Category / Health / Migration research
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![Mehrgenerationenfamilie sitzt an einem Tisch]()
Refugee migration and mental health of people in the host country
Since the 1990s, Germany has experienced two major waves of refugee migration (1991–1993 and 2015–2016) triggered by armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. With the influx of many asylum seekers, social debates intensified and critical attitudes toward migration became the focus of greater attention in the media and among the general public.
What are the psychological consequences of this public presence of the issue? Can negative attitudes toward asylum seekers act as stressors and affect the mental health of the population? Some people report concerns about their economic situation, fears of job loss, and cultural changes.
At first glance, such a connection seems obvious. However, to measure the direct psychological consequences, researchers examined people’s mental health in relation to their geographical proximity to asylum seekers in their place of residence. The analysis is based on a combination of survey data from the “Leben in Deutschland” study, geographical information at the district level, and health data from health insurance companies.
Das Ergebnis: Es finden sich bislang keine Hinweise darauf, dass sich die mentale Gesundheit der Bevölkerung durch die Nähe zu Asylsuchenden verändert. Die verstärkte Fluchtmigration löst demnach keine psychologischen Verschlechterungen im Gastland aus.Further information
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Socially disadvantaged diabetics
Data from the “Living in Germany” study show that only 58 percent of people with diabetes participate in working life. In contrast, the figure for people without diabetes is 82 percent. In addition, diabetics retire earlier on average.
Researchers have now examined the situation of people with low socioeconomic status, such as those with low levels of education or low employment and income. The result: not only are these people statistically more likely to have diabetes, but they are also disadvantaged in other ways. For diabetics with low socioeconomic status, the disease has far-reaching financial disadvantages, primarily due to greater reductions in pension entitlements and the resulting potential poverty in old age. The disease has been shown to lead to a significant reduction in productivity, especially among women.Further information
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![Ein glückliches Paar, das gemeinsam ein Haus einrichtet.]()
Greater satisfaction through living together
When people move in together as a couple, they are much happier in the first year after doing so. This is the finding of an analysis of data from the “Leben in Deutschland” study. From the second year onwards, there is no further increase in their happiness—but the values are still higher than before they moved in together.
In the short and medium term, living together makes people happier. However, it has no effect on partners who were already in a relationship a year before moving in together. They had already achieved a higher level of satisfaction by entering into the relationship. The researchers assume that the central emotional turning point is the relationship itself and that living together merely further consolidates well-being.
Further information
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Depression: Factors leading to a diagnosis
What factors determine whether people with depressive symptoms receive a corresponding diagnosis? Researchers investigated this using “Living in Germany” study data.
They found that a formal diagnosis is more likely among those with poorer physical and mental health, women, the elderly, the unemployed, and those with neuroses. One explanation is that these groups – especially people with existing health impairments – go to the doctor more frequently and, thus, are more likely to be diagnosed. The situation is different for men, people with good physical and mental health, and those with stable employment. They are less likely to be diagnosed with depression.
According to the researchers, women are more likely to seek medical help after symptoms occur than men. This is due to gender-specific attitudes toward mental illness. However, some research results also indicate that doctors are more likely to diagnose depression in women and other typical at risk groups than in men.Further information
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Almost one third of refugees suffer from loneliness
About 27 percent of refugees in Germany say they often or very often feel lonely. They are also more likely to exhibit personality traits such as anxiety than other refugees.
An analysis of data from the “Leben in Deutschland” study reveals that the majority of refugees affected live in shared accommodation and feel less welcome than those who say they do not feel lonely. Those who live with a partner and outside of shared accommodation tend to feel less lonely. Those who take advantage of counseling services or language courses also report feelings of loneliness less frequently.
In addition, experiences on the way to Germany play a role: if refugees have experienced sexual harassment, physical violence, extortion, or imprisonment, they are more severely affected by loneliness.Further information
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![Mann sitzt auf Bettkante und schaut auf sein Handy]()
Facets of loneliness
Recently, the issue of loneliness has become a greater focus of politics and society. Even if loneliness itself is not a disease, it can cause the development or worsening of various mental and physical illnesses. Thus, loneliness is increasingly seen as a challenge for society as a whole
When researchers use “Living in Germany” to determine how lonely people are, they look at three subjectively perceived facets of loneliness: being alone, isolation, and exclusion. However, these facets vary: for example, 56% of people recently reported feeling alone; only 20% said they felt isolated, and 28% said they felt excluded.
Researchers have now investigated whether there are regional differences within Germany when it comes to the prevalence of loneliness characteristics. According to the findings, loneliness is reported particularly strongly by people from the west and south of Germany. At the same time, loneliness is a feeling that, according to the study, is felt particularly strongly by women.
Men with low incomes have the highest risk of loneliness. Such evaluations help to combat loneliness effectively, for example by targeting risk groups and raising awareness among doctors and healthcare staff.Further information
ZEIT Online: Menschen mit geringem Einkommen sind häufiger einsam (in German only)
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![Frau steht hinter Mann mit Rollstuhl]()
How does caregiving affect one’s own well-being?
Informal care work negatively affects well-being. The longer and the more hours are invested in care work, the greater the negative consequences – especially for women. This is shown by a study of possible changes after the start of caregiving and during it. Surveys of carers from three countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia) show that taking on a caring role generally has negative mental and psychosocial consequences. These consequences are particularly strong in the first two years after the start of caregiving. During this time, stress-reducing measures could be used to increase the well-being of caregivers.
The longer the care work lasts, the worse the respondents rate their life satisfaction. The effects are more pronounced for women than for men. For both genders, the more hours they spend on informal care work, the lower their own well-being.Further information
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![Frau mit Katether]()
Health inequality
How do people in Germany rate their general state of health? If you look at data from the study “Living in Germany” from the last 20 years, you come to the following conclusion: people with lower incomes are more likely to report having less good or poor health. Researchers see this as a sign of growing health inequality: socially disadvantaged people have less chance of achieving and maintaining good health. They are also more likely to suffer from illnesses or die prematurely.
Further information
image by Stephen Andrews from Unsplash
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![Frau sitzt mit Tasse in der Hand und Kopfhörern zu Hause vor dem Computer]()
Reducing the risk of infection for all population groups
Researchers have found that people with socio-economic disadvantages are more likely to have contracted the coronavirus. But does this also apply if they work from home? Researcher Markus M. Grabka and colleagues from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) analyzed data from a survey conducted with the Robert Koch Institute. They compared the risk of infection among people in Germany with lower and higher levels of education who work from home. The result: working from home reduces the risk of infection, especially among people with lower levels of education – an important finding for future pandemic prevention, according to the researchers.
Further information
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![Frau steht mit dem Rücken zur Kamera am Strand und hält einen Kaffee in der Hand]()
Researching Loneliness
Prior to the pandemic, 14% of people living in Germany felt lonely at least every once in a while. This figure had risen to 42% in 2021. Before Covid, loneliness mainly affected people over the age of 75 years, women, people with a low income and low educational status, people with a migration background, and unemployed people. Today, loneliness is more widespread, affecting more and more young people and couples with children, among others. Social differences, such as income, play less of a role in the experience of loneliness than before.
“Living in Germany” provides the data for a broad initiative of the German government, the “Strategy against Loneliness.” The aim is to increase knowledge about loneliness, thus finding pathways to provide prevention and relief. Loneliness is associated with high health risks: If it persists over a longer period of time, it promotes both mental and physical illnesses. It leads to less life satisfaction and a lower general sense of well-being. People suffering from loneliness are more likely to have depression and sleep problems, alongside an increased risk of coronary heart disease, strokes, or heart attacks.
Further information
Kompetenznetzwerk Einsamkeit: Epidemiologie von Einsamkeit in Deutschland (pdf)
Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend: Wissen zu Einsamkeit vertiefen
National Geographic: Die Vermessung der deutschen Einsamkeit
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![Drei Frauen stehen gemeinsam und lachen.]()
Upward Trend in Mental Health
Between 2002 and 2020, the data show a general upward trend in mental health in Germany, in line with economic growth. Mental health declined significantly during the financial crisis of 2009 and the first year of COVID. When people fear job loss or economic crisis, their mental health clearly suffers.
Social inequalities also play a major role: women’s mental health was consistently worse than men’s. University graduates had better mental health than people without a university degree, and non-migrants had slightly better mental health than migrants.
„Politicians need to take this more fully into account in their decisions. The costs of poor mental health are enormous and widely underestimated,” says Dr. Daniel Graeber, author of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Further information
Foto by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 from Unsplash …
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![Menschen mit verschiedenen Hautfarben tragen eine Maske]()
Migration and Covid-19
By the end of October 2021, more than four million people in Germany had been infected with Corona. In order to be able to investigate possible differences in infections and vaccinations between people with and without migration experience, the antibody study “Corona Monitoring bundesweit” (RKI-SOEP-2) was conducted. All participants of the survey “Living in Germany” 2021 were invited to participate in the antibody study.
At the time of the survey in October 2021, most of the people in Germany had already come into contact with the spike protein of the Corona virus at least twice through vaccinations and/or infections, i.e. were already immunized. The proportion of those who had already come into contact with the virus at least twice was higher among persons without migration experience than among persons with migration experience (90 versus 82 percent). This difference is due to the higher vaccination rate among persons without migration experience. In addition, persons with migration experience had already contracted Corona twice as often as persons without migration experience (8 versus 4 percent).
In their research report, the two researchers Dr. Manuel Siegert (BAMF-FZ) and Laura Goßner (IAB) show that the difference in the frequency of infection is not due to the migration experience per se, but to the different life circumstances, such as the residential, professional and family situation. For this reason, the researchers recommend that the respective living conditions of the group of people to be protected be taken into account when adopting protective measures and health campaigns.
The RKI-SOEP-2 study was conducted jointly by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), the Research Center of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) and the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).
Further information
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![Older woman sitting at the radiator checking a bill]()
Rising energy prices
The German government has invested almost 24 billion euros in relief measures to counter rapidly rising energy prices due to the war in Ukraine. The money is going toward increased social welfare benefits, reduced gas taxes, and a heavily discounted monthly public transport pass. But are these measures actually offsetting the increased costs?
As data from the study “Living in Germany” show, the increase in energy prices is placing the most severe burden on poorer households. For the poorest 10 percent of the population, the costs of electricity, heat, and fuel will eat up 6.7 percent of net income in the next 12 to 18 months. These households will receive 3.7 percent of that back in the form of government relief, leaving them with an energy burden of 3 percentage points. leaving them with an energy burden of 3 percentage points.
For the richest 10 percent of households in Germany, energy costs will only consume an additional 2 percent of net income. They will receive 0.7 percent of that back in government relief, leaving them with an energy burden of just 1.3 percentage points.
“There is a lot to be said for not reducing the tax burden on higher income earners, and in the medium term, for raising taxes on very high incomes and assets,” says economist Stefan Bach of DIW Berlin, who carried out the study with his colleague Jakob Knautz.
Further information
DIW Berlin: Hohe Energiepreise: Arme Haushalte trotz Entlastungspaketen am stärksten belastet
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![Frau steht am Straßenrand und hält sich ihr Shirt vor die Nase]()
Better air quality in cities
In Germany, “environmental zones” are urban areas where only low-emission vehicles are allowed. The aim in creating these zones is to improve air quality and thus to have a positive impact on people’s health. Yet according to the results of a study based on data from “Living in Germany,” the life satisfaction of city inhabitants actually declines in the first few years after these zones are created.
“People need about four to five years to get used to environmental zones,” says DIW researcher Nicole Wägner. In her view, the reason for this lies in people’s living situations: People whose mobility is reduced due to an environmental zone or who have to dig deep into their pockets to buy a low-emission car find it more difficult to accept them.
People under the age of 65 and people with diesel-fueled cars are initially less satisfied when an environmental zone is created. “Younger people have a greater need for mobility and more often have to use a car to get to work. There are stricter standards for diesel-fueled cars in environmental zones than for gas-fueled cars,” explains co-author Luis Sarmiento from the Milan-based RFF-CMCC European Institute on Economics and the Environment.
Further information
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![Woman caring for elderly gentleman with cane, she supports him and carries his shopping bag]()
Low-income workers need supportive care services six years earlier
New analyses based on data from the study Living in Germany show that people with lower incomes have a higher risk of needing supportive care and nursing services. Men at risk of poverty are likely to need care almost six years earlier than higher-earning men, while women need care around three and a half years earlier.
Occupation also plays a role. On average, blue-collar workers need supportive care and nursing services about four years earlier than civil servants. In addition, men and women with high-stress jobs need supportive care and nursing services on average 4.7 and 2.7 years earlier, respectively.
“In Germany, there is social inequality not just in income and life expectancy, but also in the risk of needing care,” says DIW expert Peter Haan, who worked with colleagues from the SOEP in conducting the study.
Further information
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![Mother and infant in a stretcher]()
How trust influences vaccination readiness
When social trust is high, people are more inclined to collaborate—even in crisis situations. This mechanism has been at work during the pandemic, according to results of a special survey of more than 12,000 participants in the long-term study “Living in Germany”.
According to this special survey on life in Germany during COVID-19, trust has been high during the pandemic. In fact, social trust increased between February 2020 and June 2021. The results show how important trust has been in overcoming the pandemic: People with higher trust in others are more likely to get vaccinated against COVID-19. They are also more likely to follow COVID-19 rules such as “keep a safe distance,” “wash your hands,” and “wear a mask.”
Further information
Photo by Marcin Jozwiak on Unsplash…
