We Celebrate Our 50th Birthday!

50th Anniversary

50th Anniversary of BiB

At the end of the 1960s, a development took place in Germany that still strongly shapes our population structure today: Birth rates declined massively - fewer children were born, more and more people remained childless. What were the causes and what were the consequences? Answering these questions was once the impetus for founding the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB).

This year, the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) celebrates its 50th anniversary. Since 1973, we have been researching the diverse causes and consequences of demographic change in Germany and beyond. On this science-based foundation, we advise policymakers and inform the public.

The BiB yesterday, today and tomorrow

In an interview regarding the 50th anniversary Director Prof. Dr. C. Katharina Spieß sums up the activities of the institute in the last 50 years, talks about current research and gives an outlook on future trends and focal points.

The anniversary issue of „Bevölkerungsforschung Aktuell“, looks at the development of the institute. In addition to greetings from the Federal Minister of the Interior and Community, Nancy Faeser, and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the BiB, Prof. Dr. Marcel Thum, an article in the issue highlights the development of research work in recent decades and describes the changes. A timeline provides facts of population trends and developments over the last 50 years and relates them to the BiB.

Joint Anniversary Week: Official Ceremony and Destatis-BiB Symposium

The BiB anniversary was the occasion for our celebration week from 3 to 6 July 2023 in Wiesbaden. Two of the events were organised together with the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

The official ceremony on 5 July was the kick off of our joint anniversary week in Wiesbaden. We were pleased to welcome, among others, Dr Markus Richter, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community and Federal Government Commissioner for Information Technology, Mathias Cormann, OECD Secretary General, Gert-Uwe Mende, Lord Mayor (Wiesbaden) and Prof. Dr. Armin Grunwald, member of the German Ethics Council. The Destatis-BiB symposium „Daten.Forschung.Zukunft“ followed on 6 July 2023.

Scientific Conference: “Frontiers in Policy Relevant Population Research”

In addition, the BiB organised an international conference entitled “Frontiers in Policy Relevant Population Research” from 3 to 5 July, also in Wiesbaden. The conference was organised around three strands reflecting central themes in population research:

Strand 1: 3 Years of FReDA: Families and Partnerships in Germany and Europe

Keynotes:

Anne Gauthier, NIDI
Karsten Hank, University of Cologne

Families and partnerships are continuously evolving and reacting at different speeds to various social processes, with variation across cultures and social groups. Researching these changes often reveals a complex interplay of causes and therefore requires complex data. FReDA – The German Family Demography Panel Study is a large German interdisciplinary data infrastructure, initiated in 2020, that opens up new avenues for family research. It integrates both the German Generations and Gender Survey (GGS) and the German Family Panel (pairfam), enabling longitudinal analyses, dyadic analyses, as well as cross-national comparisons.

This thematic strand brings together international researchers working on families and partnerships in Germany and Europe. Empirical presentations are based on data from FReDA, GGS, pairfam or the project Refugees from Ukraine in Germany (IAB-BiB/FReDA-BAMF-SOEP-Befragung).

Strand 2: Internal Mobility and International Migration Across the Life Course

Keynotes:

Sergi Vidal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Ayse Güveli, University of Essex

Mobility within countries and international migration are often studied as separate phenomena. Scholars are either interested in causes and consequences of one or the other. The mechanisms involved in different types of mobilities, however, may be similar and internal mobility may mesh with international migration processes. This conference strand aims to explore similarities and differences of spatial mobilities and spark dialogue across research perspectives and disciplines. A particular emphasis is put upon potential links between mobility and migration at the national and international level.

Strand 3: Mortality Trends and Future Prospects for Longevity in Times of Great Uncertainty

Keynote:

Alyson van Raalte, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

For several decades, many high- and middle-income countries have enjoyed a steady reduction in mortality. A notable exception are the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, which experienced periods of life expectancy stagnation or even decline surrounding the collapse of the Eastern bloc. Until very recently, one could reasonably assume that mortality would continue to decline further. However, rising economic uncertainty, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, as well as signs of rapid climate change cast serious doubts on this optimistic view and bring in question future prospects for longevity.

This conference strand, linked to the ERC-funded REDIM project, will discuss these issues to explore future prospects for longevity improvement.

Programme

Further information and the programme of the conference can be found here.

Download: Overview of the BiB anniversary week (pdf, 1MB)

Prof. Dr. C. Katharina Spieß

C. Katharina Spieß, Director of the Institute:

“I have been director of the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) since October 2021. It is really nice that in my second year as director I could host such an exciting event with the team at BiB. I have been delighted to celebrate with many international and national researchers in Wiesbaden this year.”

Dr. Sebastian Klüsener

Sebastian Klüsener, Head of Research Area
Ageing, Mortality and Population Dynamics:

“Many interesting scientific contributions were submitted for our international conference. I especially enjoyed the interactive parts of the conference, where we took a look at how scientific findings can be even better incorporated into policy!”

Organising Committee

Laura Brockschmidt, Anna Dechant, Lena Frembs, Pavel Grigoriev, Yvonne Halfar, Sebastian Klüsener, Jana Knechtges, Elisabeth Kraus, Emily Lines, Detlev Lück, Regina Otto, Katja Patzwaldt, Markus Sauerberg, Nils Witte

Funded by:

DFG-Förderung

Federal Institute for Population Research

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