"Almost twenty years after German reunification there are still huge income disparities between western and eastern regions in Germany. The main purpose of the paper is to show how social transfer payments reduce these inter-regional disparities. In a first step we examine inequalities in the...

In seiner Stellungnahme zum Gesetzentwurf der Bundesregierung zur Einführung einer Kindergrundsicherung geht das IAB auf die angestrebten Ziele und deren Erreichbarkeit unter folgenden Aspekten ein: Reduzierung von Kinderarmut, Erhöhung der Inanspruchnahme der den Kindern zustehenden...

We present first estimates of rates of non-take-up for social assistance in Germany after the implementation of major social policy reforms in 2005. The analysis is based on a microsimulation model, which includes a detailed description of the German social assistance programme. Our findings...