Information about the study
“Living in Germany” is a long-term study that examines processes of change in society. Every year, more than 30,000 people are surveyed about their living situations and attitudes. The study has been ongoing since 1984 and is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and Germany’s state governments.
Do you have any questions?
infas Institut für angewandte
Sozialwissenschaft GmbH
Postfach 240101
53154 Bonn
Phone 0800/66 77 876
LiD@infas.de
Have you moved?
Please call or send us an e-mail.
Go to our online address portal
Results
Researchers are constantly analyzing data from the study “Living in Germany,” which is known in the media and in the research community as the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). Here you’ll find an overview of all the results.
How are immigrants doing in Germany?
Germany has made significant progress in refugee integration over recent years—in terms of employment, social integration, and political participation. In 2018, half of first-generation immigrants and three-quarters of second-generation immigrants considered themselves German. More recent arrivals have also found their place in society: Increasing numbers of refugees have good to very good German skills, have a job, and spend time with Germans—especially in work and educational contexts. Refugees are younger and physically healthier than the population average.
These are just some of the findings from surveys of migrants in Germany, in which more than 2,500 immigrants have taken part annually since 2013 and more than 4,000 refugees since 2016.
“This study is so important because it gives every participant a voice.”
Ulrike Drewes, interviewer
“Through your participation in Living in Germany, we now know how the pandemic has affected people in Germany.”
Dr. Theresa Entringer, psychologist at SOEP
“Thank you for supporting our study year after year.”
Thomas Weiß, project head at infas
“Your data are safe with us.”
Dr. Jan Goebel, head of the SOEP Research Data Center
Questions & Answers
Would you like to know why you were invited to participate in “Living in Germany”? Are you interested in finding out who is running the study?
Here you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions.
Latest news on the survey
Es ist wieder soweit – unsere Studie startet in die nächste Runde und wir freuen uns, wenn Sie wieder mit dabei sind.
Dear participant,
auch in diesem Jahr möchten wir Sie gern für unsere Studie „Leben in Deutschland“ befragen. Dafür wird ein Interviewer bzw. eine Interviewerin mit Ihnen Kontakt aufnehmen, um einen geeigneten Termin zu vereinbaren.
Participation in our study is always absolutely voluntary. But it’s important to keep in mind that in order to gain a detailed and accurate picture of the diverse living situations of people in Germany, we need as many of the selected households and individuals as possible to take part.
Do you have any questions about this year’s survey or about the study in general? Please feel free to contact us. You’ll find contact details in our letters, on the back of our information brochures, and here on our website.
Your data are safe.
Without respondents’ trust in our careful handling of their personal data, the study “Living in Germany” would not be possible. For this reason, your survey responses are first anonymized, which means that all personal identifiers are permanently and completely removed from your data. This eliminates any possibility that you as an individual could ever be identified on the basis of your data or survey responses.
Anonymous. Voluntary. Protected.
Important information on how interviewers deal with COVID-19
An interviewer will contact you to make an appointment for your interview. To eliminate any risk of virus transmission during the interview, they have been thoroughly trained in preventative measures for COVID-19 in accordance with current official guidelines. Your interviewer will be wearing an FFP2 mask when they ring your doorbell. And they will work with you to ensure that the minimum distance of 1.5 meters is maintained and that hygiene rules are observed throughout the entire interview. Your interviewer will also provide you with a hygiene kit consisting of a mask, disposable gloves, disinfectant gel, and disinfectant wipes.
Since the incidence of infection is always changing, appointments may have to be cancelled or postponed at short notice. We ask that you cancel your interview appointment if you have been instructed to quarantine or if you have cold symptoms or feel ill.
To learn more, see our brochure (PDF).
Team
“Living in Germany” is the largest social scientific study in Germany. Carrying out a study like this requires a large, interdisciplinary team.
More than 32,000 people in around 22,000 households are surveyed every year about their living situations and attitudes.
More than 500 interviewers are deployed to survey the study participants.
Currently, more than 12,000 registered researchers in more than 50 countries around the world are working with the data.
22000
Haushalte
500
Interviewer/innen
12000
Forschende
Your voice counts!
German society is evolving constantly and faces new challenges all the time. Researchers use the data from “Living in Germany” to investigate how our society is changing. The data provide a solid basis for policy decisions.
Each individual’s survey responses are important: they give voice to perspectives that might otherwise never be heard.
Every household that has participated in “Living in Germany” regularly over a period of years or even decades helps to ensure the outstanding quality of the study results.
That’s why we need you every year. Because every single voice counts.
