged 65 to 86 with multiple illnesses were examined at four measurement points over one year (more information: 1. Funding Period)
During the second funding period 2011-2014, we developed intervention modules to motivate and support older individuals with multiple illnesses in physical activity. These modules were evaluated in a randomized control trial with 310 individuals (more information: 2. Funding Period)
Project periods
01 / 2008 – 12 / 2010 (1. Funding Period)
01 / 2011 – 10 / 2014 (2. Funding Period)
Research funding
Research grant by Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)
Kooperation
PREFER was a cooperation between DZA (Deutsches Zentrum für Altersfragen) and the Department of Health Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin. PREFER was also a part of the AMA Research Consortium
The following scientific staff was involved in the project:
- Dr. Susanne Wurm (project management)
- Dr. Benjamin Schüz
- Dr. Lisa M. Warner; DZA and Freie Universität Berlin
- Dr. Jochen P. Ziegelmann, DZA
- Dr. Julia K. Wolff, DZA
- Prof. Dr. Clemens Tesch-Römer, DZA
- Prof. Dr. Ralf Schwarzer; Freie Universität Berlin
Project LAW
In the course of the project „Life Course, Ageing, and Well-Being“, the German Centre of Gerontology (DZA), the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) at DIW Berlin, and the German Federal Pension Insurance (DRV Bund) have analyzed the future old-age incomes of the German baby boomers (born between 1956 and 1965) against the background of their changing employment and family biographies. Thereby, the life courses of the baby boomer cohort were contrasted with the life courses of two older cohorts: the war cohort (born between 1936 and 1955) and the post-war cohort (born between 1945 and 1956).
The project aimed to answer the following research questions:
To what extent are the life courses of the baby boomers marked by increasing pluralism and discontinuity?
How will these changes affect the life situation of the baby boomers in old age and especially their old age incomes?
A further crucial question is, how should old-age security systems be structured and re-structured in order to accommodate non-traditional life-course patterns appropriately.
In order to deal with these questions, information stemming from the data sets of the three co-operating institutions, namely Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), Sample of Active Pension Accounts (VSKT) and German Ageing Survey (DEAS), was combined. Further, life courses of the baby boomers (and partly of the comparison cohorts) were projected into the future up to the age of 67.
Results show that the life courses of the baby boomer cohort differ considerably from those of the preceding cohorts. Taken as a whole, a distinct increase as to variety of employment and family employment patterns can be observed. Particularly in East Germany, employment biographies are commonly marked by discontinuity with comparably frequent or extended periods of unemployment. This development implies consequences for the old-age security. Particularly for East German men from the baby boomer cohort, lower pension entitlements as compared to the older cohorts can be expected
Responsible (DZA): Prof. Dr. Andreas Motel-Klingebiel, Dr. Laura Romeu Gordo, Dr. Julia Simonson, Prof. Dr. Clemens Tesch-Römer, Dr. Nadiya Kelle
Project duration: Apr 1, 2009 to Nov 30, 2012
Literature
- Frick, J. R., Grabka, M. M., Rasner, A., Schmidt, M., Schuth, M. & Westermeier, C. (2012). Familienbiographische Verläufe im Kohortenvergleich. [SOEPpapers 439]. Berlin: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
- Grabka, M. M., & Rasner, A. (2013). Fortschreibung von Lebensläufen bei Alterssicherungsanalysen – Herausforderungen und Probleme. In C. Vogel & A. Motel-Klingebiel (Hrsg.), Altern im sozialen Wandel: Die Rückkehr der Altersarmut? (S. 387–406). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
- Kelle, N., Simonson J., & Romeu Gordo, L. (2012). Veränderte Erwerbsverläufe von Männern in Ost- und Westdeutschland: Ein Vergleich der Babyboomer mit älteren Kohorten. ifo Dresden berichtet 19(03), 24–29.
- Rasner, A., Frick, J. R. & Grabka, M. M. (2013). Statistical Matching of Administrative and Survey Data, an application to wealth inequality analyses. Sociological Methods and Research. Published online 1 May 2013. DOI: 10.1177/0049124113486622.
- Rasner, A., Frick, J. R., & Grabka, M. M. (2011). Extending the Empirical Basis for Wealth Inequality Research Using Statistical Matching of Administrative and Survey Data. [SOEPpapers 359]. Berlin: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
- Rasner, A. (2013). Geschlechtsspezifische Rentenlücke – Reformen müssen im Erwerbsleben ansetzen. DGB Infobrief 1/2013.
- Simonson, J., Kelle, N., Romeu Gordo, L., Grabka, M. M., Rasner, A., & Westermeier, C. (2012). Babyboomer – Mehr Brüche im Erwerbsleben, weniger Rente. Ostdeutsche Männer um 50 müssen mit geringeren Renten rechnen. DIW Wochenbericht 79(23); 3–13.
- Simonson, J., Romeu Gordo, L., & Kelle, N. (2012). Statistical Matching of the German Aging Survey and the Sample of Active Pension Accounts as a Source for Analyzing Life Courses and Old Age Incomes. Historical Social Research 37, 185–210.
- Simonson, J., Romeu Gordo, L. & Kelle, N. (2011). The Double German Transformation: Changing Male Employment Patterns in East and West Germany. SOEPpapers 391.
- Simonson, J., Romeu Gordo, L. & Titova, N. (2011). Changing employment patterns of women in Germany: How do baby boomers differ from older cohorts? A comparison using sequence analysis. In M.P. Cutchin, C.L. Kemp & V.W. Marshall (Hrsg.), Researching Social Gerontology. Fundaments of Applied Research (Vol. 3: Social Institutions, the Lifecourse and Ageing (S. 201–234). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
- Simonson, J., Romeu Gordo, L., & Titova, N. (2011). Changing employment patterns of women in Germany: How do baby boomers differ from older cohorts? A comparison using sequence analysis. Advances in Life Course Research 16(2), 65–82.
- Westermeier, C., Rasner, A., & Grabka, M. M. (2012). The Prospects of the Baby Boomers: Methodological Challenges in Projecting the Lives of an Aging Cohort. [SOEPpapers 440]. Berlin: Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung.
Health in Old Age
The publication „Health in Old Age“ is a joint project of the Robert Koch Institute, DESTATIS, and the German Centre of Gerontology. The goal of this publication is to present data and analyses not only for different actors in policy, science and the public health and care system but also for the general public. Data from German and European sources will be used in an attempt of comprehensive social reporting to this topic.
GeroStat
The project GeroStat was a statistical online system. It comprised demographic and gerontological statistical data from various sources, most notably official statistics (for topics such as demographic characteristics, health status, mortality, socio-economic charactersitics, social security) as well as the DZA-projects German Ageing Survey (DEAS, for numerous topics concerning living conditions of people in the second half of their life) and the German Survey on Volunteering (FWS, for topics related to voluntary activities).
GeroStat provided users with a free of charge analysis of these indicators by age groups and over long time-series. Additionally, it contained context information for all indicators.
GeroStat has not been updated since November 2020 and is not available online anymore. The digital object identifier for GeroStat is https://www.dza.de/forschung/fdz/gerostat-doi.
The following scientific staff was involved in the project:
Elke Hoffmann
Elder Engagement
The project "Sustainable Support of Elder Engagement" analysed structures at the level of Länder (German states) and municipalities which enable or hinder volunteering and engagement of old persons. The project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women, and Youth (BMFSFJ). This project was embedded in the framework of the larger consortium “Experience and Knowledge for Initiatives” (BMFSFJ).
Older Migrants
Goal of this project was to expert statements regarding the living conditions of older migrants in Berlin and in Germany („Older migrants in Berlin“, „Older migrants in Germany”). Both statements relate perspectives from sociology of migration with perspectives from social gerontology in order to give recommendations for migration, health, and care policies. The expert statements are available in German only.
OASIS
Between February 2000 and March 2004 the international comparative research project OASIS had been conducted by partners from Israel, Norway, England, Germany, and Spain. The main objectives of the OASIS project were to explore how family cultures and service systems support autonomy and delay dependency in old age, to promote quality of life, and to improve the basis for policy and planning. The OASIS project aimed to add to current scientific debates on family solidarity and conflict, norms and values in areas such as preferences for care, use of services, coping strategies and quality of life. More precisely, the project examined how these concepts can be measured and predicted under different societal macro conditions, such as welfare regimes and family cultures. The OASIS project provides a knowledge base which can help to enhance the quality of life of elders and their family caregivers. It showed how family roles, service systems and individual styles of coping interact and influence the quality of life in old age. The project also demonstrated how different family cultures and welfare systems promote quality of life and delay dependency in old age. In summary, the OASIS project scientifically studies older people's quality of life, analyzing the balance between family care and service systems and their relation to welfare regimes. It describes variations in family norms, expectations and transfer behaviour across age groups and between countries, and examines the individual's and family's coping strategies when an elderly parent is at risk of becoming dependent.