Press Release | November 05, 2024

Women´s Education Influences Fertility Rates in Sub-Saharan Africa

New research shows a strong correlation between higher levels of female education and lower fertility rates in sub-Saharan Africa. A study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) and partners finds that educated women are leading the shift towards smaller family sizes, even influencing the decisions of less educated women around them. The study's innovative forecasting model based on education levels provides policymakers with better tools to understand how women's education can shape future population trends and promote sustainable development.  More

Latest Publications | October 18, 2024

Autumn 2024

Introduction to our research groups

Statistical Demography

Symposium | October 30, 2024

Scholarly Migration and Scientific Mobility

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research recently hosted a symposium to bring together researchers from different disciplines and countries working on scholarly migration and mobility and to start a network. A special issue as part of the journal "Quantitative Science Studies" is in production.  More

Selected Publications

Akbaritabar, A.; Theile, T.; Zagheni, E.:

Bilateral flows and rates of international migration of scholars for 210 countries for the period 1998-2020   Scientific Data 11:816, 1–14. (2024)

Gueltzow, M.; Lahtinen, H.; Bijlsma, M. J.; Myrskylä, M.; Martikainen, P.:

Genetic propensity to depression and the role of partnership status   Social Science and Medicine 351:116992, 1–8. (2024)

More Publications

New Issue 3/2024 available | September 24, 2024

The Quarterly German Newsletter

Questions and Answers

Being a Researcher at the MPIDR

Working at MPIDR

Life & Research in Rostock

Press Release | October 22, 2024

Family as a Wealth Factor

A new study conducted by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), the University of Cologne, GESIS and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health explores how an individual’s financial wealth changes in relation to generational transitions within the family. The results indicate that those who become parents and grandparents later in life, and, particularly if they experience the loss of their parents later, tend to accumulate the most wealth. In contrast, families spanning four generations experience the smallest increase in wealth. A person's financial wealth is deeply interconnected with intergenerational family transitions, such as the birth of grandchildren or the death of parents, and is tied to the family structure as a whole.  More

The Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) in Rostock is one of the leading demographic research centers in the world. It's part of the Max Planck Society, the internationally renowned German research society.