As of 2005, and since 2008 in particular, child care provision for under-three-year-olds in Germany has been expanded across the board. We examine whether this expansion of services - using evidence of a reduced burden on mothers and fathers with children in this age group - has significantly...

Investment in education is of great importance for the competitiveness of the German economy. In particular, early childhood education programs promise high returns - because children can benefit from them even years later and find it easier to learn new skills. These are the results of research...

The coalition agreement of November 2013 includes a number of specific and ambitious goals relating to economic and social development. For instance, investment in infrastructure is to be increased and the income situation of certain groups of pensioners and employees improved through higher...

When mothers with young children contemplate employment, a decisive factor is whether day care is available. Extensive research has been carried out on the subject. However, to date, it has failed to address the extent to which the quality of day care affects maternal employment decisions. We...

Both children and their parents can benefit from early education and child care. We investigate whether the various provisions are utilized by all families and what differences there are in terms of the socio-economic resources available to them. On the basis of the German Socio-Economic Panel...

Language skills and education are key factors for migrants being able to participate in all areas of economic and social life. Initial findings from the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample are starting to show whether immigrants are successful in transferring the human capital they have acquired abroad to...

In East Germany, prior to reunification, day care provision was widely available to encourage mothers to return to work soon after giving birth. Conversely, in West Germany, child care facilities for the under-threes were few and far between and, at the end of the '80s/beginning of the '90s, the...

Schulische und berufliche Qualifikationen spielen eine entscheidende Rolle, wenn es darum geht, Geflüchtete und andere MigrantInnen erfolgreich in die Gesellschaft zu integrieren. Welche Qualifikationen haben MigrantInnen bereits im Herkunftsland erworben, welche in Deutschland? Und in welchem...

Eltern mit Kindern, die noch nicht zur Schule gehen, stehen bei der Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf vor besonderen Herausforderungen. Um diese Eltern besser zu unterstützen, hat die Politik sowohl den Ausbau von Plätzen in der öffentlichen Kindertagesbetreuung (Kita) forciert als auch ein...

Innovation ist in China zu einem Modewort geworden. Die chinesische Regierung ist bestrebt, das Land von einem reinen Produktionsstandort zu einem der führenden Innovationsstandorte zu entwickeln. Dabei sind bereits beachtliche Erfolge erzielt worden. China hat seine Aktivitäten in Forschung...