Life-span psychological research has long been interested in the contextual embeddedness of individual development. To examine whether and how regional variables relate to between-person disparities in the progression of late-life well-being, we applied three-level growth curve models to 24-year longitudinal data from deceased participants of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (N = 3,427; age at death = 18 to 101 years). Results indicated steep declines in well-being with impending death, with some 8% of the between-person differences in both level and decline of well-being reflecting between-county differences. Exploratory analyses revealed that individuals living and dying in less affluent counties reported lower late-life well-being, controlling for key individual predictors, including age at death, gender, education, and household income. The regional variables examined did not directly relate to well-being change but were found to moderate (e.g., amplify) the disparities in change attributed to individual variables. Our results suggest that resource-poor counties provide relatively less fertile grounds for successful aging until the end of life and may serve to exacerbate disparities. We conclude that examinations of how individual and residential characteristics interact can further our understanding of individual psychological outcomes and suggest routes for future inquiry.

We provide a concise introduction to a household-panel data infrastructure that provides the international research community with longitudinal data of private households in Germany since 1984: the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). We demonstrate the comparative strength of the SOEP data in answering economically-relevant questions by highlighting its diverse and impactful applications throughout the field.

Frick J. R. and Goebel J. Regional income stratification in unified Germany using a Gini decomposition approach, Regional Studies. Using representative micro data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), this paper delivers new insights into the development of income inequality and regional stratification in Germany after unification. This paper applies a new method for detecting social stratification by a decomposition of the Gini index that yields the obligatory between- and within-group components as well as an ‘overlapping’ index for the different sub-populations. It is found that East Germany is still a stratum on its own when using post-government income, but since 2001 no longer is when using pre-government income. These results remain stable when using alternatively defined regional classifications. However, there are also indications of some regional variation within West Germany. Frick J. R. et Goebel J. Les tranches de revenu régional dans l'Allemagne unifiée employant une décomposition Gini, Regional Studies. A partir des données microéconomiques provenant de la Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP – enquête permanente socio-économique) menée en Allemagne, cet article cherche à fournir de nouvelles perspectives sur le développement des inégalités de salaire et des tranches de revenu régional en Allemagne au lendemain de l'unification. On applique une nouvelle méthode qui permet de déceler les couches sociales par la décomposition de l'indice Gini qui fournit les nécessairs éléments intragroupe et intergroupe ainsi qu'une indice “chevauchante” pour les différentes sous-catégories de la population. A partir de la dotation globale de fonctionnement, il s'avère que l'est de l'Allemagne reste toujours une couche à part entière mais, depuis 2001, il ne l'est plus quand on considère les ressources propres. A partir d'autres classements régionaux, ces résultats restent inchangés. Cependant, il s'avère une certaine variation régionale dans l'est de l'Allemagne. Inégalité Décomposition Gini Tranches Unification allemande Ecarts régionaux SOEP Frick J. R. und Goebel J. Regionale Einkommeusstratifizietung im wiedervereinigten Deutschland mit Hilfe eines Gini-Dekompositionsansatzes, Regional Studies. Mit Hilfe repräsentativer Mikrodaten des sozioökonomischen Panels für Deutschland (SOEP) werden in diesem Beitrag neue Einblicke in das Entstehen eines Einkommensungleichgewichts und einer regionalen Stratifizierung in Deutschland nach der Wiedervereinigung geliefert. Wir nutzen eine neue Methode zur Erkennung von sozialer Stratifizierung mit Hilfe einer Dekomposition des GINI-Indexes, was zu den obligatorischen Komponenten zwischen und innerhalb von Gruppen sowie zu einem, überlappunge-Index für die verschiedenen Subpopulationen führt. Nach unseren Ergebnissen stellt Ostdeutschland weiterhin eine eigenständige Schicht dar, wenn man vom Einkommen unter Berücksichtigung aller staatlichen Transfers (‘post-government income’) ausgeht, hingegen seit 2001 nicht mehr, wenn man das Einkommen ohne diese Transfers (‘pre-government income’) untersucht. Diese Ergebnisse bleiben auch bei Verwendung unterschiedlich definierter regionaler Klassifikationen stabil. Allerdings gibt es auch innerhalb von Westdeutschland Anzeichen einer gewissen regionalen variation. Dekomposition von Ungleichgewicht Gini Stratifikation Deutsche Wiedervereinigung Regionale Disparitäten SOEP Frick J. R. y Goebel J. Estratificación de ingresos regionales en la Alemania unificada usando un enfoque de descomposición del índice Gini, Regional Studies. Con ayuda de micro datos representativos de un estudio de panel socioeconómico alemán, en este artículo aportamos nuevas perspectivas sobre el desarrollo de desigualdades de ingresos y estratificación regional en Alemania tras la unificación. Empleamos un nuevo método para detectar la estratificación social mediante una descomposición del índice GINI que produce los componentes obligatorios entre y dentro de los grupos así como un índice de ‘solapamiento’ para las diferentes subpoblaciones. Al analizar los ingresos posgubernamentales observamos que Alemania del este es todavía un estrato en sí pero deja de serlo a partir de 2001 si estudiamos los ingresos pregubernamentales. Estos resultados siguen siendo estables al utilizar clasificaciones regionales definidas de forma alternativa. Sin embargo, también hay indicios de cierta variación regional dentro de Alemania del oeste. Descomposición de las desigualdades Gini Estratificación Alemania unificada Disparidades regionales Panel socioeconómico alemán

We study how land use fragmentation affects the life satisfaction of city dwellers. To this end, we calculate fragmentation metrics based on exact geographical coordinates of land use from the European Urban Atlas and of households from the German Socio-Economic Panel. Using OLS and fixed effects specifications, we find little impact on life satisfaction when aggregating over land use types. Looking at particular types, however, we find that it is positively affected by lower average degrees of soil sealing, larger shares of vegetation, and more heterogeneous configurations of medium and low-density urban fabric, especially in areas with higher population density.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain, by combining two longitudinal perspectives, a more detailed national picture of poverty in the member states of the European Union, using the first four waves (1994–7) of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). In addition to this detailed consideration is given to the time dimension, poverty incidence, poverty gap and poverty intensity. Overall, the ranking across countries and dimensions is relatively robust. Denmark and Portugal differ from the rest of the countries in each dimension. Other exceptions include France and Ireland, where poverty intensity is considerably lower than in the other welfare regimes. The results in terms of the different subgroups of poor individuals, namely transitory, intermittently and persistently poor, emphasize the importance of a more differentiated perspective on poverty, in particular concerning the relationship between social and demographic characteristics and individuals’ long-term income situation.