AID:A 2021 Panelzwischenbefragung
The survey "Growing Up in Germany" (German title „Aufwachsen in Deutschland: Alltagswelten,“ short: AID:A) provides important information on the experiences and living conditions of children, adolescents, young adults, and their families in Germany. AID:A is a central component of the survey research conducted by the German Youth Institute (DJI). This standardized survey collects information on children, adolescents, young adults, and the parents of minors in about 6,000 households nationwide since 2019.
The living conditions of children and adolescents, as well as the living situations of young adults and families, have changed substantially in Germany, which is also partly due to the Corona pandemic. This is why in AID:A 2021, the 2019 study participants from AID:A were re-surveyed via an online questionnaire.
AID:A 2021 was financed by the institutional budget of the DJI.
AID:A 2021 focused on a selection of topics from the main survey. These include, in particular, the effects of the Corona pandemic and the growing importance and use of digital devices in daily routines and social interactions.
Because children, adolescents, and young adults are confronted with different developmental tasks depending on their age and are involved in different contexts (e.g., daycare, school, apprenticeship/study, job), the survey program differed depending on the age of the participants.
- For children aged 0 to 11 years, parents answered questions about leisure time activities, media use, health, and—if the child is already enrolled in school—also about learning conditions during the pandemic.
- The questionnaire for 11- to 17-year-olds included topics such as friendships, family relationships, media use, leisure activities, and use of welfare state and cultural offerings. Questions about education and schooling under pandemic conditions were also included.
- Persons aged 18 years and older were asked about life satisfaction, friendships, family relationships, their educational and employment biographies, and, if applicable, about their current employment.
- Parents answered a separate set of questions about their role as parents, work-life balance, home office use, well-being, and life satisfaction.
- Target subjects aged 18 years and older, as well as parents, also answered a reduced set of questions on sociodemographic standards and their financial situation (e.g., family and partnership status, income, and debt).
In addition, the following key topics were included in AID:A 2021:
- Questions about experiences during Corona-related lockdowns for children, adolescents, and young adults.
- Questions about care responsibilities during Corona-related lockdowns for parents.
- Additional questions on the media use of children, parents, and families in general.
The AID:A 2021 survey took place in the fall of 2021 as an online survey. AID:A 2021 is based on the sample of target persons aged 0 to 32 years drawn for the main survey in 2019. For the 2021 survey, all target persons and the parents of minors were recontacted, if they had given consent to participate again. Accordingly, individuals aged 11 to 34 years, as well as parents of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, were included. In total, about 13,400 respondents in about 5,800 households were invited to participate in the survey. About 7,200 participants took part in the survey, including around 1,600 children and adolescents under the age of 18 years and about 5,600 target persons aged 18 years and over and parents.
Information for the respondents of AID:A 2021 can be found here.
After preparation by the AID:A data management, the AID:A data can be requested by scientists from university and non-university research institutions as a scientific use file from the DJI Research Data Center.
Use of the data requires a data usage agreement, which can be applied for via the DJI Research Data Center.
Without a data usage agreement, basic descriptive statistics can be viewed via the DJI Research Data Center after processing.
