Newsletter LifeObs
Editorial
The first half of 2026 was marked by a number of developments: approval of the project’s continuation by the international panel of experts commissioned to carry out the mid-term evaluation; publication of the initial results from FamEmp; a summer school focusing on the Envie survey’s teaching pack; and preparations for the next rounds of data collection… Find full details of these developments below, covering both data production and analysis!
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Ariane Pailhé, Albane Gourdol, Laurent Toulemon, Cécile Allain
No. ANR-21-ESRE-0037
A collective publication on the initial findings of the FamEmp survey
Through 62 thematic factsheets, this publication provides an overview of the initial findings from Wave 1 of the survey and covers a wide range of topics: life as a couple and as a family; time spent on domestic tasks and other social activities; disability among family members and carers; employment across different social groups; the balance between family and working life; and employers’ social policies. Access the open-access publication via the following link
A collective publication on the initial findings of the ERFI2 survey
This publication presents new reference statistics on family life amongst 18–79-year-olds in mainland France. The 32 thematic fact sheets highlight the many changes that have taken place since the first edition of the survey, carried out twenty years ago. The topics covered include fertility, infertility, family trajectories, married life and intergenerational relationships. Particular attention is paid to same-sex couples. Access the open-access publication via the following link
SUMMER SCHOOL: ‘QUANTIFICATION, GENDER AND SEXUALITY’
Organised by Marie Bergström (INED), Maude Crouzet (University of Strasbourg), Claire Kersuzan (University of Bordeaux) and Capucine Rauch (University of Strasbourg), the event took place from 8 to 12 June at the Condorcet Campus. The week alternated between intensive practical training sessions on R based on the Envie survey, and thematic focus sessions centred on lectures, methodologies and discussions about the participants’ research projects. The training brought together 20 participants whose research focuses on gender and/or sexuality, and who came from a variety of backgrounds: 10 PhD students, 6 Master’s students, 2 pre-PhD students and 1 independent researcher, from 17 different research groups representing 6 disciplines (history, sociology, geography, political science and anthropology).
The event concluded with a lecture by sociologist Aliya Saperstein (Stanford University) entitled ‘Engaging with Intersectionality in Population Research: A Critical Review and Recommendations’, which was attended by nearly 90 participants, both in person and online. Find out more
SURVEY NEWS
Fertility and reproductive health : The team tested an initial version of the questionnaire in Martinique, French Guiana and Réunion, with around fifty people between December 2025 and March 2026. Although some of the questions were of a personal nature, the questionnaire was well received; these trials highlighted reproductive norms specific to each territory. The questionnaire was also presented to the Steering Committee (comprising the Regional Health Agencies and local perinatal networks) and the Scientific Council (comprising local researchers and doctors) in May 2026. Furthermore, several consultation sessions and hearings took place in the first half of the year (National AIDS Council, National Union of Family Associations, ad hoc committees): the survey received endorsements of local feasibility from all four regions and an endorsement of feasibility from the National Council for Statistical Information (CNIS). These consultations led to a number of adjustments to the questionnaire; a new version will be tested in paper format on around a hundred people by INSEE interviewers in June/July 2026 in Guadeloupe and Réunion. The questionnaire will then be revised and digitised in preparation for the pilot survey (2027 in French Guiana and Guadeloupe); full-scale data collection will begin in 2028 across the four overseas departments and regions (DROM).
Erfi2 -GGP : In addition to the publication of the collective work already mentioned, numerous presentations were given during this period, notably as part of the 2026 European Population Conference. The matched datasets with tax and employment records (shared by the ERFI2 and FamEmp surveys) have been delivered to the CASD and are now being analysed. Wave 2 is currently being prepared and will take place in spring 2027 following a trial run in autumn 2026. It has received the approval of the Label Committee. Following a call for tenders, Ipsos was selected to carry out the data collection.
Families : In January 2026, the ‘Families’ survey working group, comprising numerous researchers, was established. The first half of 2026 was devoted to post-survey processing, which was extensive given the survey protocol. A very first version of a provisional dataset—cleaned and adjusted for the main variables and incorporating an initial set of weights—is expected to be available in the summer of 2026. In the second half of 2026, post-processing work will continue to finalise and validate these analyses, based on the data analyses to be carried out by members of the data analysis group. At the same time, matching work – for methodological and research purposes – has progressed, taking into account the new framework established by the CNIS. In May 2026, Julie Sixou, the survey manager, presented a methodological study on the impact of contact details on the response rate at the 14th International Francophone Symposium on Surveys. Meanwhile, the research teams are continuing with their post-survey project.
ENVIE : Work on analysing and disseminating the survey’s findings has continued. Two articles were published in issue 102 of volume 1 of *Agora débats/jeunesse*: ‘First times as a minority: The first sexual encounter – temporalities and reflexivity among sexual minorities’ by Titouan Fantoni-Decayeux, and ‘Ways of undressing gender. Non-binary young people and the meaning of non-binary identity” by Mathieu Trachman. Six public events took place, including one as part of a series of lectures at the Mucem in Marseille and two as part of the Congreso Futuro organised by the Chilean Senate, as well as ten presentations, two of which were in an international context. Several qualitative studies involving certain respondents who have agreed to be contacted again are currently being carried out or have been completed, with a view to exploring certain topics addressed in the questionnaire in greater depth. The Research Output Database (FPR) will be made available in autumn 2026.
FamEmp : In addition to the collective publication already mentioned, a new issue of *Population & Sociétés* entitled ‘Paternity leave, extended and flexible, is widely taken up by fathers’ was published in January. It examines trends in the uptake of this scheme, its arrangements and the characteristics of the fathers who take it. Analysis of the survey data, recently supplemented by administrative data, is ongoing. Numerous papers have been presented at national and international conferences. Data from Wave 1 will be made available on the Quetelet-Progedo platform in the autumn. The pilot for Wave 2 of the individual component took place in spring 2026, and the main survey will begin in January 2027. It will involve 48,700 women and men living in mainland France, aged between 20 and 68, with respondents from the first wave being re-surveyed and new participants aged between 20 and 22 being included.
SHARE : The SHARE-France team is continuing its preparations for Wave 11. A review of the translation of the generic questionnaire from English into each of the languages in which the SHARE survey is administered has been undertaken, in order to incorporate the new questions, adjust the existing wording and adapt the questions that are managed using loops. The pre-test was then carried out internally, using mock interviews conducted across all participating countries. The French team, responsible for the Healthcare module, subsequently verified the data associated with this module: checking data transmission, the consistency of the responses submitted, and the correct application of filters, etc. On the administrative front, preparations for the Wave 11 data collection have also begun. The SHARE-France team has obtained authorisation from the Statistical Confidentiality Committee to draw a refresher sample, and discussions with INSEE have helped to clarify the characteristics of the individuals to be sampled. Furthermore, an initial version of the Wave 10 data was sent to the national teams in early June 2026. This data will form part of a First Result Book, to which the French team will contribute two chapters.
GUIDE : The Central Hub has secured funding for the GUIDEPREP2 project, which is intended to cover operations relating to the final phase of preparation for the survey of 8-year-olds. The project will begin on 1 October 2026 and will run until 30 September 2029. In France, GUIDE received approval from the Statistical Confidentiality Committee in June 2026 to access the FIDELI/Resil sampling frame in order to draw the sample for the 2027 pilot survey and the main survey in 2028. The GUIDE research team is preparing to conduct a pre-test of the survey’s paper questionnaire in September 2026. The GUIDE Partners Forum, bringing together the partner institutions, took place in Brussels on 30 June 2026.
SAVE THE DATE - DEMI-JE “PANEL SURVEYS AND MODE EFFECT : STATE OF THE ART”
Join us on 8 October at INED (Condorcet Campus) or online from 9.30 am to 12.15 pm for a morning session focusing on trends in panel surveys. The event will be held in English, featuring three international experts who will share their experience and best practices regarding both the collection and analysis of longitudinal data gathered via various methods (CATI, CAWI, CAPI):
- Prof Peter Lynn, Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex, UK
- Marieke Voorpostel, Deputy Head of the Swiss Household Panel, Swiss Foundation for Social Science Research (FORS)
- Prof. Dr Susanne Kuger, Research Director at DJI (German Youth Institute) and Professor of General Pedagogy and Educational Research at LMU (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich)
Further details to follow shortly!
THEY JOIN LIFEOBS
Ryan Hachem has taken over from Anna Sidorets as a development engineer for Progedo’s data documentation.