What is GGP?
The Generations & Gender Programme is a research infrastructure that provides scientists and policy makers with high quality and timely data about families and life course trajectories of individuals to enable researchers to contribute insights and answers to current societal and public policy challenges.
Our data collection spans over 30 years, covering more than 30 countries and involving responses from over 300,000 individuals. These datasets are freely accessible to the research community.
Why do we need GGP?
Rapid demographic change is transforming how people form families, care for one another, and organize their lives. Societies around the world face challenges such as aging populations, declining fertility, growing diversity in family forms, and shifting gender roles. These trends have profound implications for policies in areas like education, healthcare, pensions, and employment.
To address these issues effectively, we need reliable, high-quality data that captures how individuals make decisions about partnership, fertility, work, and care across their life course. We also need to understand how these patterns differ across countries and evolve over time.
The GGP provides this essential data. It is the only international research infrastructure that delivers cross-nationally comparable and longitudinal data on family and life course dynamics. By supporting researchers, policymakers, and institutions across the globe, the GGP plays a vital role in informing evidence-based responses to today’s most pressing demographic and social challenges.
Our mission
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Research and Policy Impact
- Provide scientists and policymakers with data for targeted research and policy analysis.
- Help formulate empirically-informed policies to address demographic challenges.
Data Excellence
- Collect, process, and disseminate high-quality data.
- Establish standards for measuring and formatting data on family and demographic trends.
- Operate as an open-science infrastructure with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles.
Innovation and Collaboration
- Enable innovation in advanced data collection, processing, and cutting-edge analysis methods.
- Foster international collaboration in the interdisciplinary study of population dynamics.
Capacity Building
- Train the next generation of scientists to ensure sustained expertise and innovation.
- Support early-career researchers through internships and exchange opportunities.
History
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.
The GGP was launched in 2000 by UNECE to provide high-quality, cross-national data on demographic change and family dynamics. An international consortium defined the program’s goals at an international meeting in Geneva, and the main 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 GGP’s coordination transitioned from UNECE to the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI-KNAW), 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:
- A revised set of technical guidelines ensured consistent survey implementation.
- Model data agreements and service contracts standardized relationships with national teams.
- A centrally coded questionnaire, developed using Blaise software, improved cross-national comparability and reduced the need for post-harmonization.
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 GGP’s importance as a 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:
- Strengthening compliance with FAIR principles to ensure data is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable.
- Adapting to emerging societal and technical developments, including new data types and methodologies.
- Ensuring technical excellence in a rapidly evolving survey landscape.
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.
Acknowledging Leadership
The success and evolution of the GGP would not have been possible without the vision and dedication of its previous directors. Their leadership laid the foundation for the program’s achievements, steering its development through significant transitions and challenges. Their contributions continue to resonate in the GGP’s ongoing mission to advance understanding of demographic and family dynamics worldwide.
Previous and current coordinators:
- 2000-2002: Ms. Martine Corijn (UNECE Population Unit)
- 2002-2004: Dr. Alphonse L. MacDonald (UNECE Population Unit)
- 2004-2009: Dr. Andres Vikat (UNECE Population Unit)
- 2009-2013: Professor Aat Liefbroer (NIDI)
- 2013-present: Professor Anne H. Gauthier (NIDI)
Previous and current Chairs of the Consortium Board:
- 2000-2012: Professor John Hobcraft (University of York)
- 2012-present: Professor Francesco Billari (Bocconi University)
