Household Panel Study Research Articles

Overview of International Household Panel Studies - Statement of the German Council of Science and Humanities on the Status and Future Development of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), November 13, 2009, Appendix 6

Overview of International Household Panel Studies - Statement of the German Council of Science and Humanities on the Status and Future Development of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), November 13, 2009, Appendix 6

Reflections on the Incorporation of Biomeasures into Longitudinal Social Surveys: An International Perspective

This article is concerned with the underlying rationales for including biomeasures in longitudinal social surveys. In particular, it seeks to draw out the potential advantages of incorporating biomeasures in household panel studies for advancing our understanding of behaviors. A key emphasis is on elaborating pathways from biology through the brain/mind to behaviors and outcomes, particularly for social, demographic, economic, and health domains. The article elaborates these themes and illustrates them within the context of international experience. It lays out some of the key issues concerning conceptualization and operationalization of the integration of biomeasures into surveys. The next section considers the particular issues concerned with these opportunities and innovations for household panel studies. This is followed by a brief summary of the extent to which biomeasures have been incorporated into longitudinal social surveys, especially outside the United States. The final main section considers a wide range of strategic issues in the the collection of biomeasures in household panel studies and is followed by a brief conclusion.

Repartnering and (Re)employment: Strategies to Cope With the Economic Consequences of Partnership Dissolution

The economic consequences of a partnership dissolution have been described consistently in the research literature. For women all studies indicate severe financial losses, whereas men do not experience income decreases to the same extent. This article focuses on the 2 main strategies to cope with the economic consequences of a separation: repartnering and (re)employment. Using the European Community Household Panel Study we analyzed a sample of 66,292 individuals observed in a relationship of whom 4,925 subsequently separated and assessed the (relative) effect of both strategies in a cross‐national longitudinal perspective. Where men do not benefit financially from cohabiting with a new partner, repartnering proves to outweigh the benefits of reentering the labor force or increasing the working hours for most women. This especially applies to mothers.

Socioeconomic inequalities in health dynamics: A comparison of Britain and the United States

Drawing on theory and research on the fundamental causes of health, the life course, and the welfare state, we investigate social inequalities in dynamic self-rated health for working-aged Britons and Americans. We use data from the British Household Panel Survey and Panel Study of Income Dynamics (1990-2004) and a mixture latent Markov model to test a theoretical model of health as a discrete state that may remain stable or change over time. Our contributions are threefold. First, our finding of three distinctive types of health processes (stable good health, stable poor health, and a "mover" health trajectory) represents a more differentiated profile of long-term health than previously shown. Second, we characterize health trajectories in structural terms by suggesting who was more likely to experience what type of health trajectory. Third, our more differentiated picture of dynamic health leads to a more nuanced understanding of comparative health: Although the health advantage of Britons was confirmed, our results also indicate that they were more likely to experience health change. Moreover, the socioeconomic gradient in long-term health was steeper in the US, raising provocative questions about how state policies and practices may affect population health.

Social influences on trajectories of self-rated health: a comparative study of four OECD countries

To describe average national trajectories of self-rated health over a 7-year period, identify social determinants of cross-sectional and longitudinal health; and compare cross-national patterns. Prospective nationally representative household panel studies...

Letters/Editorial

Letters/Editorial

Improvements and Future Challenges in the Field of Genetically Sensitive Sample Designs

Understanding the sources of individual differences beyond social and economic effects has become a research area of growing interest in psychology, sociology, and economics. A quantitative genetic research design provides the necessary tools for this type of analysis. For a state-of-the-art approach, multigroup data is required. Household panel studies, such as BHPS (Understanding Society) in the UK or the SOEP in Germany, combined with an oversampling of twins, provide a powerful starting point since data from a reasonably large number of non-twin relatives is readily available. In addition to advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental influences on key variables in the social sciences, quantitative genetic analyses of target variables can guide molecular genetic research in the field of employment, earnings, health and satisfaction, as combined twin and sibling or parent data can help overcome serious caveats in molecular genetic research.

Changing Attitudes to Gender Roles

This article examines changes in attitudes to gender roles in contemporary Britain by using a first-order Markov process in which cumulative transition probabilities are logistic functions of a set of personal and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents. The data are taken from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS). The attitudinal responses examined take the form of ordinal responses concerning gender roles in 1991 and 2003. The likelihood function is partitioned to make possible the use of existing software for estimating model parameters. For the BHPS data, it was found that, depending on the value of the response in 1991, a variety of factors were important determinants of attitudes to gender roles by 2003.

Attrition of Households and Individuals in Panel Surveys

Attrition is mostly caused by not contacted or refusing sample members. On one hand it is well-known that reasons to attrite due to non-contact are different from those that are due to refusal. On the other hand does non-contact most probably affect household attrition, while refusal can be effective on both households and individuals. In this article, attrition on both the household and (conditional on household participation) the individual level is analysed in three panel surveys from the Cross National Equivalent File (CNEF): the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP), the British Household Panel Study (BHPS), and the Swiss Household Panel (SHP). To follow households over time we use a common rule in all three surveys. First, we find different attrition magnitudes and patterns both across the surveys and also on the household and the individual level. Second, there is more evidence for reinforced rather than compensated household level selection effects if the individual level is also taken into account.

Measuring Poverty in Britain as a Multi-dimensional Concept, 1991 to 2003

AbstractWhile poverty is widely accepted to be an inherently multi-dimensional concept, it has proved very difficult to develop measures that both capture this multi-dimensionality and facilitate comparison of trends over time. Structural equation modelling appears to offer a solution to this conundrum and is used to exploit the British Household Panel Study to create a multi-dimensional measure of poverty. The analysis reveals that the decline in poverty in Britain between 1991 and 2003 was driven by falls in material deprivation, but more especially by reduced financial stress, particularly during the early 1990s. The limitations and potential of the new approach are critically discussed.

Age differences in the big five across the life span: Evidence from two national samples.

Cross-sectional age differences in the Big Five personality traits were investigated using 2 large datasets from Great Britain and Germany: the British Household Panel Study (BHPS; N > or = 14,039) and the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSEOP; N > or = 20,852). Participants, who ranged in age from 16 to the mid-80s, completed a 15-item version of the Big Five Inventory (e.g., John & Srivastava, 1999) in either 2005 or 2006. The observed age trends were generally consistent across both datasets. Extraversion and Openness were negatively associated with age, whereas Agreeableness was positively associated with age. Average levels of Conscientiousness were highest for participants in middle age. The only exception was Neuroticism, which was slightly negatively associated with age in the BHPS and slightly positively associated with age in the GSEOP. Neither gender nor education level were consistent moderators of age differences in the Big Five.

Living Outside Germany: A Feasibility Study Concerning the Implementation of Interviews Abroad within the Framework of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) (Leben ausserhalb Deutschlands - Eine Machbarkeitsstudie zur Realisierung von Auslandsbefragungen auf Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP))

With the pilot study Living outside Germany, the longitudinal German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) ventures into completely uncharted methodological territory by attempting to locate the addresses of former participants in the German household panel study SOEP who have since immigrated abroad, and to survey these individuals with the help of a specially developed written questionnaire on the reasons for their international move. In the years 2002 to 2005, 228 immigrants were identified among the SOEP participants. After successfully locating their addresses, it was possible to send the questionnaire to 52 of these immigrants. On this basis 23 interviews were ultimately carried out. Limited selectivity problems were identified regarding gender, partnership status, subjective evaluation of health status, life satisfaction, and region of residence prior to immigration (former West/former East Germany). However, significant age and earning-specific selectivity effects were also noted.

The long-term consequences of partnership dissolution for support in later life in the United Kingdom

ABSTRACTThere has long been an interest in the United Kingdom about whether and how changes in family life affect support for older people, but nevertheless the consequences of partnership dissolution for late-life support have been little researched. Using data from the British Household Panel Study (1991–2003), this study investigated the longitudinal association between partnership dissolution and two types of support for 1,966 people aged 70 or more years: (i) informal support from children in the form of contacts and help (e.g. household assistance including care), and (ii) formal support from community care services (i.e. health visitor or district nurse, home-help and meals-on-wheels). The paper also examines the level of reported support among: (i) all parents aged 70 or more years and (ii) 1,453 unpartnered parents in the same age group (i.e. those lacking the most important source of support in later life: a spouse). We found diversity in the experience of partnership dissolution in the past lives of people aged 70 or more years. Patterns of support varied by the respondent's age, whether partnered, the timing and type of partnership dissolution, and by gender, having a daughter and health status. Overall, however, partnership dissolution did not show the expected detrimental relationship with later-life support. Health needs and increasing age were strongly associated with increases in contact and informal and formal help, regardless of family history.

Socioeconomic differences in service use, payment and receipt of illness-related benefits in the last year of life: findings from the British Household Panel Survey

Background: Terminal illness presents a financial challenge to many households, but in Britain the situation should be eased by state benefits, such as attendance allowance, which is available to everyone in the last six months of life without means testing. Aim: To investigate the use of health and social services, payments and benefit receipt by individuals in differing financial circumstances in the year before death. Methods: Analysis of individual level panel data for 1652 community-dwelling decedents from 12 waves of the British Household Panel Study (1991–2003). Results: In the year before death, over 90% of decedents saw their GP, and around one-third spent some time in hospital. More than 80% paid no fees for any services. Over a third of decedents aged over 65 reported financial strain, but only 13.9% of these were receiving attendance allowance. People who felt that they were having financial difficulties were more likely to be frequent attenders in primary care, taking age, health status and other factors into account (adjusted OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.3–2.6, P < 0.001). Older age was associated with less use of primary, but not secondary care. Conclusions: Financial strain was common, but benefit uptake low. Primary health care professionals saw nearly all decedents in their last year, and could play an important role in ensuring that the elderly and the less well off are aware of the services and benefits available to them.

The Pivotal Role of Women in Informal Care

Supporting and caring for each other are crucial parts of the social tissue that binds people together. In these networks, men and women hold different positions: Women more often care more for others, listen more to the problems of others, and, as kin keepers, hold families together. Is this true for all life stages? And are social conditions, among other things bound to the organization of work and family, an essential explanation of these differences? Data from the sixth wave (1997) of the Panel Study of Belgian Households allow us to answer these questions. The results show that women are the glue holding social relations together. They play a central role as friends, daughters, sisters, mothers, and grandmothers throughout all stages of the life course. Similar life commitments do not reduce these gender differences but instead emphasize them even further.

Does Union Dissolution Lead to Unemployment? A Longitudinal Study of Health and Risk of Unemployment for Women and Men Undergoing Separation

Research on the socio-economic consequences of divorce or union dissolution has largely focused on women's loss of income after separation. Scant attention has been paid to the effects of union dissolution on individuals’ employment. Expanding the literature on the interlocked effects of divorce and health on labour market outcomes, the aim of this paper is to examine the consequences of union dissolution on employment for both women and men. The data on which this study is based are drawn from the Swiss Household Panel (SHP) study. Using Cox proportional hazards regression models, I estimate the effects of union disruption on unemployment for employed men and women in a marriage or cohabitating union over the period of 1999–2004. Findings indicate that individuals whose unions end are at a greater risk of unemployment compared to their married/cohabiting counterparts. Results also suggest the presence of relevant gender differences in the ways in which women and men experience union dissolution in relation to their labour market position. Men's hazard of unemployment is higher than that of their female counterparts, even after controlling for crucial gendered variables.

Early Retirement in Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom: A Longitudinal Analysis of Individual Factors and Institutional Regimes

In this article we investigate whether early retirement patterns vary between countries with distinct early retirement systems. By choosing countries that differ not only with respect to the coverage and generosity of publicly provided pensions but also with respect to the extent to which the state interferes in the non-public pillars of pension provision, we analyse to what extent such issues have an effect on individual early retirement behaviour. Selectivity effects are expected to be stronger in countries with highly fragmented public systems or private early retirement schemes. By pursuing a shift to more private pension provisions, governments might unintentionally create more inequality in early retirement opportunities among the population. For the analysis we use longitudinal data, i.e. British Household Panel Study (BHPS) 1991-2004 (the United Kingdom), the German Socia-Economic Panel (GSOEP) 1990-2005 (Germany, and the Socia-Economics Panel (SEP) 1990-2001 (Netherlands) and a discrete-time competing-risks model. The results suggest that pursuing a shift from public to private early retirement schemes can lower the incidence of early retirement. Yet, at the same time, early retirement can get more selective in that only the higher paid are able to afford it.

A household production model of demand for childcare and meals: theory and evidence from the Philippines

Becker/Mincer theory of home production was the first to systematically incorporate time in economic models, and the theory generated much empirical research in a wide variety of areas. However, the direct applications of Becker/Mincer home production theory in empirical research are scarce because of the innate immeasurability of commodities. In this paper, I recover unobservable commodities from the cost functions under certain assumptions about production technologies. Then, using the Philippine Bukidnon panel study of rural households, I test for the core of the Becker model: negative substitution effects between a time-intensive and a goods-intensive commodity arising from wage increases. The estimates of the structural form as well as the reduced form relative demand between childcare, which represents a time-intensive commodity, and meal consumption, which represents a goods-intensive commodity, support the major predictions of the model.

On the Treatment of Non-Original Sample Members in the German Household Panel Study (SOEP) - Tracing, Weighting, and Frequencies

In this paper we discuss the rationale for tracing non-original sample members (Non-OSMs) in household panel studies, and in particular in SOEP, and the implications for weighting. We present results on the incidence, survival rates, and thus the relevance of Non-OSMs in the SOEP.

Improvements and Future Challenges in the Field of Genetically Sensitive Sample Designs

Understanding the sources of individual differences beyond social and economic effects has become a research area of growing interest in psychology, sociology, and economics. A quantitative genetic research design provides the necessary tools for this type of analysis. For a state-of-the-art approach, multigroup data is required. Household panel studies, such as BHPS (Understanding Society) in the UK or the SOEP in Germany, combined with an oversampling of twins, provide a powerful starting point since data from a reasonably large number of non-twin relatives is readily available. In addition to advances in our understanding of genetic and environmental influences on key variables in the social sciences, quantitative genetic analyses of target variables can guide molecular genetic research in the field of employment, earnings, health and satisfaction, as combined twin and sibling or parent data can help overcome serious caveats in molecular genetic research.