Communities are responsible for a range of public services and represent critical experiential contexts for social interactions between residents. However, the role of local governance and public service provision for creating social trust has received limited attention so far. This study examines how quality, efficiency and fairness of local public service provision relates to social trust. Using multilevel models on repeated cross-sectional survey data from the Quality of Life in European Cities project, we test the relationship between time-varying city-level indicators of quality of local government and social trust. The empirical results show that an increase in the dimension of local public service quality is substantially associated with an increase in social trust. We find improvements in sport and leisure facilities as well as the state of public spaces, streets and buildings to be particularly relevant.

The paper argues that a negative opinion climate vis-à-vis immigrants increases the low-wage risks of second-generation immigrants. Analysing data from 18 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel and using a matched case design, we provide strong support for this hypothesis. The findings complement studies of immigrants’ wages, bringing evidence for their sensitivity to contextual factors. They also complement recent findings from firm-level studies that found that the wage bias in cases of second-generation immigrants reflects the perception of competition between them and German workers.

Analyses of material deprivation usually use lists of goods and activities to assess an individual’s possessions and to compare it with the society’s standard of living. If the number of possessions falls below a certain threshold, the individual is assumed to be materially deprived. Also state-guaranteed minimum income payments are often based on a basket of goods, which are assumed to represent a minimal living standard in the respective society. However, this approach rests on the assumption that a social consensus exists about what constitutes society’s necessary standard of living, which has never been tested in a theoretically and methodologically sound way. Our paper provides a model of the main determinants of standard of living perceptions in the public, develops a measurement model for a survey of necessary items, and tests whether these perceptions are expressions of a consensual normative standard or reflections of the respondent’s idiosyncratic individual living situation. We have used two waves of the GESIS Panel in 2016 to survey the current opinions about the necessary standard of living in the German population. Estimating cross-lagged auto-correlated structural equation models, we find that necessity evaluations are quite homogeneous across social groups but are influenced by individuals’ possessions, which vary within society and hence, challenge the social consensus assumption. Moreover, instead of using only the most necessary items, survey instruments should include both necessary and less necessary items to reflect the whole distribution of possible standard of living perceptions. Our results further suggest that analyses using single items should be avoided due to possible measurement errors.

This introductory article reviews the history of cross-national comparative research, discusses its typical research designs and research questions, and ultimately summarizes the contributions to this special issue with respect to two questions: (i) What are the methodological challenges of cross-national comparative research today? (ii) What typical effects of the national context have been identified up to now?

This paper provides an overview over the application of mixed models (multilevel models) to comparative survey data where the context units of interest are countries. Such analyses have gained much popularity in the last two decades but they also come with a variety of challenges, some of which are discussed here. A focus lies on the small-N problem, influential cases (outliers) and the issue of omitted variables at the country level. Summarizing the methodological literature, the paper provides recommendations for applied researchers when possible or otherwise points to the more detailed literature. Some solutions for the small-N problem and omitted variable bias are discussed in detail, recommending the pooling of multiple survey waves to increase statistical power and to allow for the estimation of within-country effects, thereby controlling for unobserved heterogeneity. All issues are illustrated using an empirical example with data from the European Social Survey. The online appendix provides detailed syntax to adopt the presented procedures to researchers’ own data.

Part 1 Conceptual issues: rethinking poverty in a dynamic perspective, Robert Walker "social exclusion" and "underclass" - two new concepts for the analysis of poverty, Martin Kronauer do poor neighbourhoods make their residents poorer? context effects of poverty neighbourhoods on residents, Jurgen Friedrichs failing selectivity - on extent and causes of non-take-up of social security benefits, Wim van Oorschot. Part 2 Methodological issues: perceptions of the minimum standard of living in Belgium - is there a consensus?, Karel Van den Bosch different methods - different results? approaches to multidimensional poverty, Olli Kangas and Veli-Matti Ritakallio the convergence between different measures of poverty in a static versus dynamic perspective - an empirical illustration in France, Bruno Jeandider and Jean-Luc Kop. Part 3 Using a multidimensional concept of poverty - results from different countries: long-term income and deprivation-based poverty among the elderly, Ruud Muffels and Henk-Jan Dirven impoverishment and social exclusion - a dynamic perspective on income poverty and relative deprivation in Belgium and the Netherlands, Henk-Jan Dirven and Didier Fouarge poor Swedes, poor Britons - a comparative analysis of relative deprivation, Bjorn Hallerod. Part 4 Applying the dynamic approach: long-term recipiency of social assistance in Germany - the eighties versus the nineties, Petra Buhr and Andreas Weber poverty risks and the life cycle - the individualization thesis reconsidered, Hans-Jurgen Andress and Katja Schulte. Part 5 Problems of poverty research - lessons from Italy and Russia: the expansion of poverty as a social cost of transition - a challenge for Russia, Vladimir Mikhalev urban poverty and local policies against social exclusion in Italy - the north-south divide, Yuri Kazepov.

The analysis uses seven waves from the German Panel Study Labor Market and Social Security (PASS) covering the period from 2006 to 2013. During the observation period, Germany experienced a significant increase in average real incomes and employment, accompanied by a decrease of absolute income poverty as measured by the at-risk-of-poverty rate anchored at a fixed moment in time. PASS collects information on material deprivation with a list of 26 possessions and activities. The article discusses the difficulties of measuring material deprivation and identifies several sources of measurement error and selection bias. However, even when controlling for such errors and biases, regression models for different deprivation indices show a significant downward trend in material deprivation for the German resident population. Given the simultaneous decrease in absolute income poverty, it is concluded that measures of material deprivation behave like absolute income poverty indicators if the list of possessions and activities is not updated to changed living standard standards in society. A similar downward trend is observed also for individuals receiving basic income support. Moreover, supported individuals report deprivation differently depending on survey mode and number of previous panel interviews, raising the question of measurement equivalence in this subgroup.

This article discusses the possibilities and constraints of designing an identical or at least comparable sampling strategy across different European countries. It is based on expert reviews from six European Union member states that discuss the possibilities of sampling migrants in their respective countries. The country sample includes two countries from Northern Europe (Sweden, Denmark), two from Continental Europe (Germany, The Netherlands), and two from Southern Europe (Spain, Italy). After a discussion of various definitions of the target population and an overview of existing strategies to sample them, it is investigated which of them can be used in the six countries analyzed in the expert reviews. The focus is on probability samples and the use of population registers, while other sampling strategies are only briefly touched upon. The analysis shows that even with only six European countries an identical register-based sampling design is difficult. The authors propose that, by focusing on sampling immigrants in cities, researchers can better implement sampling strategies which result in comparable samples.

When it comes to evaluating immigrants’ integration, survey data are particularly important. However, the endeavor of surveying immigrant minorities is challenging. This special issue focuses on the possibility of obtaining high-quality cross-country comparable samples of immigrant minorities. As the golden standard for drawing random representative samples are the population lists, the contributions of the special issue have directed their attention to this sampling frame. In the three country-based articles, the authors are discussing the legal, administrative and scholarly challenges and opportunities for using population registers as sampling frames for immigrant minorities. The fourth article summarize their findings and concludes that identical register-based sampling design is difficult to implement in a cross-country design, due to the significant differences in the quality of population registers and their accessibility to researchers. The authors suggest that by sampling immigrant minorities in cities, researchers can better implement sampling strategies which result in comparable samples.

Our analysis of data from almost 30 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) shows that the economic consequences of divorce are still more negative for women than for men despite increased female labour force participation and, correspondingly, increased numbers of dual earner households. After reviewing recent shifts in the institutional fabric and the social structure of the conservative German welfare state with respect to families and marriage, the empirical analysis investigates the economic consequences of a sample of 844 men and 1,006 women in five dimensions: child custody, support payments, housing, employment, and economic well-being. Change is measured by comparing data from before and after the turn of the millennium. Overall, the analyses show that the economic consequences of divorce are still more negative for women than for men after the turn of the millennium, although female labour participation has increased and the public child care system was expanded. Nevertheless, some signs of change become visible indicating that the gains and losses of marital disruption are not unilaterally distributed among the genders. That men may also depend on incomes of their spouses can be seen for the increasing number of dual earner households. Moreover, after the turn of the millennium, economic dependence on public transfers increased not only for women but also for men.

This article outlines the main features of present-day statistical software by reviewing its development from the (late) 1950s to the present time. It puts a focus on the management and analysis of social science data. The article concludes with a discussion of present-day software alternatives for social scientists.

Abstract Seif der Umgestaltung des deutschen Arbeitsmarktes im Zuge der Hartz-Reformen ist die Diskussion um ein menschenwürdiges Existenzminimum neu entfacht. Im Zentrum der Debatte steht dabei neben den Sanktionsmechanismen auch die angemessene Höhe der Regelleistungen. In diesem Beitrag wird anhand einer Vignettenstudie – eine Methode, bei der den Befragten konkrete Fallbeschreibungen vorgelegt werden – untersucht, nach welchen Kriterien die Teilnehmerinnen einer Online-Studie die Hilfewürdigkeit von AEG-II-Empfängern beurteilen und welche Geldbeträge sie ihnen zusprechen. Es steigt sich, dass die von den Befragten vorgeschlagenen Einkommensmindestbedarfe mit der Anzahl an Personen (Erwachsene und Kinder) im beschriebenen Haushalt, der Ursache der Arbeitslosigkeit, der Reaktion auf die Arbeitslosigkeit, dem Alter und der Nationalität des Haushaltsvorstands sowie der Wohnregion variieren. Die ermittelten Bedarfe lagen mit Ausnahme eines Einpersonenhaushalts zum Teil deutlich unter den zum Befragungszeitpunkt geltenden ALG-II-Regelsätzen.

Zwar zog die Zunahme der deutschen Einkommensungleichheit seit den 1980er Jahren wissenschaftliche und politische Aufmerksamkeit auf sich, jedoch blieb sie weitgehend unerklärt. Eine häufig geäußerte Hypothese sieht die Zunahme bildungshomogener Partnerschaften als Ursache dieser Entwicklung. Die steigende Einkommensungleichheit sei somit durch das Entfallen der egalisierenden Wirkung bildungsschichtenübergreifender Partnerschaften bedingt. Im vorliegenden Artikel wird diese Hypothese empirisch überprüft. Durch Kreuztabellierung der Bildungsniveaus von westdeutschen Männern und Frauen wird zunächst eine Haushaltstypologie erstellt. Mit log-linearen Modellen wird die Verteilung der Haushaltstypen als Effekt von Bildungsbeteiligung, Präferenzen der Partnerwahl und Neigung zu Singlehaushalten dargestellt. Es werden dann Gewichte berechnet, welche die Schätzung der Einkommensungleichheit in drei kontrafaktischen Szenarien ermöglichen. Es zeigt sich, dass ein allenfalls marginaler Einfluss von Bildungsexpansion und veränderten Präferenzen der Partnerwahl auf die Ungleichheit westdeutscher Einkommen vorliegt, der, entgegen den Erwartungen, eher zu einer Verringerung der Einkommensungleichheit führt.