The Generations & Gender Programme (GGP) is a research infrastructure that delivers high-quality, timely data on families and individuals’ life course trajectories. By providing these insights, the GGP empowers researchers and policymakers to tackle pressing societal and public policy challenges with evidence-based solutions.
The Generations & Gender Programme (GGP) disseminates a rich array of cross-nationally comparable, longitudinal survey data focused on demographic and family dynamics. This data empowers researchers and policymakers to explore critical topics such as fertility, family relationships, ageing, and intergenerational support.
GGP advances understanding of families and population dynamics through four key focus areas:
In a rapidly globalizing world, Europe faces significant social, economic, cultural, and technological challenges. The European Union’s Europe 2020 strategy emphasizes the importance of creating a smart, sustainable, and inclusive economy that promotes high levels of employment, productivity, and social cohesion. Central to this vision is Europe’s greatest asset: its people.
To fully harness this human capital, we must understand how Europeans navigate life’s major decisions—both as individuals and within families. Events like marriage, childbearing, balancing work and caregiving, retirement, housing, and ageing well are all shaped by economic conditions, cultural norms, and social policies. These decisions, in turn, impact personal well-being, societal cohesion, and Europe’s adaptability in a competitive global landscape.
As Europe grapples with these challenges, policymakers and the public urgently need high-quality, scientific insights to guide effective and sustainable solutions. The Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) provides this critical data, enabling the social sciences to respond to policy challenges with informed, evidence-based approaches.
The Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) has grown from the need for cross-nationally comparative data to understand demographic change into a research infrastructure over the past two decades. Its journey can be divided into three key phases, each marking significant developments and achievements.
The GGP was launched in 2000 by UNECE to provide high-quality, cross-national data on demographic change and family dynamics. Experts defined the program’s goals at an international meeting in Geneva, and the first survey, the Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), was implemented soon after. By 2008, findings from GGS-I were presented at a major UNECE conference ‘How Generations and Gender Shape Demographic Change’, showcasing the program’s potential to inform policy and research across Europe and North America.
In 2009, the GGP entered a new era with the Design Study, funded by the EU under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7). This project allowed for a comprehensive reassessment of the program’s methodology, streamlining access to GGP data and enhancing the quality of measurement tools. During this time, the program’s coordination transitioned from UNECE to the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), marking a critical step in the GGP’s journey toward becoming a self-sustaining research infrastructure.
By 2016, the GGP had secured Horizon 2020 funding for the GGP: Evaluate, Plan, and Initiate (EPI) project. This phase introduced a more centralized approach to operations:
These advancements enabled better fieldwork monitoring, faster data preparation, and more efficient data release processes. This period also saw the GGP recognized as an Emerging Project by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), affirming its scientific excellence and societal impact.
The GGP’s trajectory continued to rise with its inclusion in the ESFRI Roadmap in 2021. This milestone signified the program’s importance as a global research infrastructure. To build on this success, the GGP secured a Preparatory Phase grant in 2022 to enhance its long-term sustainability and investment-readiness.
Key initiatives during this phase include:
The GGP now operates as a collaborative network, combining centralized coordination by the GGP Central Coordination Team (CCT) at NIDI with the expertise of national teams. Its mission remains clear: to provide high-quality data that addresses pressing demographic and societal questions while fostering innovation and global collaboration.
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