The German Survey on Volunteering - Der Deutsche Freiwilligensurvey: User manual for SUF FWS 2014, Version 1.3

The German Survey on Volunteering (Deutscher Freiwilligensurvey, FWS) is a representative survey on volunteering in Germany, focused on persons aged 14 and above, funded by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (German: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend, BMFSFJ). The Survey on Volunteering is the largest study on volunteering and holding honorary office in Germany. It offers a central basis upon which to provide social reporting on volunteering. Extent and context of volunteering, donations, the willingness to volunteer and their motives have been surveyed in telephone interviews. Data can be differentiated by social and regional characteristics. Data of the Survey on Volunteering (FWS) have been surveyed every five years since 1999. The fourth wave took place in 2014. For every wave a separate random sample was drawn, therefore the data is cross-sectional. Until 2009, the survey was managed and conducted by TNS Infratest Sozialforschung (1999 Infratest Burke). Since December 2011 it has been scientifically managed and supervised by the German Centre of Gerontology (DZA). The inter-views of the fourth wave were conducted by infas - Institute for Applied Social Sciences in 2014. Data sets of all waves have been edited by the DZA as Scientific Use Files and are available at the Research Data Centre of the DZA (Forschungsdatenzentrum - FDZ-DZA). This user manual intends to facilitate working with the SUF German Survey on Volunteering 2014 and could be useful to consult for all issues of data management. For usage of the first three waves we recommend the user manual 2009-2004-1999 (Hameister et al. 2017)

Partnership quality in the Covid-19 pandemic: People in the second half of life are adaptable in their couple relationships

This report investigates the role of the corona pandemic for the quality of partnerships of people in the second half of life. The present findings on partnership quality refer to people who participated in the DEAS surveys in 2017, summer 2020 and winter 2020/21. To examine the course of partnership quality, only people who did not separate from their partner between 2017 and the winter of 2020/21 are considered. Main questions adressed are: 1. What changes in perceived partnership quality were seen for people in the second half of life during the Covid-19 pandemic? 2. How do changes in perceived partnership quality differ between certain population groups (age groups, gender and education groups)? Key messages: The Covid-19 pandemic was accompanied by a temporary deterioration in the perceived partnership quality of people in the second half of life. By winter 2020/21, the situation for couples had improved again. The perceived partnership quality of people aged between 42 and 59 years deteriorated more during the first pandemic phase than the partnership quality of people aged 60 years or older. The Covid-19 pandemic widened gender gaps in perceived partnership quality to the disadvantage of women. People from different educational groups reported comparable changes in perceived partnership quality during the Covid-19 pandemic

German Ageing Survey (DEAS): User Manual SUF DEAS2014, Version 4.1 (October 2021)

The German Ageing Survey (DEAS) is a nationwide representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of the German population aged over 40. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ). The German Centre of Gerontology in Berlin (DZA) is responsible for the conduct and ongoing development of the study. The primary goal of the DEAS-Survey program is to provide a representative national database containing information describing the living conditions of the country's middle-aged and older population and to study the diversity within the older section of the population, the process of ageing as it affects individuals and processes of social change as they relate to old age and ageing. The DEAS covers a wide range of topics. The data obtained provide information on socioeconomic and demographic attributes as well as household composition, housing, family structure, social networks, psychological resources, attitudes as well as and physical and mental health. The comprehensive examination of people in mid- and older adulthood provides micro data for use both in social and behavioral scientific research and in reporting on social developments. The data thus provides a source of information for decision-makers, the general public and for scientific research. Microdata of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) are available free of charge to scientific researchers for non-profitable purposes. The Research Data Centre (FDZ-DZA) provides access and support to scholars interested in using DEAS data for their research. Data and documentations from completed DEAS waves are available by the FDZ-DZA (https://www.dza.de/en/research/fdz). However, for reasons of data protection, signing a data distribution contract is required before data can be obtained. The DEAS applies a cohort-sequential design, which allows the users to analyze societal trends and individual trajectories (embedded inside societal trends) and to disentangle age effects from cohort effects. The first DEAS survey wave took place in 1996, further waves followed in 2002, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020. The 5th wave in 2014 considered a panel sample of study participants who had entered the DEAS earlier as well as a new sample of adults, aged 40 to 85 years. Sampling, fieldwork and data collection for all waves have been carried out by the Bonn-based Institute for Applied Social Sciences (infas). Infas also took over scanning, coding of the open references to the occupational status and the new data weighting

German Ageing Survey (DEAS): User Manual SUF DEAS 2017, Version 2.2 (October 2021)

The German Ageing Survey (DEAS), funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ), is a nationwide representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of the German middle-aged and older population. The German Centre of Gerontology in Berlin (DZA) is responsible for the conduct and ongoing development of the study. The primary goal of the DEAS survey program is to provide a representative national database containing information describing the living conditions and to study the diversity within the older section of the population, the process of ageing as it affects individuals and processes of social change as they relate to old age and ageing. The DEAS covers a wide range of topics. The data obtained provide information on socioeconomic and demographic attributes as well as household composition, housing, family structure, social networks, psychological resources, attitudes as well as and physical and mental health. The comprehensive examination of people over 40 provides micro data for use both in social and behavioral scientific research and in reporting on social developments. The data thus provides a source of information for decision-makers, the general public and for scientific research. The DEAS applies a cohort-sequential design, which allows the users to analyze societal trends and individual trajectories (embedded inside societal trends) and to disentangle age effects from cohort effects. The first DEAS survey wave took place in 1996, further waves followed in 2002, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020. The 6th wave in 2017 considered a cross-sectional sample as well as a panel sample of study participants who had entered the DEAS earlier. Sampling and fieldwork for all waves (1996-2017) have been carried out by the Bonn-based Institute for Applied Social Sciences (infas), scanning and coding of the additional questionnaires by the DB Profi-Kontor GMBH in Butzbach

German Ageing Survey (DEAS): User Manual SUF DEAS 2008, Version 3.2 (March 2021)

The German Ageing Survey (DEAS) is a nationwide representative cross-sectional and longitudinal survey of the German population aged over 40. It is funded by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ). The German Centre of Gerontology in Berlin (DZA) is responsible for the conduct and ongoing development of the study. Sampling and fieldwork for all waves (1996-2020) has been carried out by the Bonn-based Institute for Applied Social Sciences (infas). The primary goal of the DEAS survey program is to provide a representative national database containing information describing the living conditions of the country’s middle-aged and older population and to study diversity within the older section of the population, the process of ageing as it affects individuals and processes of social change as they relate to old age and ageing. The DEAS covers a wide range of topics. The data obtained provide information on socioeconomic and demographic attributes as well as household composition, housing, family structure, social networks, psychological resources, attitudes as well as and physical and mental health. The comprehensive examination of people in mid- and older adulthood provides microdata for use both in social and behavioural scientific research and in reporting on social developments. The data thus provides a source of information for decision-makers, the general public and for scientific research. The DEAS applies a cohort-sequential design, which allows the users to analyze societal trends and individual trajectories (embedded inside societal trends) and to disentangle age effects from cohort effects. The first DEAS survey wave took place in 1996, further waves followed in 2002, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2020. The third wave of the survey in 2008 considered a panel sample of study participants, who had entered the DEAS earlier as well as a new sample of adults, aged 40 to 85 years. Microdata of the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) are available free of charge to scientific researchers for non-profitable purposes. The Research Data Centre (FDZ-DZA) provides access and support to scholars interested in using DEAS data for their research. Data and documentations from completed DEAS waves are available by the FDZ-DZA. However, for reasons of data protection, signing a data distribution contract is required before data can be obtained

Deutscher Alterssurvey (DEAS): Kurzbeschreibung des Datensatzes SUF DEAS2008, Version 3.2 (März 2021)

Der Deutsche Alterssurvey (DEAS) ist eine vom Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend (BMFSFJ) geförderte Langzeitstudie des Deutschen Zentrums für Altersfragen (DZA) zum Wandel der Lebenssituationen und Alternsverläufe von Menschen, die sich in der zweiten Lebenshälfte befinden. Grundlage sind bundesweit repräsentative Befragungen im Quer- und Längsschnitt von jeweils mehreren tausend Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmern im Alter ab 40 Jahren. Die beteiligten Personen werden umfassend zu ihren objektiven und subjektiven Lebensbedingungen befragt. Hinzu kommen Testverfahren zur Erhebung der kognitiven Leistungsfähigkeit und körperlichen Gesundheit. Aufgrund seines kohortensequenziellen Längsschnittdesigns, seiner Themenbreite, seiner nationalen Repräsentativität mit vergleichsweise hoher Fallzahl und der bereits relativ langen Beobachtungsdauer stellt der DEAS eine in Deutschland einzigartige Datenquelle zur interdisziplinären Erforschung der Lebenssituationen und Lebensverläufe sowie der subjektiven Sichtweisen und Lebenspläne älterwerdender und alter Menschen dar