About the Study

"FReDA – The German Family Demography Panel Study" is a scientific study. The name stands for "Family Research and Demographic Analysis". Twice a year, the study collects data about living situations of partnerships and families in Germany. FReDA provides researchers with representative, reliable, and high-quality data, thus enabling up-to-date analyses of the family and the population. The project reports key findings of political relevance to policymakers and the public in a timely manner.

The focus of the study are men and women in the family formation phase, i.e. those between the ages of 18 and 49. Randomly selected individuals in Germany from this age group and their partners will be regularly surveyed every six months. Participants will complete a questionnaire in the spring and fall.

Family at the Centre

The questions included in FReDA explore a variety of demographic, psychological and sociological facets of life in Germany. Particular attention is given to family planning and the forms of living together with a partner. Depending on one’s living situation, the parent-child relationship or the relationships between the generations will be addressed. In addition, FReDA is studying, for example, life satisfaction, well-being, moral concepts, understanding of roles and structural frameworks of the survey participants.

Researchers have the opportunity to contribute additional research questions to the survey design through open modules - based on the thematic spectrum of FReDA and thus, expand the scope of the survey.

FReDA is intended to be the largest family demographic panel in Germany.

Integration of pairfam and GGS in FReDA

After an initial recruitment survey in the spring of 2021, FReDA's regular surveys will begin in the summer of 2021 and will take place twice a year on an ongoing basis. The FReDA question catalogue will include content from the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) and the German Family Panel (pairfam). Thus, the surveys in 2021 correspond with the GGS and this correspondence is repeated every three years. As a result, the FReDA surveys also allow for international comparisons with numerous other countries in Europe and beyond. Starting in 2022, the survey of the German Family Panel (pairfam) will be integrated into the FReDA survey on a long-term basis.

Structure of the Research Project

FReDA is a collaborative project involving the German Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) and GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. The University of Cologne was also a FReDA project partner until the end of 2024. The University of Cologne represented those responsible for the relationship and family panel (pairfam). After the scheduled end of funding by the German Research Foundation, the pairfam research project was discontinued. However, the pairfam sample will be continued by FReDA.

The complete coordination of the project is carried out by the German Federal Institute for Population Research. In addition, BiB is responsible for the ongoing development of the questionnaires. The international cooperation with the consortium of the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) is also coordinated by BiB. Finally, BiB is responsible for science communication, press relations, and the development and maintenance of the project website.

GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences is responsible for the survey design and methodological support of the study. Furthermore, GESIS organises the implementation and programming of the questionnaires, the operational execution of the surveys, the subsequent data processing, documentation and data provision.

As the representative of the pairfam consortium, the University of Cologne had many years of experience in panel research on cohabiting couples in Germany. This knowledge flowed into the development of the FReDA questionnaires.

The project is advised, supported, and accompanied by the FReDA Advisory Board, an advisory board that includes representatives from the funding agencies, other ministries and academia.

FReDA will be financed from January 2020 to December 2024 through initial funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Following a positive evaluation, the study has been stabilised since January 2025 and is being continued as a self-financed project at the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB).