Inequality with respect to personal earned income has increased in recent years. This trend has gone hand in hand with changes in both the employment constellations of households and the labor market activity of individuals (e.g. through 'minijobs'). In particular, the years since 2000 have seen...

The percentage of children attending private school in Germany has increased sharply in recent years. According to data of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), 7% of all students now attend private school. The SOEP, which contains a range of household data, shows that the children of parents...

Questions about the advantages and disadvantages of sending young children to formal day care ("Kindertageseinrichtungen") have always greatly concerned parents and led to intense, if not always well informed, policy debate. Two issues have been foremost. One is whether young children removed...