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.
PHD | April 28, 2026
Congratulations, Chia-Jung Tsai!
Chia-Jung Tsai from the Laboratory of Migration and Mobility at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR), successfully defended her doctoral thesis, “Factors Shaping Public Attitudes and Responses to Refugee and Immigrant Populations: Examining the Interplay of Demographics, Media, and Contextual Influences“, at the University Pompeu Fabra. Her findings contribute to our understanding of how public opinion toward refugees and immigrants is shaped by various factors, such as the media, demographic composition, and the COVID-19 pandemic. More
April
28
Scientific Presentations
LabTalks@SocialDemography
Elena Pojman from the Research Group: Kinship Inequalities and Emma Zai from the Research Group: Labor Demography and the MaxHel Center give a talk. More
All Events
Recommended Readings | April 02, 2026
Family Complexity Influences Health in Mid-Adulthood
Pre-Conference Workshops EPC2026
Population Dynamics in a Changing Climate Health, Morbidity and Mortality Working Group Side Meeting Demographic Microsimulation in R using SOCSIM LLM Coding and Research Agents for Academics EAPS Working Group on Open Science in Demography
Introduction to our research groups
Gender Inequalities and Fertility
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
Selected Publications
Lorenti, A.; De Rose, A.; Racioppi, F.:
Volunteering during early retirement reduces depression Social Science and Medicine 367:117790, 1–12. (2025)
Schubert, H.-A.; Dudel, C.; Kolobova, M.; Myrskylä, M.:
Revisiting the J-shape: human development and fertility in the United States Demography 61:6, 1949–1973. (2024)
More Publications
New Issue 1/2026 available | March 31, 2026
The Quarterly German Newsletter
MPIDR@PAA2026
Introduction to Digital Trace Data for Migration Studies
Questions and Answers
Being a Researcher at the MPIDR
Working at MPIDR
Life & Research in Rostock
Latest Publications
Jobs & Fellowships
News | March 04, 2026
Large Gaps in Migration Research
Open Access
Online Available Books
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