Individual and Household Data in the Research Data Centre (FDZ)
The Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the Federal Employment Agency at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) currently offers the following datasets containing personal and household information on employees:
Sample of Integrated Labour Market Biographies (SIAB)
IAB Employment Samples (IABS)
BA Employment Panel
Integrated Employment Biographies Sample (IEBS)
Biographical Data of Social Insurance Agencies in Germany (BASiD)
Cross-sectional survey 'Life Situation and Social Security 2005 (LSS 2005)'
Panel Study 'Labour Market and Social Security' (PASS)
Working and Learning in a Changing World (ALWA)
Client Survey on Organizational Forms of SGBII-Agencies 2007/08
Other data on individuals
Sample of Integrated Labour Market Biographies (SIAB)
The Sample of Integrated Labour Market Biographies (SIAB) is a 2 percent random sample of individuals in Germany which either have been employed subject to social security, have received benefits according to the German Social Code Book II or III, participated in programs of active labour markete policies, or have officially been registered as job-seekers at the German Federal Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA). The SIAB covers the period 1975 to 2008.
The SIAB replaces the IAB Employment Sample (IABS) and the Integrated Employment Biographies Sample (IEBS). It combines the advantages of the IABS – a long observation period– with the advantages of the IEBS in terms of complete employment biographies.
IAB Employment Samples (IABS):
The existing versions of the IAB Employment Samples are 1% or 2% samples drawn from the IAB employee history supplemented by information on benefit recipients, the IAB recipient history. Since the IAB Employment Samples are updated subsequent to the Employment Panel database, even belated employer notifications are considered. Samples cover a continuous flow of data on employment subject to social security as well as on receipt of unemployment benefits, unemployment assistance and maintenance allowance; therefore, they are highly suitable for performing analyses on the employee and benefit recipient history. Additionally, the datasets contain a number of establishment characteristics.
BA Employment Panel:
The BA Employment Panel consists of a 2% sample drawn from the quarterly employment statistics. The database is intended mainly to deliver up-to-date information, for which, in this case, belated employer notifications will not be considered. Since data are collected quarterly on a defined reference date, the Employment Panel may especially be utilized as a basis for cross-section as well as time-series, panel and cohort analyses. Moreover, the BA Employment Panel represents the official statistics of the Federal Employment Agency, while data from the IABS are different due to the different editing procedures. Similar to the IABS, the BA Employment Panel contains few variables on establishments in addition to the characteristics of individuals covered by social security. Finally, it includes information on unemployment and participation in employment and training measures, with two characteristics per reference date.
Details on the differences between the IABS and the BA Employment Panel under:
Koch, I. / Meinken, H. (2004): The Employment Panel of the German Federal Employment Agency. In: Schmollers Jahrbuch 124, S. 315-325
Integrated Employment Biographies Sample (IEBS):
Similar to the IABS, the Integrated Employment Biographies Sample (IEBS) is based on the employee history and the benefit recipient history compiled in the IAB. By way of contrast, the IEBS integrates other available data sources too, such as the participants in measures and applicants pool databases. Thus, the IEBS embraces event history data on employees liable to social security, benefit recipients, persons who are searching for employment, unemployed persons and participants in measures of active labour market policy. The IEBS allows for more detailed overviews of employment histories than was possible in the past, as well as comprehensive analyses on active labour market policy. The spells related to participations in measures contain numerous cases on the following measures in active labour market policy: job-creation measures, settling-in allowance, business start-up allowance, measures to promote vocational training, German language courses and more.
Biographical Data of Social Insurance Agencies in Germany (BASiD)
Both the Research Data Centre of the German Pension Insurance (FDZ-RV) and the Research Data Centre of the Federal Employment Agency in the Institute for Employment Research (FDZ BA/IAB) offer longitudinal individual-level datasets. These datasets contain on the one hand information of the social security notifications and on the other hand characteristics of the administrative procedures of both institutions. In each institution only information for accomplishment of their own current tasks is kept. For example information concerning number of children and birth dates or information about reduction in earning capacity is stored only in the German Pension Insurance, while information about training measures of the Federal Employment Agency is only available at the Institute for Employment Research.
In the project “Biographical Data of Social Insurance Agencies in Germany” data of the German Pension Insurance and the German Federal Employment Agency are merged. The data 'BASiD' started in 1951 and contain complete employment biographies of about 500.000 individuals. There is information from vocational training to pension.
Cross-sectional survey 'Life Situation and Social Security 2005 (LSS 2005)'
The Cross-Sectional Survey 'Life Situation and Social Security 2005' (LSS 2005) was carried out by the Institute for Applied Social Sciences (infas) commissioned by the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) between November 2005 and March 2006. 20,832 persons affected by the German 'Hartz IV' reform were interviewed including: recipients of unemployment or social assistance of employable age (15-64) who were registered as unemployed or job seekers in December 2004 and employable persons in need of assistance aged 15-64 who were registered as unemployed or as job seekers in January 2005 and who were recipients of Unemployment Benefit II (ALG II) according to the German Social Code Book II.
The specific characteristic of the LSS is that it represents a unique dataset which allows for drawing up analyses of the referenced target groups directly after the amalgamation of unemployment and social assistance alongside the introduction of the German Social Code Book II ('Hartz IV' reform).
Panel Study 'Labour Market and Social Security' (PASS)
With the Panel Study 'Labour Market and Social Security' (PASS) the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) establishes a novel dataset in the field of labour market, welfare state and poverty research in Germany. PASS is a new central source for drawing up analyses with reference to the labour market and poverty situation in Germany as well as to the situation of recipients of benefits in accordance with the German Social Code Book II. It covers a broad spectrum of research questions with regard to the issues of employment and unemployment and is suitable to provide even very detailed information. The panel also includes large-scale socio-demographic characteristics and subjective indicators such as contentment, fears and problems or employment orientation. With almost 19,000 interviewed persons in more than 12,500 households (wave 1 in 2006/2007) PASS is currently one of the most comprising panel surveys in Germany.
The survey is conducted annually.
Working and Learning in a Changing World (ALWA)
’Working and Learning in a Changing World’, ALWA derived from its German name ‘Arbeiten und Lernen im Wandel’ for short, is a dataset with detailed information about the life histories of adults in working age. The sample consists of birth cohorts 1956-1988 living in Germany. From August 2007 to April 2008 computerized telephone interviews with these people were conducted. The ALWA-data contain detailed information about education and employment trajectories and residential, partnership and parenthood histories from more than 10.400 persons and allows longitudinal analysis in particular about schooling and training decisions, labour market behaviour as well as about processes of family formation and regional mobility.
Client Survey on Organizational Forms of SGBII-Agencies 2007/08
When the Social Code Volume II (SGB II) was introduced in 2005, the tasks to be carried out in association with assisting the individuals concerned were also changed. A standard model was not developed for this assistance, but instead different forms of organisation (agencies responsible for implementing the SGB II) compete with each other and are to be evaluated according to the law (§6c SGB II). To this end a large association of research institutions conducted extensive surveys among the agencies responsible for implementing the SGB II and among the clients of these agencies. The unusual feature of the client survey which was developed in this project is that the details about the respondents are linked with a wealth of information about the agency (organisation, strategies, labour market indicators). In addition, detailed questions are asked about activation measures implemented by the agencies and about the results of these measures for the recipients of benefits in accordance with SGB II. Furthermore, the survey also includes detailed questions about the living situations and employment histories of the benefit recipients, as well as an instrument to measure employability. The survey is representative of the 154 selected agencies responsible for the implementation of SGB II.
Other Personal Information
In addition to the aforementioned individual data, details on employees covered by social security are also provided by the FDZ in the Integrated Establishment and Individual Data.
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