Documentation of the German Generations and Gender Survey, Round II - Wave 1

Abstract

The Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) is a European panel study on family demography, involving more than 20 countries across Europe and beyond. It provides data for cross-national and longitudinal research on issues related to parenthood (generations) and couple life (gender). A new round of data collection with representative national samples was launched in 2020 (GGS-II). Germany is one of the countries participating in both rounds of data collection. The German GGS-II is part of a larger German panel study called FReDA. The first GGS wave in Germany was conducted in 2021, which also marked the first wave of FReDA. GGS wave 2 will correspond to the fourth FReDA wave. The German GGS deviates from the standard GGS design in several ways, most of which are due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, face-to-face interviews were planned for 2021, but due to the pandemic, these were not possible. As a result, the German GGS was conducted using two self-administered modes: web-based and paper-based questionnaires. This switch in data collection mode led to two additional adjustments: Instead of one long survey lasting around 60 minutes, three shorter surveys were administered to reduce break-off rates. Additionally, the sample sizes were much larger than initially planned, as the self-administered modes proved to be more cost-efficient.