The fifteenth meeting of the Consortium Board (CB) of the Generations and Gender Programme (GGP) took place in Geneva from 21 to 22 April 2008. In the absence of John Hobcraft, Chair of the CB, Zsolt Spéder chaired the meeting.
Analysis Working Group
In an effort led by Letizia Mencarini from Bocconi University, the Analysis Working Group (AWG) produced the tables on gender, thus completing the set of GGS standard tables. Possible additional extensions of the standard tables include tables on family planning and unmet need for family planning suggested by the United Nations Population Division (UNPD) from New York. The AWG is also preparing a paper on the analytic use of reported income in the GGS. This work is led by Arnstein Aassve from Bocconi University.
Harmonization of GGS data
Data harmonization started at NIDI in September 2007 when data from a number of countries became available. Data of first four countries (Bulgaria, Georgia, Germany and Russian Federation) were made available to the researchers in January 2008. The collection of available data files was expanded with Hungarian and French data in the following months.
Some country-specific variables could not be harmonized with the pre-specified standard codes, so the original variables were retained and re-coded using country specific codes. All the country specific information will be included in the documentation accompanying the data set.
As data harmonization continues and more data become available and gets analyzed, the existing harmonized datasets have to be updated by correcting errors or inconsistencies. When a revised dataset is released for public use, the revision number will be included within the filename.
Dissemination of GGS data
Currently, the data cannot be distributed according to the procedure as agreed upon by the CB and IWG, because the online platform is not yet operational. INED, which has assumed responsibility for this task, communicated through the project manager that the work on the data archive platform is proceeding but is behind schedule. Therefore, the data dissemination is currently handled at UNECE using CDs.
The GGP online archive will be in line with the layout of GGP corporate identity (i.e. the logo, colour etc.). The site will be accessible from INED and the GGP web sites and will be clearly recognizable as a GGP-related site.
The special requirements of Norway relating to the dissemination of Norwegian data will be accommodated. Statistics Norway will have to approve all requests for the use of Norwegian data.
6th meeting of the GGP International Working Group
The sixth meeting of the International Working Group (IWG) will be held back-to-back with the conference "How Generations and Gender Shape Demographic Change" on 13 May 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland.