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...

In the policy debate, there are regular demands to further increase the retirement age to address the financial challenges for the pension system. However, a prolonged working life impacts a person's health. Detailed data from the statutory health insurance companies shows that abolishing the...

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...

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...

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...

Despite the easing of prices on the energy markets, private households continue to be burdened by elevated prices. The planned increase the planned increase in the carbon price for transport and heating will raise the burden on private households even further. These additional costs are...

In many European countries, men and women differ significantly in the amount of informal care work they provide for relatives, with women acting as caregivers far more frequently than men. This difference, known as the gender care gap, varies considerably between European countries, with Germany...