The German Federal Government has expanded subsidies for employees with low gross wages (midijob employees) as of January 1, 2023, and raised the upper earnings limit to 2,000 euros. As a result, around 6.2 million midijob employees will benefit from paying reduced social security contributions...

An accident, a chronic illness, or even a congenital disability are common causes of a loss of earning capacity. Although the loss of earned income is insured through the reduced earning capacity pension in the statutory pension insurance scheme, the amount received is so low that people with...

Two traditional options for reforming Ehegattensplitting, the joint taxation of married couples with full income splitting, are de facto income splitting (Realsplitting) or individual taxation with a transferable personal allowance. However, these proposals do not significantly reduce the...

Basic income benefits cover recipients' actual heating expenses as long as they are not unusually high. In contrast, their electricity expenses are only covered via a lump sum at the standard rate. Thus, basic income recipients have weaker incentives for reducing their heating expenses than for...