Pandemic-Ready Data: Linking the Socio-Economic Panel with Administrative Health Records

Alexander Lepe, Ingo Kolodziej and Sabine Zinn

No 1232, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant weaknesses in Germany’s ability to generate timely, equity-sensitive evidence at the household level. While national surveillance systems produced daily counts of confirmed cases, hospitalisations, and deaths, they offered little insight into the social and economic conditions shaping the spread and impact of the virus. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), such as school closures and quarantines, reduced transmission but imposed substantial and uneven burdens on households. Without representative, real-time data on these impacts, early policy decisions were made with limited contextual information. Germany possesses rich but fragmented health and social data resources. The Robert Koch Institute’s surveillance data, hospital and insurance records, and surveys such as the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) exist in separate silos. Legal and technical barriers, including the absence of a common unique identifier, have prevented rapid linkage. As a result, official statistics failed to capture undetected infections, socioeconomic inequalities, and the full burden of NPIs on households. Evidence from the RKI-SOEP study, which linked SOEP survey data with serological testing, demonstrated that disadvantaged groups faced higher risk of (undetected) infection, lower vaccination rates, and greater psychosocial strain. Linking the SOEP with administrative health data, particularly statutory health insurance claims, could address these gaps. The SOEP is Germany’s largest and longest-running household panel, providing four decades of detailed socioeconomic and demographic information. Integrating this with comprehensive health records would enable the monitoring of infections, health outcomes, and their unequal distribution across social groups. Such a system could support earlier identification of vulnerable groups, help inform targeted interventions, and improve the evaluation of public health measures. The RKI-SOEP study illustrates the feasibility and value of integrating infectious disease data into a household panel. However, its ad hoc design meant findings were not initially available. Establishing a permanent SOEP–administrative health data linkage, with appropriate consent and privacy safeguards, would shorten reporting delays and strengthen Germany’s pandemic preparedness. This approach aligns with the World Health Organization’s Pandemic Agreement, which calls for multisectoral, equity-sensitive surveillance systems. While no single system can eliminate all data blind spots, integrating household and health records would represent a major step toward more timely and equitable public health responses. Beyond pandemic preparedness, the same infrastructure could inform strategies to reduce health inequalities and support a more resilient health system.

Pages: 15 p.
Date: 2025
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