Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

We study the structure and dynamics of populations and explore issues of political relevance, such as aging, fertility, and the redistribution of work over the life course, as well as digitization and the use of new data sources for the estimation of migration flows.

New Faces at MPIDR | December 03, 2025

Welcome Elena Pojman!

The Kinship Inequalities Research Group welcomes Elena Pojman as a new member. Prior to joining MPIDR, Elena was a dual-title Ph.D. candidate in sociology and demography at Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on social stratification and how it affects how people spend their time and money. For her dissertation, she used mathematical demographic methods to study how race, ethnicity, educational attainment, and gender influence partnerships and caregiving. More

December

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December

Doctoral School

7th PHDS Annual Academy

Once a year, the Annual Academy brings together IMPRS-PHDS students and their supervisors at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. During the three days Academy the participants are involved in various program components, e.g. student and faculty presentations, and have a lot of opportunities for networking and collegial exchange. More

All Events

Call for Application

Population and Social Data Science Summer Incubator Program

Call for Papers

Conference: Kinship Structures, Dynamics, and Inequalities

Introduction to our research groups

Kinship Inequalities

Gaza | November 25, 2025

Study Reveals Unprecedented Losses of Life and Life Expectancy

A research team from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) and the Centre for Demographic Studies (CED) investigated the impact of the ongoing conflict in Gaza on mortality. They estimate that 78,318 (70,614-87,504) people were killed in Gaza between October 7, 2023 and December 31, 2024. As a result, life expectancy in Gaza in 2024 fell to nearly half the level expected without the war. An update of their analysis, produced after the publication of the study, revealed that the current violent death toll likely exceeds 100,000. More

Selected Publications

Loi, S.; Li, P.; Myrskylä, M.:

Unequal weathering: how immigrants’ health advantage vanishes over the life-course Journal of Migration and Health 11:100303, 1–11. (2025)

Gueltzow, M.; Oude Groeniger, J.; Bijlsma, M. J.; Jansen , P. W.; Houweling, T. A. J.; van Lenthe, F. J.:

Childhood obesity's influence on socioeconomic disparities in young adolescents’ mental health Annals of Epidemiology 94, 19–26. (2024)

More Publications

Recommended Readings | November 11, 2025

Rethinking Formal Demography: Birth as an Event Experienced by the Child

Career

Open Positions

Questions and Answers

Being a Researcher at the MPIDR

Working at MPIDR

Life & Research in Rostock

New articles every week

New Issue 3/2025 available | September 25, 2025

The Quarterly German Newsletter

Press Release | July 02, 2025

Rapid Demographic Changes Reshape Family Structures

Open Access

Online Available Books

New Research Group | November 19, 2025

New Max Planck Research Group on Reproductive Ageing

For over 50 years, Max Planck Research Groups have been a key source of support for junior scientists. They provide postdoctoral researchers with first-rate support to help them advance in their scientific careers. The selection procedure for Group Leader positions is rigorous. Susie Lee, research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), is one of the successful applicants. She will lead a research group to study reproductive ageing. More