New Publication | June 11, 2025

Couples with Opposing Political Views Face Higher Risk of Separation

A recent study by researchers at the University of Padua and the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) has revealed that political differences between partners can significantly increase the risk of separation. Using long-term data from UK couples, the researchers found that those with different party preferences were substantially more likely to separate than those with the same political beliefs. The risk is particularly high when there are differences of opinion on Brexit. More

June

Scientific Presentations

Talks@BIOSFER

2:00 PM: Talk TBA
2:20 PM: Talk with Philipp Dierker (MPIDR) - The role of parental separation and father involvement in the timing of puberty in girls and boy
2:40 PM: Talk with Yunsung Lee (NIPH) - Fecundity score with polygenic risk scores More

All Events

Research Visit | June 04, 2025

Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program 2025

New Issue 1/2025 available | April 02, 2025

The Quarterly German Newsletter

Introduction to our research groups

Fertility and Well-Being

June 02, 2025

Rethink Fertility and Gender Inequality in a Changing World

Recap of the “Gender Inequalities, Fertility, and the Future of Family Demography: Intersectionality in an Era of Family Complexity” conference in Rostock: In March 2025, researchers from six continents gathered at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) for the “Gender Inequalities, Fertility, and the Future of Family Demography: Intersectionality in an Era of Family Complexity” conference in Rostock. The scholars came together to debate and advance the understanding of fertility, gender inequality, social stratification, and the growing complexity of family life. More

Selected Publications

Hiekel, N.; Kühn, M.:

Lessons from the pandemic: gender inequality in childcare and the emergence of a gender mental health gap among parents in Germany Demographic Research 51:3, 49–80. (2024)

Klein, J. D.; Weber, I. G.; Zagheni, E.:

Stop, in the name of COVID! Using social media data to estimate the effects of COVID-19-related travel restrictions on migration Demography, 1–19. (2024)

More Publications

Jobs & Fellowships

New articles every week

Questions and Answers

Being a Researcher at the MPIDR

Working at MPIDR

Life & Research in Rostock

Press Release | April 02, 2025

Low Fertility and Economic Sustainability

SPOTLIGHT | March 13, 2025

A Difficult Childhood Increases the Risk of Dying Early

SPOTLIGHT | March 11, 2025

Level of Education and Place of Residence Influence Fertility Rates

Open Access

Online Available Books

Estimating Kinship Size of Older Adults in Europe With Models and Surveys

In a paper recently published in Demography, Diego Alburez-Gutierrez (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR)) and his colleagues, Maike van Damme and Andres Castro Torres (Centro de Estudios Demográficos (CED)), compared survey data and kinship models in order to estimate the kin networks of older adults. They found that the two methods produced remarkably similar results, providing a solid foundation for continued work in kinship demography. More