MIGBACK contains information on respondents' migration background for all persons who have ever been a part of a SOEP household (i.e., the population from PPFAD, PPATH or PPATHL). In comparison to GERMBORN, the variable MIGBACK is useful to identify immigrants’ descendants by combining information on respondents’ country of birth (see GERMBORN) and (grand-)parental information such as their country of birth and their citizenship. The information for this variable comes predominantly from PPATH (GERMBORN), auxiliary citizenship variables (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “citizenship and legal status” and sub-heading “family information”), and the relevant biographical data sets (dataset BIOIMMIG). The variables were also updated using information from the wave-specific individual questionnaires (dataset PL), the variations of the “biography / life history” questionnaires (dataset BIOL), and the additional questionnaire for 16-17-year-olds in use since 2000 (dataset JUGENDL).
Respondents were assigned to the MIGBACK categories based on country of birth (see GERMBORN): Being born in another country than Germany indicates, by definition, a direct migration background (2), while respondents born in Germany may have either no (1) or an indirect (3) migration background. Respondents whose parents had no migration background were assigned the code “(1) no migration background”, while respondents whose father or mother had a migration background were assigned the code “(3) indirect migration background”.
Grandparental information were additionally used if information on mothers’ and fathers’ migration background were missing. Please note that any updates in related variables may also lead to an update of the MIGBACK variable. For instance, a respondent who never stated his or her citizenship but later states having a foreign citizenship will be classified as having a migration background of some form. This retrospective perspective may lead to updates of the migration background variable with every new wave.
In a few cases, “(1) no (grand-)parental information” (see MIGINFO) was available but we were nonetheless able to identify respondents with an “(2) indirect migration background” (see MIGBACK). In these cases, respondents were born in Germany but further variables (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “citizenship and legal status” and sub-heading ”East German, Ethnic German, or migrated before 1949”) suggested that there was a migration background (e.g., ethnic Germans). MIGBACK may slightly underestimate the number of persons having an “(3) indirect migration background”, since some of the respondents born in Germany with missing (grand-)parental information and for whom no further indicators were available may be the descendants of immigrants.
MIGBACK contains information on respondents' migration background for all persons who have ever been a part of a SOEP household (i.e., the population from PPFAD, PPATH or PPATHL). In comparison to GERMBORN, the variable MIGBACK is useful to identify immigrants’ descendants by combining information on respondents’ country of birth (see GERMBORN) and (grand-)parental information such as their country of birth and their citizenship. The information for this variable comes predominantly from PPATH (GERMBORN), auxiliary citizenship variables (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “citizenship and legal status” and sub-heading “family information”), and the relevant biographical data sets (dataset BIOIMMIG). The variables were also updated using information from the wave-specific individual questionnaires (dataset PL), the variations of the “biography / life history” questionnaires (dataset BIOL), and the additional questionnaire for 16-17-year-olds in use since 2000 (dataset JUGENDL).
Respondents were assigned to the MIGBACK categories based on country of birth (see GERMBORN): Being born in another country than Germany indicates, by definition, a direct migration background (2), while respondents born in Germany may have either no (1) or an indirect (3) migration background. Respondents whose parents had no migration background were assigned the code “(1) no migration background”, while respondents whose father or mother had a migration background were assigned the code “(3) indirect migration background”.
Grandparental information were additionally used if information on mothers’ and fathers’ migration background were missing. Please note that any updates in related variables may also lead to an update of the MIGBACK variable. For instance, a respondent who never stated his or her citizenship but later states having a foreign citizenship will be classified as having a migration background of some form. This retrospective perspective may lead to updates of the migration background variable with every new wave.
In a few cases, “(1) no (grand-)parental information” (see MIGINFO) was available but we were nonetheless able to identify respondents with an “(2) indirect migration background” (see MIGBACK). In these cases, respondents were born in Germany but further variables (for more information, see Table 1 under sub-heading “citizenship and legal status” and sub-heading ”East German, Ethnic German, or migrated before 1949”) suggested that there was a migration background (e.g., ethnic Germans). MIGBACK may slightly underestimate the number of persons having an “(3) indirect migration background”, since some of the respondents born in Germany with missing (grand-)parental information and for whom no further indicators were available may be the descendants of immigrants.