We study the structure and dynamics of populations and explore issues of political relevance, such as aging, fertility, and the redistribution of work over the life course, as well as digitization and the use of new data sources for the estimation of migration flows.
Blog@MPIDR | September 17, 2026
Yesterday’s Family Model, Tomorrow’s Demographic Reality?
Low birth rates, an aging population, and labor shortages: political debates often present a surprisingly simple answer to all three — more babies. Yet a narrow focus on birth rates risks overlooking the conditions in which children are born and raised, as well as the far-reaching effects pronatalist policies can have on women’s lives. At the same time, conservative ideas about family and gender roles are making a comeback. But do these traditional family models actually hold up against demographic realities? A closer look at Germany — and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in particular — suggests otherwise. More
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Preparatory courses at the MPIDR
European Doctoral School of Demography (EDSD)
The European Doctoral School of Demography is an eleven-month sponsored program that is offered every year aiming to provide students with an appropriate high-level education in demography to pursue their doctoral studies. Students will acquire a solid knowledge base on the causes and consequences of demographic change, population data, statistical and mathematical demography, as well as modeling, simulation, and forecasting. More
All Events
Recommended Readings | September 14, 2026
Comparison of Microsimulated and Register-based Kinship Data
IDEM 187 - Call for Application
Topics in Digital and Computational Demography
Introduction to our research groups
Reproductive Ageing
News | September 02, 2026
Worried About the Environment, but Still Becoming Parents
Strong environmental concerns generally did not keep young people from becoming parents. These worries tended to fade with age among parents and non-parents alike. Whether today’s younger generations will follow the same pattern remains an open question. More
Selected Publications
Jackisch, J.; van Raalte, A. A.:
The contribution of childhood adversity to adult socioeconomic gradients in mortality: a Swedish birth cohort analysis Social Science and Medicine 365:117627. (2025)
Akbaritabar, A.; Castro Torres, A. F.; Larivière, V.:
A global perspective on social stratification in science Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 11:914, 1–10. (2024)
More Publications
Career
Open Positions
Anniversary
30 Years MPIDR in Rostock
Questions and Answers
Being a Researcher at the MPIDR
Working at MPIDR
Life & Research in Rostock
New Issue 2/2026 available | June 30, 2026
The Quarterly German Newsletter
A peer-reviewed, open-access journal of population sciences
MPIDR
Online Databases
Doctoral Program
International Max Planck Research School for Population, Health and Data Science
Press Release | August 05, 2026
Fewer Heart Attacks, More Cancer Cases, and Better Survival Chances
Heart attacks, strokes, and hip fractures are becoming less common. Meanwhile, cancer cases are increasing, and more people are surviving these severe diseases. A new study by the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) and the Karolinska Institute examines how medical progress has impacted various diseases in Sweden. More