Category / inequality
-
![Frau auf dem Arbeitsweg]()
Women at a disadvantage when building wealth
Women are known to be disadvantaged in the labor market due to the so-called “gender pay gap”: There is a gap of up to 18 percent between the average income of men and women, as previous findings from “Living in Germany” show. Researchers have now investigated the extent to which there are also differences between the sexes when it comes to wealth and asset accumulation.
Over a longer period of time, a clear result emerges: men and women accumulate wealth differently during their lifetime. On average, men receive more wealth in the form of gifts and inheritances during their working lives than women. The latter only inherit larger sums later in life, mainly due to the death of their spouses. In contrast to men, they have fewer opportunities to increase their wealth early on, for example by making long-term investments or becoming entrepreneurs.Further information
Charlotte Bartels, Eva Sierminska, Carsten Schröder: Wealth Creators or Inheritors?
… -
![Älterer Mann sitzt am Tisch vor Geldbeutel und einigen Münzen.]()
High inequality despite rising wages
Only 10% of households in Germany have 56% of the wealth. This means that Germany performs poorly in terms of inequality in a European comparison. Average household net wealth increased by 39% in real terms between 2011 and 2021. However, gifts and inheritances in particular ensure an unequal distribution of wealth across generations.
Even the positive income trend in past years has not been able to reduce the population’s risk of poverty. In 2022, around 15 percent of households were living below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold (one-person household: €1,200 net household income per month, two-person household with child: €2,160). The findings on poverty in old age are also worrying: in eastern Germany, for example, one in four people aged 60 to 79 is at risk of poverty.Further information
…
-
![Arbeitsvertrag auf dem Kurzarbeit mit Textmarker hervorgehoben wird]()
Short-term work during the pandemic
What impact did short-time work have on employees during the coronavirus pandemic? One study comes to a clear conclusion: short-time work was an “effective instrument to contain the consequences of the economic slump on the labor market,” according to Clara Schäper, one of the authors of this study. Together with Katharina Wrohlich, she analyzed data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
Between March 2020 and March 2021, an average of 3.6 million employees per month were on short-time work. A representative survey showed that women were sent on short-time work more often than men. Overall, however, inequality on the labor market did not increase. Those who were on short-time work in 2020 were on average no more likely to become unemployed in the following year than employees not affected by short-time work – regardless of whether they were men or women.
People without access to short-time work, especially “mini-jobbers” and the self-employed, were sometimes hit very hard by the economic impact of the pandemic.Further information
Süddeutsche Zeitung: Kurzarbeit schadet der Karriere nicht (for subscribers)
… -
![Frau sitzt mit Tasse in der Hand und Kopfhörern zu Hause vor dem Computer]()
Reducing the risk of infection for all population groups
Researchers have found that people with socio-economic disadvantages are more likely to have contracted the coronavirus. But does this also apply if they work from home? Researcher Markus M. Grabka and colleagues from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) analyzed data from a survey conducted with the Robert Koch Institute. They compared the risk of infection among people in Germany with lower and higher levels of education who work from home. The result: working from home reduces the risk of infection, especially among people with lower levels of education – an important finding for future pandemic prevention, according to the researchers.
Further information
…
