Pandemic-Ready Data: Linking the Socio-Economic Panel with Administrative Health Records
This paper examines the gaps in Germany’s pandemic data infrastructure revealed during COVID-19 and argues that linking the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) with administrative health records would strengthen the country’s ability to monitor infectious diseases and their social distribution. Drawing on evidence from the RKI-SOEP study, we illustrate the added value of combining a rich household survey with infectious disease data. We discuss why such linkages remain limited in Germany, outline practical possibilities for implementation, and show how integration could support more timely and equitable evidence during future public health crises while also enabling broader health and social research.