Strong family ties can diminish people’s likelihood of having depressive feelings by providing material and non-material resources. Having both parents alive, having not experienced the divorce of one’s parents, and having siblings were all found to reduce the risk of having a depressive mood. Being married was found to have a particularly protective effect (after controlling for education, employment status, and financial situation). Moreover, this effect was found to be stronger in Eastern than in Western European countries suggesting that a more supportive welfare state can buffer the impact of not being married on one’s depressive mood.
Impact of marital status on the likelihood of having a depressive mood among adults age 18-79 in Eastern and Western European countries
Strong family ties can diminish people’s likelihood of having depressive feelings by providing material and non-material resources. Having both parents alive, having not experienced the divorce of one’s parents, and having siblings were all found to reduce the risk of having a depressive mood. Being married was found to have a particularly protective effect (after controlling for education, employment status, and financial situation). Moreover, this effect was found to be stronger in Eastern than in Western European countries suggesting that a more supportive welfare state can buffer the impact of not being married on one’s depressive mood.
Impact of marital status on the likelihood of having a depressive mood among adults age 18-79 in Eastern and Western European countries
The presence of children is associated with greater inequality in the gender division of housework among couples in France, western Germany, and eastern Germany. In all three cases, couples with children share housework tasks less equally than their childless equivalent. However, major cross-national differences exist when it comes to the age of children. While in western Germany the inequality is largest when young children are present, and slightly improves thereafter, the exact opposite pattern is observed in France.
Gender division of housework by age of the youngest child
Since the year 2000, a total of about 680 papers or reports based on GGS data have been published or presented at conferences. This includes more than 200 articles in scientific journals and 21 PhD theses. As of 2012, the GGP counts close to 600 registered projects, up from 100 in 2009!
Number of bibliographical units using GGP as the data source
In addition to providing individual-level survey data, the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) offers contextual data on demographic, social and economic conditions at the national and regional levels for up to 60 countries. These data are available in the GGP Contextual Database, which is integrated into the GGP web page. The GGP Contextual Database enhances the analytical potential of the Generations and Gender Survey by enabling users to link individual-level behaviour with information about the context in which the individual is embedded. The database is designed to support research into micro-macro links at the intersection of demographic and social science research. In addition, researchers interested in studying macro-level trends can also benefit from the data available in the GGP Contextual Database. The database is co-ordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock, Germany.
Main Contextual Database interface: Example
Receiving childcare help from grandparents has a positive and significant impact on mothers’ labour force participation in some countries (Bulgaria, Germany and Hungary) but not in others. Findings thus suggest a complex interaction between formal and informl childcare, national context, and fertility decisions. Moreover, controlling for the endogeneity of grandparents’ childcare provision through the use of instrumental variables reveals considerable biases as compared to a “naive” probit model.
Estimated marginal effect of grandparents’ childcare provision on mothers’ labour supply a
Source: Aassve, A., Arpino, B., Goisis, A. (2012). Grandparenting and mothers’ labour force participation : a comparative analysis using the Generations and Gender Survey. Demographic Research. 27, 3: 53—84.
a: Estimated with a bivariate probit model, marginal effects after controlling for age, education, number and age of children.
– statistically not significant result; 
– statistically significant result
