Gibt es Hinweise auf zunehmende Ungleichheit der Alterseinkünfte und zunehmende Altersarmut?

Abstract

This article deals with different dimensions of inequality in the life course. It examines ret- rospectively how individual possibilities to participate in the labour market have developed. An anal- ysis of the individual wages hints at wage inequalities and possible effects of discrimination. Family biographies constitute an additional dimension. It will be examined how these three dimensions act together in determining the individual amounts of public pensions and their inequality in Germany. The empirical analyses are based on the anonymised scientific use file of the so-called “Rentenzu- gangsstatistik” 2003 which can be obtained by scientists thro ugh the “Forschungsdatenzentrum der Rentenversicherung”. The findings are supplemented with results from the survey “Alterssicherung in Deutschland 2003”. It will be shown that apart from women in Western Germany pensioners today predominantly receive old age incomes above the welfare level (“Grundsicherungsniveau”). However, regarding the recent pension reforms and especially the labour market situation there are also hints that these circumstances will change.