Einstein Center Population Diversity (ECPD): unfolding unequal life courses within diverse families in ageing societies

The Einstein Center Population Diversity (ECPD) is an interdisciplinary research hub. Research will be carried out by a consortium of seven partner institutions. They will study the prerequisites and consequences of increasing population diversity for social inequality and health disparities. The specific focus will be on the growing diversity of families, including changing conceptions and boundaries of the family itself. The family is a crucial, if not the primary arena where inequalities are (re-)produced within and across generations, in and through the continuous interaction with social policy, the labour market, and the education and healthcare system. Thus, changing family patterns and behaviour are a source of growing population diversity on the societal level. They are a driver of social inequality and wellbeing on the individual and household level, too.

The ECPD will generate important synergies by bridging the biomedical and social research disciplines. The research focus at the BBAW will be on how family transitions – such as the birth of a first child, marriage, death of a partner or separation – are linked to economic and health inequalities. On the one hand, specific diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer or depression will be analysed. On the other hand, the focus will be on the economic impact of family transitions on income, pensions or private wealth, and their interrelation with health limitations.

The ECPD is funded by the Einstein Foundation Berlin. 

Cooperation partners
•    Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
•    Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
•    Freie Universität zu Berlin
•    Population Europe, Berlin
•    WZB – Berlin Social Science Center
•    Oxford in Berlin