SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES / DISTRIBUTED

GGP

The Generations and Gender Programme
General Info
headquarters

Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI)

Postbus 11650, 2502AR The Hague, The Netherlands

legal status
type

distributed

access

virtual

description
The Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) is a distributed RI with the aim to provide scientists and policy makers with high quality and cross-nationally comparable longitudinal data on population and family dynamics to answer pressing scientific and societal challenges. The GGP is based on the collection, documentation, and dissemination of data from large-scale, nationally representative surveys and other data sources in Europe and beyond. It provides data on transitions to adulthood, family dynamics, fertility decisions, work-life balance, well-being, gender roles, and intergenerational exchanges. It maintains a Contextual Database which comprises a wide range of macro-level indicators characterizing the societal, economic and institutional context of countries to formulate empirically-informed policies on families and population. The GGP was launched under the umbrella of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) as early as 2000. Since 2009 the Central Hub (headquarters) of the GGP has been located at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI). The GGP has two institutional nodes; one at the Institut National d’Etudes Démographiques (INED) in France and one at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) in Germany. In 2016, the GGP obtained the status of emerging project in the ESFRI Roadmap 2016, noting GGP’s scientific excellence as well as its European added value and socio-economic impact. The GGP-EPI project provided the GGP with the means to institutionalize and further formalise key processes required to position the GGP for a successful application for inclusion in the ESFRI Roadmap as a sustainable, world-class Research Infrastructure. The project culminated with the successful application and inclusion in the ESFRI Roadmap 2021 and the consequential Preparatory Phase Project GGP-5D which is to pave way for GGP’s new legal status. The GGP data has high scientific impact and is also essential for other stakeholders to formulate empirically-informed policies on families and population. It also supports international collaboration in multidisciplinary projects in population studies and contributes to establish new standards in the measurement of family dynamics.
TIMELINE & ESTIMATED COSTS
Total Investment 18,2 M€ Design 4,2 M€ Preparation 3,9 M€ Implementation 7,2 M€ Operation 1,1 M€/year Project 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2038 RM06 RM08 RM10 RM16 RM18 RM21 LA24
Roadmap Entry
as project: 2021
Total investment
18,2 M€
Design Phase
2017-2021
4,2 M€
Preparation Phase
2022-2025
3,9 M€
Implementation Phase
2026-2027
7,2 M€
Operation start
2028
1,1 M€/year
IMPACTS
Foundation and early phase: In 2000, the GGP Programme was launched under the umbrella of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. In 2008, an international conference demonstrated the first findings and potential of the GGP. In 2009, a EU-Design Study grant (2009-2012) signified a major change in the tempo of development, enabling a strategic rethink of the Programme’s long-term strategy. Emerging phase: In 2016, the GGP obtained the status of Emerging Project by the ESFRI, and received funding for the Horizon 2020-funded (INFRADEV-2016-2) GGP: Evaluate, Plan and Initiate (GGP-EPI: 739511). The GGP-EPI project provided the GGP with the means to institutionalize and further formalize key processes required to position the GGP for a successful application for inclusion in the ESFRI Roadmap 2021 as a sustainable, world-class research infrastructure. Consequentially, the GGP's Preparatory Phase Project (GGP-5D: 101079357) funded by the Horizon Europe was launched in 2022. It is to pave way for GGP’s new legal status. The GGP is a key resource for scientific research providing data on fertility decisions, work-life balance, transition to adulthood, wellbeing, and intergenerational exchanges. The GGP includes information from over 30 countries. Longitudinal data on individuals and their families is needed to identify how family background, education, labour market conditions and family-related choices shape individuals’ experiences and behaviours. The GGP allows for reconstructing respondents’ life trajectories both retrospectively (looking at people’s past life histories) and prospectively (using the panel survey to monitor how people’s lives unfold). An important reason for incorporating this retrospective and prospective life course design is to facilitate causal inference. Data from the GGP has sparked a vast range of multidisciplinary comparative research projects, with findings published in more than 1,572 scientific publications to date, including articles in journals of multiple disciplines - demography and population studies, sociology, economics, health, psychology, education, and statistics. Analyses based on GGP data are able to bring insights that are crucial for designing policy measures and addressing societal challenges especially those related to demographic changes. The GGP data is recurrently used to provide information to international (e.g. United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, United Nations Population Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and governmental organizations (e.g. ministries, municipal offices) dealing with social and demographic issues. GGP data is used to measure Sustainable Development Goals - SDG 3 and SDG 5.
SERVICES
The GGP provides access to micro level Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) data to registered users for non-commercial use. The access to the data is facilitated through the GGP website with the help from the UNECE ensuring safe and secure access to GGP’s micro data. Aggregated data, metadata and documentation of the GGS can be browsed openly by everyone via the GGP’s website. The GGP data covers the themes of fertility decisions, work-life balance, transition to adulthood, wellbeing, and intergenerational exchanges as well as the gender division of paid and unpaid work labour. The GGP includes information from over 30 countries. Longitudinal data on individuals and their families is needed to identify how family background, education, labour market conditions and family-related choices shape individuals’ experiences and behaviours. The GGP allows for reconstructing respondents’ life trajectories both retrospectively (looking at people’s past life histories) and prospectively (using the panel survey to monitor how people’s lives unfold). An important reason for incorporating this retrospective and prospective life course design is to facilitate causal inference. GGP produces two key data products: the original GGS dataset and the Harmonized Histories dataset which is focused on life history data. Through the GGP’s Harmonized Histories dataset, researchers have access to an international comparative dataset, created through harmonizing data from existing surveys – including the GGS – into one common format, to facilitate research on topics related to transition to adulthood, family formation, and non-marital childbearing, and to allow for the use of event history analysis methods.
Interconnections
GGP
D I G I T E N E E N V H & F P S E
COOPERATION WITH OTHER RIs
Survey based RIs (ESS-ERIC, GGP, GUIDE, SHARE-ERIC) collaborate at both the international land national level. At the international (headquarters) level the collaboration includes the exchange of methodological insights, as well as joint funding applications. In 2024, the new project Infra4NextGen (Horizon Europe funded) started. It is led by the ESS-ERIC with the participation of the GGP and numerous other partners. At the national level, the RIs have joined forces in several countries for a joint national RI roadmap inclusion as well as to benefit from financial, strategic and implementation complementarities.