The gender pay gap increases with age: While the average gross hourly wage gap between male and female 30-year-olds is nine percent, the gap triples to 28 percent by the age of 50. This stark increase is due to differences in employment behavior in the decades between the ages of 30 and 50....

According to Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) data, inequality in gross monthly earnings in Germany increased significantly between 1993 and 2003 and has been stagnating at a high level since 2008. As this Weekly Report shows, the increase is not being driven by higher hourly wage inequality, but...

In many European countries, there is a substantial gender pension gap. Yet, these gaps vary strongly across countries. This cross-national study examines to what extent institutional and labor market-specific factors correlate with gender pension gaps. The findings show that the gender pension...

The living situation of the elderly population in Europe is gaining importance due to demographic change. In many European countries, women receive substantially lower pensions than men; gender pension gaps among pensioners can be up to 69 percent. When taking elderly people without a pension...

Introduced 20 years ago as a part of the 2001 pension reform, the Riester pension is meant to function as an essential component of the German pension system with the aim of compensating for decreasing public pensions. However, data collected by the SOEP show that this objective has not yet been...

According to representative survey results of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), volunteer rates have been continually rising in Germany over the past 30 years. Contributing factors include young adults’ growing willingness to volunteer as well as an increase in the volunteer behavior of older...

The ecological tax reform that Germany implemented between 1999 and 2003 increased energy tax rates-especially on gasoline and diesel. Today, the ecological tax hikes yield an annual revenue of around 20 billion euros or 0.6 percent of GDP. The money is used to finance a higher federal grant to...

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...