4 Survey Instruments

Contact authors: Bähr, Sebastian; Collischon, Matthias; Müller, Marcel; Fehn, Anja

This chapter provides an overview of the survey instruments used in the PASS, describing the structure, content, and evolution of its questionnaires. It explains how the survey captures multidimensional information on households and individuals, enabling analyses of welfare dynamics, employment, and living conditions over time. For a detailed information on important variables in PASS across waves, please refer to the scales manual (B. Müller et al., 2020).

Section 4.1 introduces the PASS questionnaire framework, outlining the separate household, individual, and senior citizen questionnaires and their core content. Section 4.2 explains the logic and development of questionnaire modules, including the rotation of thematic blocks, the integration of topical additions such as migration and COVID-19, and the adaptation of instruments to social and policy changes. Section 4.3 presents the key variables across the household and individual questionnaires, focusing on core modules related to welfare benefits, employment biographies, deprivation, health, and subjective well-being. These sections demonstrate how PASS combines consistent longitudinal measurement with flexible modular design to capture the evolving realities of labour market participation, welfare receipt, and social conditions in Germany.

4.1 Questionnaire

The PASS survey covers a broad range of information on individuals and their households. Similar to other household surveys, PASS employs different questionnaires for households and individuals.

First, the head of each household answers a household questionnaire, which covers a range of variables that are described in the following sections. Second, each household member aged 15 years or older participates in a personal interview that captures individual-level characteristics. For individuals above the legal retirement threshold in Germany, we use a shortened Senior Citizens Questionnaire to reduce respondent burden.

This chapter provides an overview of the questionnaire structure, the specific modules included, and key variables of potential interest to researchers.

4.2 Logic of questionnaire modules within PASS

PASS was conceived as a specialized survey of individuals and their household members receiving Unemployment Benefit II8 (“Bürgergeld” or UB II). Respondents are often unemployed or working-poor households suffering from (frequently multiple) impediments to finding self-sustaining employment. Consequently, central topics for the survey include their economic situation, deprivation, job search, and labour market biographies, details on the receipt of their benefits, and their interactions, and experiences with the job centres. As the welfare benefits system strives to foster the social integration of its recipients, PASS also includes survey instruments for multiple dimensions of social integration.

Since its inception, the PASS survey program has reflected the changing institutional, societal, and political environment surrounding the welfare state and German society in general. With an increase in refugee migration to Europe starting 2015, migrants have comprised a growing share of the new entrants into the UB II system (see 6.1). The ensuing need for data about this new recipient type led to extensions in the specific questionnaire programme. Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated short-term question additions during the fieldwork in 2020 (see 6.4). PASS strives to inform social policy by collecting data on welfare reforms like the Educational package (“Bildungspaket”) introduced in 2012 or the Citizen’s Benefit reform of 2023. In addition, PASS also acts as a vehicle for research projects on welfare benefits and labour market issues, which has led to the inclusion of experiments and instruments in a limited number of survey waves. Given this comprehensive list of objectives, balancing (longitudinal) research interests with a limited survey duration is necessary. So, in addition to essential core modules, more specialized modules are regularly rotated in and out of the survey or run for only a limited number of years. Table 4.1 and Table 4.2 provide a thematic overview of the household and individual modules and displays their availability by year and survey wave, while Section 4.3 highlights and describes essential survey modules.

This table shows which household-level thematic blocks and questions are included across PASS Waves 1 to 18. Columns after the first column represent survey waves. Each instance of inclusion of the thematic blocks and questions within each wave are marked with “x” across these columns.
Table 4.1: PASS thematic blocks at the household level (Waves 1–18)
Thematic blocks at the household level W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17 W18
Household Composition
Household Structure x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Language Spoken in Household x x
Living Situation x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Affectedness of the Household during COVID 19 x
Income and Deprivation
Household income x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Funds and Debts x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Deprivation x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Deprivation of Children x x x x x x x x x
Household Economics and Economic Practices x x x
Household Economics and Worries about the Future x
Social Security
Knowledge of Social Security Benefits x
Unemployment Benefits 2 / Citizens Benefits x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Non-Usage of Unemployment Benefits 2 / Citizens Benefits x
Costs of Accomodation x
Usage of Food Banks (“Tafeln”) x
Non-usage of Basic income in old age (“Grundsicherung im Alter”) x
Child Care and Child Welfare
Child Care x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Child Care During the COVID19 Crisis x x x
Social Participation of Children and Youths x x x x x
Receeiving measures from the Educational Package (“Bildungspaket”) x x x x x
This table shows which individual-level thematic blocks and questions are included across PASS Waves 1 to 18. Columns after the first column represent survey waves. Each instance of inclusion of the thematic blocks and questions within each wave are marked with “x” across these columns.
Table 4.2: PASS thematic blocks at the individual level (Waves 1–18)
Thematic blocks at individual level W1 W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 W8 W9 W10 W11 W12 W13 W14 W15 W16 W17 W18
Demographics
Date of Birth x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Additional Demographics x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Migration x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Migration: Recognition of Foreign Qualifications x x x x x x x x
Social Origin x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Religion x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Affectedness of the Inividual during COVID 19
Affectedness of the Inividual during COVID 19 x x x
Education and Vocational Training
Education x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Educational Aspiration x x x x
Income (Vocational Training) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Employment
Employment Biography (Spells) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Mini Job x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Minimum Wage x x x x x x
Quality of Employment x x x x x x x x x x x x
Crowdworking x x
Change of Working Hours x x
Employment Biography (general) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Latent Functions of Work x x x
Unemployment Benefits 2 / Citizens Benefits
Receipt of Unemployment Benefit (Arbeitslosengeld 2) Since 2005 x
Agency Contacts x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Agency Contacts (Special Focus on Sanctions) x
Cooperation Plan x
Obligation to Look for a Job x
Measures x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Job Search x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Further Training x x
Stigma Awareness x x x
Attitudes
Attitudes (General Situation) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Attitude (Life) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Attitudes (Self Efficacy) x x x x x x x
Attitudes (Employment) x x x x x x x
Attitudes (Work Hours) x x
Attitudes (Childcare) x
Opinions (Gender Role Models) x x x x x x x
Attitudes (Handling Money and Relationships) x x
Attitudes (Job and Family) x x x
Attitudes (Reciprocity) x x
Attitides (Standard of Living) x x
Attitudes (Finances) x x
Attitudes (Children’s Leisure Time) x x x x
Attitudes (Distribution) x
Worries about the Future x
Social Justice I x
Psychological Scales
Impulsiveness x
Personality: Big Five (BFI-K) x x
Factorial Survey Instruments and Experiments
Vignettes (Job Attractiveness) x
Vignettes (Job-Seeking) x
Vignette Online Module (Maternal Employment) x
Trust Experiment x
Social and Societal Participation
Social Participation x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Political Participation x x x x x x
Social Trust x x x x x x x x
Networks x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Networks (Special Focus) x x x x
Leisure Time x x x x x x x x x
Internet and Social Media
Internet and Device Onwership x
Social Media Use x x x x
Smartphone Ownership x
Health and Sports
Health x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Health (Special Focus) x x x x x
Memory - Experiment x
Sports x x x
Social security
Nursing Care x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Income (Pensions) x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Income (Pensions - Special Focus) x x x x x x x
Social Benefit x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

4.3 Key variables across the two questionnaires

4.3.1 Household interview

One of the main functions of PASS is to analyse individuals within households receiving long-term unemployment benefits, and the household survey contains a detailed questionnaire on this topic. Specifically, we collect the duration and dynamics of receiving welfare benefits in the form of UB II. The data is gathered retrospectively through the household questionnaire. For newly interviewed households (e.g., of the refreshment sample), information on benefit receipt is collected for approximately two years prior to the respective wave. For example, in wave 18 (2023), information regarding all episodes since January 2021 was collected. For re-interviewed households, dependent interviewing is used, and benefits receipt is always recorded for the period since the last interview date. Each episode contains information on its beginning and end (month and year).

Several income measures can be used to assess the material situation of households (“resource approach”). At the household level, information is available on the total disposable household income, savings, loans and debts, social security benefits, and household transfers.

As income measures are prone to short-term fluctuations (e.g., due to changes in household composition or employment status of household member/s), the standard of living is measured more comprehensively by accounting for economic deprivation. Deprivation can be defined as the lack of basic goods considered essential for an adequate standard of living. PASS includes a weighted deprivation index comprising 26 items until wave 4 and of 23 items in the subsequent waves, covering essential goods and technical equipment (like having an apartment with a separate bathroom or balcony, television or DVD player), spendings satisfying basic needs (such as having a hot meal per day or buying necessary medication), and leisure activities (like going to the movies, or inviting friends for dinner at home occasionally). The index reflects the number of items respondents lack for financial reasons. In its weighted version, each item is weighted by the proportion of respondents who consider it essential. Since wave 10, the household questionnaire also includes questions about deprivation among children in the household, including four items concerning possessions or activities pursued by children in the household.

4.3.2 Individual interview

Due to the nature of PASS, the individual questionnaire also contains many questions on welfare benefits and related topics. Household-level information on UB II receipt is complemented by two questionnaire modules at the individual level, which all individuals living in UB II-recipient households answer. The first module includes questions about individual’s contact with the agencies responsible for providing UB II (e.g., contact frequency, perceived quality, and intensity of support). The second module consists of retrospective questions about individual participation in labour market policy programs.The concept of surveying participation in Active Labour Market Programmes (ALMP) was thoroughly reworked in the first waves (see Gebhardt et al. (2009)). In particular, difficulties in identifying the exact type of employment and training measures necessitated this revision. Since the last revision (wave 4), the module exclusively relates to one-euro-jobs (start and end of the programme, evaluation of institutional support during the programme and perceived success).

Information on unemployment insurance payments (so-called UB I) is also collected at the individual level. Questions about the start and end date of the benefits receipt and reasons for cessation of unemployment are integrated into the biography module, where the employment history of all participants is gathered. All episodes of employment, unemployment, and non-employment (e.g., education, maternity leave, retirement) beginning approximately two years before an individual’s first interview, are recorded, and are updated in each panel wave. The start and end dates (month/year) of each episode are surveyed to ensure a chronological and complete employment history (furthermore, parallel activities are to be reported here, and a control mechanism identifies gaps of more than one month between the reported activities), for each job episode detailed information is obtained like occupation, skill level, contract type, working hours, income, industrial sector, firm size. Similar information is also collected for the first job ever held. For mini-jobs, only cross-sectional data is collected (working hours and income for the current mini-job).

By combining and linking the history of UB II receipts and (un)employment history at both individual and household levels, PASS provides excellent data to explore the pathways that lead into and out of UB II receipts and for assessing the sustainability of these exits.

PASS also includes a module on quality of employment from wave 7 until wave 18. The questions are asked to both dependent employees and people with mini-jobs. In this module, respondents are asked about various characteristics of, and attitudes towards, the quality of their employment. For example, the module contains information regarding working time regulations, work flexibility, the content of the employment, and general satisfaction with the employment. In addition, this module provides data about career opportunities and possible stress at work. The exact content of the questionnaire varies across respective survey waves.

Besides the above-mentioned information, data availability through agency contacts is considered key information that can be obtained via PASS. Except for wave 7, the Agency Contacts Module is collected annually. This module was updated in wave 9. The questions in this module concern the contact with the agency responsible for the Citizen’s Benefit. The agency is known in Germany by various names, such as “Jobcenter”, “ARGE”, or “Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Beschäftigung”. A new focus on sanctions was introduced in wave 14 but removed in wave 15.

Before the 1 January 2023, the Citizen’s Benefit (“Bürgergeld”) was known as “Arbeitslosengeld 2” or “Hartz 4” and sometimes followed different rules. For this reason, the wording of some questions in waves 17 and 18 differs from previous waves, and some new questions have been added since then. Agency contacts module generally focuses on the quantity and quality of contacts with the employment agency. In other words, how often did personal contact occur, which channels were used for these contacts (face-to-face, telephone, videophone, online, or by post), and what was the content of these conversations. It is also important to determine how satisfied recipients were with their agency contacts, which topics were discussed, and whether sufficient time was available for consultation. Questions regarding these elaborate conversations with the agency, cover both professional and private issues, such as psychological stress or physical illness. From wave 17 onwards, respondents were also asked whether they would have preferred more elaborate conversations about their professional and private situations. In addition, recipients were asked whether they were required to search for work or faced barriers preventing placement. The focus here is on the nature of these barriers to placement. Respondents were also asked whether they were offered different employment models or other financial, family, or general support. Items related to language support have been repeated from wave 17 onwards.

Since the introduction of the Bürgergeld reform in 2023, the survey has collected information on the Kooperationsplan, a contract between Jobcentres and benefits recipients, outlining duties and agreements on the steps that the individuals must take inorder to re-integrate into the labour market. The survey records whether such an agreement exists, what it includes, and details about the process. The specific questions can be found in the questionnaire.

The second main research question for PASS concerns individual’s living conditions. Therefore, PASS includes a broad range of questions on individual health, elderly care, social networks, social inclusion and political integration. The following two dimensions should be described in detail: financial situation and health.

Individual income components are gathered mainly within the personal questionnaire. They refer to income from work (including earnings from self-employment or special payments), unemployment insurance payments, and statutory or civil servant’s pensions.

A basic health module is included in each wave, supplemented by an extended health module in selected waves. The basic module includes self-reported health indicators referring to mental and physical well-being: number of consultations, hospital stays in the last twelve months, chronic diseases and disabilities, mental health problems, subjective health status, and health satisfaction. In addition, several waves include extended health questionnaires covering health-related behaviour, such as drinking and smoking, obesity, exercise, and health-related employment limitations. The module also includes the standardized SF-12 item battery as a global mental and physical health measure.

Referring to the third core dimension of the study (coping strategies, attitudes, and behaviour), various subjective indicators are gathered at the individual level, such as global aspects of personality traits and situation-specific behaviour or attitudes (see PASS Scales and Instruments Manual 2020). The basic questionnaire includes perceived self-efficacy, general life satisfaction, satisfaction with health and living conditions, religiosity and confession, employment orientations, and the respondent’s subjective perception of social integration. The module on job search behaviour is another essential component of the questionnaire. It includes information on search duration, job-search activities, reasons for not looking for a job, preferences regarding job attributes (e.g., working hours), and willingness to make concessions (e.g., wages, commuting distance, qualification mismatches, reservation wages). Some subjective indicators are not included in every wave (see Tables 4.1 and 4.2), e.g., gender-role attitudes, financial behaviour, partnerships, or aspirations for children’s education and leisure activities. Furthermore, waves 5 and 13 include the Big Five personality-traits module, a standardised 21-item battery covering five broad domains.

By addressing long-term benefit receipt, employment biographies, health, deprivation, and agency interactions, both at individual and household level, PASS provides a multidimensional view of the socio-economic conditions of individuals and households in Germany. The combination of retrospective and panel data enables longitudinal analyses of welfare dynamics, labour market participation, and living conditions, while also providing the flexibility to incorporate ad-hoc, short term addition of modules to capture additional areas of research interest.

  1. Unemployment Benefits II is used interchangeably with various other terminologies across this user guide and more widely across German welfare benefits research. For a detailed description refer 0.3.↩︎