88 research outputs found
Reforming the public pension scheme in Germany: The end of the traditional consensus?
The public pension scheme has been an important element of the successful model of 'Rhenish Capitalism' (social market economy) in post-war Germany. On the one hand, the promise to guarantee status maintenance during retirement sustained the incentives of the labor market in that it promoted individual effort and mobility. On the other hand, the public pension scheme definitely contributed to the legitimization of democratic politics because it corresponded to approved notions of social justice. Not the least for these reasons, in the end, this branch of the social insurance system developed with general approval from the governing parties, the party in opposition, and the social partners. After the legislation of the public pensions reform in 1989 (which became effective in 1992) it was assumed that in Germany no further structural reform should enter the political agenda during this century. Nevertheless, in 1997 another far-reaching reform proposal was enacted in 1997 (Rentenreform 1999). In the paper the background of the revived reform debate, the (disputed) elements of the reform proposal(s), and the process of compromise-building are analyzed. Special emphasis will be given to the question of whether the conflictuous reform process and the still ongoing debate indicate an end to the long-standing consensus between the large political parties and between the social partners which has prevailed in German pension politics so far and that would be, at the same time, an expression and result of notable changes of the politico-economical conditions in Germany. --
Between continuity and paradigm shift: Pension reforms in Germany
In general, the policy domain of old-age pensions is characterized by institutional continuity and only incremental reforms. Since the late 1980s, in Germany a series of public pension reforms, all initiated in view of imminent population aging, have happened. In this paper it is looked into the process and content of reforms legislated between 1989 and 2001 in order to understand the nature of change and its driving forces. The main question to be answered is whether these single reform steps eventually amounted to a 'path departure'. Despite the reforms the public pension scheme will continue to be the central component of retirement income for the next decades to come, and traditional features of that social insurance program remained intact. However, it can no longer be regarded as a coherent and undisputed policy paradigm: pension politics has become increasingly conflictuous, and the scope of policy-making has widened from public pension policy (parametric reforms concerning a tighter contribution-benefit link, prolonged working life, adjustment formulae etc.) to retirement income policy. Thereby some of the public scheme's established principles have been abandoned, non-public components of retirement income are pushed and new actors become involved in the politics of pensions. It is thus justified to speak of a paradigmatic change that has occurred. --
Social insurances and the culture of solidarity: The moral infrastructure of interpersonal redistributions - with special reference to the German health care system
Social insurance schemes have proved to be rather stable welfare state institutions enjoying broad popular support. It is widely assumed that the high degree of legitimacy is due to the insurance analogy because those schemes provide individually equitable returns on prior contribution payments. In this article it is demonstrated that all social insurance schemes contain interpersonal redistributions on a large scale, resulting from uniform contribution rates, provisions geared at social adequacy of benefits, and unequal treatment of different birth cohorts. In Germany, those redistributive elements are most pronounced in the statutory health care scheme. It is argued that the unchallenged functioning of social insurances is dependent on a prevailing culture of solidarity. It denotes an immunity to the temptation of individual utility maximization based upon recognized moral duties which then facilitates ongoing redistributive processes. Results from qualitative interviews with persons insured with the German statutory health care scheme clearly indicate the presence of those solidary virtues. The continued existence of this moral infrastructure appears to be less threatened by progressing individualization. Rather, it might be eroded by current political attempts to shift the balance between solidarity and self-reliance which intensify mistrust in the permanence of comprehensive health care protection. --
Active citizens and retirement planning: enlarging freedom of choice in the course of pension reforms in nordic countries and Germany
Ein Aspekt der jĂŒngsten Rentenreformen in den OECD-Staaten ist die Ăbertragung von individueller Verantwortung auf die BeschĂ€ftigten, vor allem die Ă€lteren Arbeitnehmer. Eine Erweiterung des Entscheidungsspielraums betrifft den Zeitpunkt der Verrentung mit entsprechenden Konsequenzen fĂŒr das Rentenniveau sowie die Entscheidung fĂŒr eine Zusatzrente einschlieĂlich von Folgeentscheidungen ĂŒber die Investition von Ersparnissen, den Abruf von Leistungen und Ă€hnliche Probleme. Unter solchermaĂen verĂ€nderten Rahmenbedingungen wird die individuelle Planung des Ruhestandes komplexer und risikoreicher. Ausgehend von der Frage, warum sich der Staat in dieser Frage ĂŒberhaupt engagiert, werden die GrĂŒnde und das AusmaĂ einer solchen Politik am Beispiel von vier LĂ€ndern dargestellt, wo Rentenreformen in gröĂerem Umfang kĂŒrzlich stattgefunden haben (Finnland, Deutschland, Schweden) oder auf der Tagesordnung stehen (Norwegen). Der Verfasser setzt sich mit den Risiken einer gröĂeren Eigenverantwortung in Bezug auf die Altersvorsorge im Allgemeinen auseinander und legt eine vergleichende Analyse der ReformansĂ€tze unter BerĂŒcksichtigung bestehender institutioneller Strukturen und aktueller Herausforderungen und Konflikte vor. (ICEĂbers)"One feature of recent pension reforms in OECD countries has been that more individual responsibility is transferred to employees and in particular to those approaching the end of their working life. Enlarged freedom of choice concerns the timing of retirement with corresponding consequences for the level of public pensions as well as the participation in supplementary pension schemes and subsequent decisions about investment of savings, take out of benefits etc. Within such changed framework individual retirement planning becomes more complex and risky. Starting from the question why the government is in the 'pension business' at all, the paper explores the reasons (and the extent) of enlarging freedom of choice in four countries where major pension reforms have recently taken place (Finland, Germany, Sweden) or are entering the agenda (Norway). The risks of increased self responsibility with regard to provision for old age are analyzed in general, and the concrete policy changes are evaluated comparatively in view of respective institutional legacies and current challenges and conflicts." (author's abstract
Between continuity and paradigm shift: pension reforms in Germany
"In general, the policy domain of old-age pensions is characterized by institutional continuity and only incremental reforms. Since the late 1980s, in Germany a series of public pension reforms, all initiated in view of imminent population aging, have happened. In this paper it is looked into the process and content of reforms legislated between 1989 and 2001 in order to understand the nature of change and its driving forces. The main question to be answered is whether these single reform steps eventually amounted to a 'path departure'. Despite the reforms the public pension scheme will continue to be the central component of retirement income for the next decades to come, and traditional features of that social insurance program remained intact. However, it can no longer be regarded as a coherent and undisputed policy paradigm: pension politics has become increasingly conflictuous, and the scope of policy-making has widened from public pension policy (parametric reforms concerning a tighter contribution-benefit link, prolonged working life, adjustment formulae etc.) to retirement income policy. Thereby some of the public scheme's established principles have been abandoned, non-public components of retirement income are pushed and new actors become involved in the politics of pensions. It is thus justified to speak of a paradigmatic change that has occurred." (author's abstract
Active Citizens and Retirement Planning: Enlarging Freedom of Choice in the Course of Pension Reforms in Nordic Countries and Germany
One feature of recent pension reforms in OECD countries has been that more individual responsibility is transferred to employees and in particular to those approaching the end of their working life. Enlarged freedom of choice concerns the timing of retirement with corresponding consequences for the level of public pensions as well as the participation in supplementary pension schemes and subsequent decisions about investment of savings, take out of benefits etc. Within such changed framework individual retirement planning becomes more complex and risky. Starting from the question why the government is in the "pension business" at all, the paper explores the reasons (and the extent) of enlarging freedom of choice in four countries where major pension reforms have recently taken place (Finland, Germany, Sweden) or are entering the agenda (Norway). The risks of increased self-responsibility with regard to provision for old age are analyzed in general, and the concrete policy changes are evaluated comparatively in view of respective institutional legacies and current challenges and conflicts. --
Active citizens and retirement planning : enlarging freedom of choice in the course of pension reforms in Nordic countries and Germany
One feature of recent pension reforms in OECD countries has been that more individual responsibility is transferred to employees and in particular to those approaching the end of their working life. Enlarged freedom of choice concerns the timing of retirement with corresponding consequences for the level of public pensions as well as the participation in supplementary pension schemes and subsequent decisions about investment of savings, take out of benefits etc. Within such changed framework individual retirement planning becomes more complex and risky. Starting from the question why the government is in the pension business at all, the paper explores the reasons (and the extent) of enlarging freedom of choice in four countries where major pension reforms have recently taken place (Finland, Germany, Sweden) or are entering the agenda (Norway). The risks of increased self-responsibility with regard to provision for old age are analyzed in general, and the concrete policy changes are evaluated comparatively in view of respective institutional legacies and current challenges and conflicts
IrregulÀre BeschÀftigungsverhÀltnisse und soziale Sicherheit. Facetten der »Erosion« des NormalarbeitsverhÀltnisses in der Bundesrepublik
IrregulĂ€re BeschĂ€ftigungsverhĂ€ltnisse (Teilzeitarbeit, befristete ArbeitsverhĂ€ltnisse, Leiharbeit, »unechte« und »alternative« SelbstĂ€ndigkeit) sind in den letzten Jahren hĂ€ufiger geworden. Dies ist nur z.T. auf MaĂnahmen institutioneller Flexibilisierung im Regulierungssystem der Arbeitsbeziehungen (beispielsweise auf das BeschĂ€ftigungsförderungsgesetz) zurĂŒckzufĂŒhren. Mindestens ebenso bedeutsam ist, daĂ das auf KontinuitĂ€t und StabilitĂ€t von (Vollzeit-) BeschĂ€ftigung zugeschnittene »Korsett« des sog. »NormalarbeitsverhĂ€ltnisses« den differenzierten BedĂŒ1fnissen und »flĂŒssigeren« LebensentwĂŒrfen insbesondere von Arbeitnehmerinnen immer weniger gerecht wird. Das NormalarbeitsverhĂ€ltnis wird fĂŒr die MajoritĂ€t der mĂ€nnlichen ErwerbstĂ€tigen wohl noch lange Zeit handlungsleitender Bezugspunkt bleiben. Doch die in den letzten Jahren vollzogenen Einschnitte ins Netz sozialer und rechtlicher Sicherung haben all diejenigen, die von M eh1fach- bzw. Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit betroffen oder irregulĂ€r beschĂ€ftigt sind, zu einer marginalisierten »RestgröĂe des Arbeitsmarktes« werden lassen und der mehr schlechten als rechten Verwaltung durch den Sozialstaat ĂŒberantwortet. Ein »garantiertes Mindesteinkommen « wĂ€re vielleicht eine Alternative zum ausgrenzenden NormalarbeitsverhĂ€ltnis - ebenso aber wĂ€ren dies Regelungen fĂŒr die Finanzierung von Arbeiten, die nicht im BeschĂ€ftigungssystem verrichtet werden, mithin Politiken, die auf erweiterte Optionen fĂŒr die Individuen und auf eine Dezentrierung von Erwerbsarbeit hinauslaufen
Berufliche Integration Behinderter in der Krise. Zur Wirksamkeit arbeitsmarktpolitischer Instrumente bei struktureller UnterbeschÀftigung
"Mit der Aktivierung der Behindertenpolitik Ende der sechziger Jahre ist das Ziel der beruflichen Rehabilitation neu gewichtet worden. Damit wurde der Tatsache Rechnung getragen, daĂ die qualitative Verbesserung von Lebenschancen unmittelbar mit der Partizipation am Arbeitsmarkt zusammenhĂ€ngt. Trotz einer solchen Aktivierung der Politik verschlechtert sich die Arbeitsmarktlage von Behinderten und Leistungsgeminderten seit Beginn der BeschĂ€ftigungskrise 1974/75 stĂ€ndig. Die in den nĂ€chsten Jahren erwartbaren verschĂ€rften BeschĂ€ftigungsprobleme werden schon angesichts der finanziellen EngpĂ€sse öffentlicher Haushalte nicht durch eine Expansion der Ausgaben fĂŒr eine berufliche Integrationspolitik angegangen werden können. Daher erscheint die Suche nach alternativen Lösungsmöglichkeiten dringend erforderlich. Der ... Beitrag versucht in einem ersten Schritt, die bislang angewandten Politikinstrumente zur Regulierung der Arbeitsmarktlage von Behinderten auf ihre Wirksamkeit hin zu ĂŒberprĂŒfen. In einem zweiten Schritt wird diskutiert, inwiefern die Etablierung von neuen Verhandlungssystemen, in denen die betroffenen Politikakteure auf lokaler Ebene kooperieren, eine höhere Wirksamkeit als die bekannten regulativen Politikinstrumente entfalten können. AbschlieĂend werden Möglichkeiten einer partiellen Revision des Ziels der beruflichen Integration analysiert."Behinderte - Integration, Arbeitsmarktpolitik - Effizienz, strukturelle Arbeitslosigkeit, Wirkungsforschung, berufliche Rehabilitation
Arbeitszeitsituation und ArbeitszeitverkĂŒrzung in der Sicht der BeschĂ€ftigten : Ergebnisse einer Arbeitnehmerbefragung
"Der Beitrag bezieht sich auf eine ReprĂ€sentativumfrage unter beschĂ€ftigten Arbeitnehmern zu ihrer Arbeitszeitsituation, den ArbeitszeitwĂŒnschen und der Haltung zu ArbeitszeitverkĂŒrzungen. Die gegenwĂ€rtigen Arbeitszeitbedingungen sind ausgesprochen uneinheitlich - nicht nur hinsichtlich der Lage, sondern auch hinsichtlich der Dauer der Arbeitszeit. Noch unterschiedlicher sind die von den Arbeitnehmern zu tragenden Belastungen zeitlicher Natur: Es gibt (v.a. in BĂŒroberufen) vergleichsweise angenehme Arbeitszeitregelungen, die auch individuelle GestaltungsspielrĂ€ume einschlieĂen. Auf der anderen Seite kumulieren verschiedene Belastungstypen bei bestimmten BeschĂ€ftigungskategorien. In entsprechender Weise variiert die artikulierte ĂnderungsbedĂŒrftigkeit der Arbeitszeit. Schwerpunkte sind 'mehr Selbstbestimmung' einerseits, 'mehr NormalitĂ€t' andererseits. ... Was die Form von ArbeitszeitverkĂŒrzungen angeht, so sind lĂ€ngere Blockfreizeiten (mehr Urlaub, frĂŒherer Ruhestand) beliebter als eine verringerte Wochenarbeitszeit. Dennoch scheint WochenarbeitszeitverkĂŒrzung diejenige Variante zu sein, die am ehesten allen BeschĂ€ftigungskategorien eine Erleichterung ihrer Situation bringen wĂŒrde." (Autorenreferat)ArbeitszeitverkĂŒrzung, Arbeitszeitwunsch, Arbeitnehmer, Bundesrepublik Deutschland
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