Can Personality Traits Increase the Risk of Divorce?

Can Personality Traits Increase the Risk of Divorce?

What influence do personality traits have on divorce? And how do their effects change over time? Diederik Boertien and Dimitri Mortelmans use the psychological concept of "The Big Five" to understand the association between personality and divorce in Britain, Germany and Flanders. They determined individuals’ "Big Five" personality traits (agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism and openness to experience) using three questions for each trait based on seven-point scales ranging from "Do not agree at all" to "Fully agree".
Retirement in Germany: Life, love and bridge employment

Retirement in Germany: Life, love and bridge employment

Men and women perceive differently the consequences of work after retirement on relationships
With more time than ever to themselves, retirees’ relationships with their partners can certainly be expected to evolve. Hopefully, to improve. But as German society ages, more and more retirees are engaging in bridge employment, paid work between the retirement from full-time work and complete withdrawal from the labour market. The consequences of this trend on relationships after retirement are still unclear, but a new study from Andreas Mergenthaler and Volker Cihlar shows that, as ever, there is a gender dimension to the question.
PD_The road less (and less) travelled

The Road Less (and Less) Travelled

When deciding to move, men’s careers are still prioritised, but dual-income households are less likely to go
The decision to pick up and move is a complex one. Migrating involves both direct costs — the move itself — and indirect, opportunity costs, or the foregone benefits of staying put. Moving a household exacerbates this complexity. A new study by Sergi Vidal, Francisco Perales, Philipp M. Lersch and Maria Brandén confirms that this is especially true for dual-earner couples, couples in which both members work outside the home. In principle, this means expanding female labour force participation and shrinking earnings gaps could restrict family moves in the future.
News: TwinLife - Genetic and Social Causes of Life Chances

TwinLife - Genetic and Social Causes of Life Chances

A genetically informative, longitudinal study of the life course and individual development
TwinLife is a 12-year representative behavior genetic study investigating the emergence and development of social inequalities over the life course. The long-term project began in 2014 and surveys more than 4,000 pairs of twins and their families in different stages of life on a yearly basis. All of the subjects reside in Germany. Not only social, but also genetic mechanisms as well as covariations and interactions between these two factors can be examined with the help of identical and fraternal same-sex twins.
Books and Reports: Finding Their Way - Labour Market Integration of Refugees in Germany

Finding Their Way - Labour Market Integration of Refugees in Germany

The report provides a brief overview of the characteristics of recently arrived asylum seekers and discusses current labour market conditions and the outlook for integration. In the preparation of this report, extensive consultations with employers were undertaken. Recent policy initiatives are assessed against good practices from other OECD countries.   Download the report here.
News: Quantifying Economic Dependency

Quantifying Economic Dependency

In this paper we compare several types of economic dependency ratios for a selection of European countries. These dependency ratios take into account not only the demographic structure of the population, but also the differences in age-specific economic behaviour such as labour market activity, income and consumption as well as age-specific public transfers.
News: Does the Internet Affect Assortative Mating? Evidence from the U.S. and Germany

Does the Internet Affect Assortative Mating? Evidence from the U.S. and Germany

The Internet has now become a habitual channel for finding a partner, but little is known about the impact of this recent partnership market on mate selection patterns. This study revisits the supply side perspective on assortative mating by exploring the role played by online venues in breeding educational, racial/ethnic and religious endogamy. It compares couples that met online (through either online dating platforms, Internet social networking, Internet gaming website, Internet chat, Internet community, etc.) to those that met through various offline contexts of interaction.
Books and Reports: Dare to Share: Germany's Experience Promoting Equal Partnership in Families

Dare to Share: Germany's Experience Promoting Equal Partnership in Families

This review introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany.  It encourages German policy makers to build on the important reforms since the mid-2000s to enable both fathers and mothers to have careers and children, and urges families to “dare to share”. To those ends it places Germany’s experience in an international comparison, and draws from the experience in, for example, France and the Nordic countries which have longstanding policies to support work-life balance and strengthen gender equality.

This review introduces the background to and issues at stake in promoting equal partnerships in families in Germany.  It encourages German policy makers to build on the important reforms since the mid-2000s to enable both fathers and mothers to have careers and children, and urges families to “dare to share”. To those ends it places Germany’s experience in an international comparison, and draws from the experience in, for example, France and the Nordic countries which have longstanding policies to support work-life balance and strengthen gender equality. 

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