This paper analyses the term “subsistence” to utilise it for scientific purposes. In doing so, the term will be reconstructed by an evolutionary view. Afterwards, the term will be discussed and develpoped with respect to the so-called paradox of the poverty line.

In view of rising wage inequality and increasing poverty, the introduction of a legal minimum wage has recently become an important policy issue in Germany. We analyze the distributional effects of the introduction of a nationwide legal minimum wage of € 7.5 per hour on the basis of a...