MIGBACK provides information on migration background. It considers the nationality of the individual, his/her migration history as well as that of his/her parents. In order to do so information on country of birth, citizenship and its change over time (in case of naturalization for example), and if available, parental information (direct information or proxy information) are combined.
Direct/Indirect migration background indicates whether the person immigrated by him/herself (direct migration background) or if she/he is of migrant origin but born in Germany (indirect migration background). That applies for children with parents who have an indirect migration background. Respondents assigned the code 4 have a migration background. As the information on the region of birth is missing, it is not possible to know whether they migrated by themselves of if they were born in Germany.
Note that code '[1] No Migration Background' also includes persons of German nationality born in Germany whose parental information are not available. Some of them might be migrants’ offspring. Thus, the MIGBACK variable slightly underestimates the number of persons belonging to code '[3] Indirect Migration Background'.
Note that in principle, an individual who gains a foreign nationality will be classified as being of migrant origin even if this was not the case before. Thus, the migration background variable as applied in SOEP-IS takes a retrospective perspective and will be updated every year.
Ethnic German repatriates (“Spät-/Aussiedler”) in this classification are coded '[2] Direct Migration Background'. Foreigners who were born in Germany and naturalized are coded '[3] Indirect Migration Background'.
In order to provide the highest possible transparency we include a variable informing about the sources used to create the migration background variable. This information is provided in MIGINFO.
For individuals with the values '[-1] No Answer' or '[-2] Does Not Apply' no valid information could be generated. Note that '[-2] Does Not Apply' is assigned to adults who never answered an individual questionnaire. Persons with NETTO$ codes between 210 and 229 are coded to '[-1] No Answer' if relevant information is missing.
MIGBACK provides information on migration background. It considers the nationality of the individual, his/her migration history as well as that of his/her parents. In order to do so information on country of birth, citizenship and its change over time (in case of naturalization for example), and if available, parental information (direct information or proxy information) are combined.
Direct/Indirect migration background indicates whether the person immigrated by him/herself (direct migration background) or if she/he is of migrant origin but born in Germany (indirect migration background). That applies for children with parents who have an indirect migration background. Respondents assigned the code 4 have a migration background. As the information on the region of birth is missing, it is not possible to know whether they migrated by themselves of if they were born in Germany.
Note that code '[1] No Migration Background' also includes persons of German nationality born in Germany whose parental information are not available. Some of them might be migrants’ offspring. Thus, the MIGBACK variable slightly underestimates the number of persons belonging to code '[3] Indirect Migration Background'.
Note that in principle, an individual who gains a foreign nationality will be classified as being of migrant origin even if this was not the case before. Thus, the migration background variable as applied in SOEP-IS takes a retrospective perspective and will be updated every year.
Ethnic German repatriates (“Spät-/Aussiedler”) in this classification are coded '[2] Direct Migration Background'. Foreigners who were born in Germany and naturalized are coded '[3] Indirect Migration Background'.
In order to provide the highest possible transparency we include a variable informing about the sources used to create the migration background variable. This information is provided in MIGINFO.
For individuals with the values '[-1] No Answer' or '[-2] Does Not Apply' no valid information could be generated. Note that '[-2] Does Not Apply' is assigned to adults who never answered an individual questionnaire. Persons with NETTO$ codes between 210 and 229 are coded to '[-1] No Answer' if relevant information is missing.