Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

Press Release | April 23, 2026

Men Have Fewer Children Than Women

Researchers investigated whether men or women have fewer children. Using international datasets, they demonstrate that imbalances in population structure, particularly an increasing proportion of men, affect male fertility. While men used to have higher fertility than women globally, this has reversed, and women have and will have a higher fertility rate than men. The scientists offer recommendations to counteract the social implications of this trend.  More

New Research Project | April 21, 2026

The Future of Education: Max Planck Society Starts Interdisciplinary Research Project “EduTrack”

The Max Planck Society is launching a 6-year research project to explore how education must change to account for rapid societal transformations. As of April 2026, the “EduTrack” project initiates a collaboration between researchers across three Max Planck Institutes. Experts from demography, history, computer science and political science will collaborate to produce fresh insights on digital education, the globalisation of knowledge, as well as the impact of education on social mobility, crisis resilience, and democracy.  More

New Publication | April 16, 2026

People With a Similar Risk of Divorce are More Likely to Marry Each Other

A study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health found that spouses tend to be very similar in terms of their risk of separation. Marriage is shaped not only by a person's own background, but also by that of their partner. The analysis of over 350,000 Norwegian marriages reveals a previously underestimated phenomenon: people with a similar risk of divorce tend to marry one another.  More