Short-Run and Long-Term Effects of Childbirth on Mothers' Employment and Working Hours across Institutional Regimes: An Empirical Analysis Based on the European Community Household Panel

The employment behavior of mothers is strongly influenced by labor market regulations and certain institutional arrangements, which both vary greatly across European countries. Using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) 1994-2001 for Denmark, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom, which represent four distinct 'institutional regimes', we estimate the short-run and long-term effects of childbirth on married women's employment and working hours. Estimation results show that these effects vary across the four countries in accordance with prevailing institutional regulations.employment and working hours, labor supply, childbirth, European Community Household Panel, panel data models

Public Pensions, Changing Employment Patterns, and the Impact of Pension Reforms across Birth Cohorts: A Microsimulation Analysis for Germany

We analyze the impact of changing employment patterns and pension reforms on the future level of public pensions across birth cohorts in Germany. The analysis is based on a rich dataset that combines household survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and process-produced microdata from the German pension insurance. A microsimulation model is developed which accounts for cohort effects in individual employment and unemployment and earnings over the lifecycle as well as the differential impact of recent pension reforms. Cohort effects for individuals born between 1937 and 1971 vary greatly by region, gender and education and strongly affect lifecycle wage profiles. The largest effects can be observed for younger cohorts in East Germany and for the low educated. Using simulated life cycle employment and income profiles, we project gross future pensions across cohorts taking into account changing demographics and recent pension reforms. Simulations show that pension levels for East German men and women will fall dramatically among younger birth cohorts, not only because of policy reforms but due to higher cumulated unemployment. For West German men, the small reduction of average pension levels among younger birth cohorts is mainly driven by the impact of pension reforms, while future pension levels of West German women are increasing or stable due to rising labor market participation of younger birth cohorts.public pensions, cohort effects, microsimulation

Poorer Health – Shorter Hours? Health and Flexibility of Hours of Work

We analyse the role of health in determining the difference between desired and actual hours of work in a sample of German men using the Socio-Economic Panel Data for years 1996-2007. The effects of both self-assessed health and legal disability status are examined. About 60% of employees report working more than they would wish with the mean difference of -3.9 hours/week. We estimate static and dynamic model specifications allowing for auto-regressive nature of the dependent variable and testing for the role of lagged health status. Important differences are found between east and west German Länder. In the west we find statistically significant role of general health measures in determining the disequilibrium. Employees in bad health want to work on average by about 0.4 hour/week less according to the static specification, and by about 1 hour/week less if dynamics of health and of the disequilibrium are taken into account. This is respectively 10% and 25% of the mean difference. We find no effects of legal disability status on the disequilibrium which we interpret as a reflection of stronger legal position of disabled employees. In both east and west we find significant state dependence in the hours disequilibrium.hours worked, health, disability, labour market flexibility

Public pensions, changing employment patterns, and the impact of pension reforms across birth cohorts: A microsimulation analysis for Germany

We analyze the impact of changing employment patterns and pension reforms on the future level of public pensions across birth cohorts in Germany. The analysis is based on a rich dataset that combines household survey data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and process-produced microdata from the German pension insurance. A microsimulation model is developed which accounts for cohort effects in individual employment and unemployment and earnings over the lifecycle as well as the differential impact of recent pension reforms. Cohort effects for individuals born between 1937 and 1971 vary greatly by region, gender and education and strongly affect lifecycle wage profiles. The largest effects can be observed for younger cohorts in East Germany and for the low educated. Using simulated life cycle employment and income profiles, we project gross future pensions across cohorts taking into account changing demographics and recent pension reforms. Simulations show that pension levels for East German men and women will fall dramatically among younger birth cohorts, not only because of policy reforms but due to higher cumulated unemployment. For West German men, the small reduction of average pension levels among younger birth cohorts is mainly driven by the impact of pension reforms, while future pension levels of West German women are increasing or stable due to rising labor market participation of younger birth cohorts. --Public pensions,cohort effects,microsimulation

Income and assets of care households in Germany

In 2013, some 2.6 million people received long-term care benefits. The number of benefit recipients has risen by 45 percent since 1998. A good 70 percent of benefit recipients, roughly 1.7 million people, are cared for at home and nearly 30 percent in a nursing facility. There are also a significant number of individuals who are dependent on care but not to such an extent that they are entitled to benefits from their care insurance. Instead, they are almost all cared for at home. Long-term care is usually a major burden on the individuals and households concerned. Alongside health-related restrictions, there are also additional costs due to medical expenses and care. At the same time, related caregivers often earn less, since they are forced to reduce working hours to take on care commitments. The present study shows thatcare households have similar incomes to households without care recipients. However, transfer payments for care recipients make up a relatively high share of total income. Moreover, care recipients' assets are far lower than those of individuals without care needs. Care recipients living alone have particularly limited financial resources, and they represent more than 40 percent of all care households

The Interaction of Pension System and Unemployment Insurance - Evidence from two Reforms

Unemployment benefits are one important option to bridge time between employment exit and claiming retirement benefits for older workers. We develop an option value model that explicitly accounts for the pension system and unemployment insurance in Germany. We use administrative panel data and implement the model for female birth cohorts of 1940 to 1949, exploiting exogenous variation in social security wealth by the pension reform 1992 and the reform of unemployment benefits in 2004

Zur Debatte um die Angleichung des Rentenrechts in Ost und West

Auch über ein Vierteljahrhundert nach dem Fall der Mauer ist die vollständige Angleichung des Rentenrechts in Ost- und Westdeutschland noch nicht vollzogen. Die gesetzlichen Renten werden weiterhin unterschiedlich berechnet und angepasst, ferner unterscheiden sich Größen wie die Beitragsbemessungsgrenze oder die sogenannte Bezugsgröße in beiden Landesteilen. Da die Übergangsregelungen der Wendezeit nun über einen so langen Zeitraum Bestand haben, gibt es seit einigen Jahren Kritik an der Ungleichbehandlung von Ost- und Westdeutschen. Hätte es seit 1990 eine vollständige Lohnkonvergenz gegeben, wäre der unterschiedliche Berechnungsmodus obsolet geworden. Tatsächlich ist die Lohnkonvergenz seit Ende der 90er Jahre zum Stillstand gekommen, der Lohnrückstand in Ostdeutschland liegt 2015 laut volkswirtschaftlicher Gesamtrechnung bei den Jahreseinkommen bei rund 21%, bei den Stundenlöhnen liegt er noch höher. Deswegen wird inzwischen regelmäßig über eine politische Rechtsangleichung diskutiert. Mittlerweile liegen verschiedene Modelle zur Vereinheitlichung des Rentenrechts vor. Die letzten beiden Koalitionsverträge der Bundesregierung (2009 und 2013) enthielten jeweils die Absicht ein einheitliches Rentensystem einzuführen. Uneinigkeit herrscht insbesondere in der Frage, wer die Kosten der Rentenangleichung tragen sollte. Im Juli 2016 hat das Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Soziales (BMAS) einen neuen Vorstoß unternommen, allerdings hat das Bundesfinanzministerium (BMF) laut Zeitungsberichten bereits ein Veto gegen diese Pläne eingelegt. Dieser Roundup gibt einen Überblick zu den diskutierten Überleitungsmodellen und den damit verbundenen Problematiken der Rentenangleichung

Einkommen und Vermögen der Pflegehaushalte in Deutschland

Im Jahr 2013 bezogen rund 2,6 Millionen Menschen Leistungen der Pflegeversicherung. Die Zahl der Leistungsempfänger ist seit 1998 um 45 Prozent gestiegen. Gut 70 Prozent der Leistungsbeziehenden, etwa 1,7 Millionen Personen, wurden zu Hause und knapp 30 Prozent stationär gepflegt. Daneben gibt es eine nicht unerhebliche Zahl von Personen, die auf Pflege angewiesen sind, aber noch nicht in einem Maß, das zu Leistungen aus der Pflegeversicherung berechtigt, diese werden zu fast 100 Prozent zu Hause gepflegt. Ein Pflegefall stellt für die betroffenen Personen und Haushalte in der Regel eine große Belastung dar. Neben den gesundheitlichen Einschränkungen entstehen zusätzliche Kosten durch Ausgaben für Medizin und Pflege. Zugleich sinkt häufig das Einkommen der pflegenden Angehörigen durch Reduktion der Erwerbstätigkeit. Die vorliegende Studie zeigt, dass Pflegehaushalte über ein ähnlich hohes Haushaltseinkommen verfügen wie Haushalte, in denen keine pflegebedürftige Person lebt. Allerdings machen Transferleistungen bei Pflegebedürftigen einen relativ hohen Anteil am Gesamteinkommen aus. Darüber hinaus ist ihr Vermögen erheblich geringer als das von Personen ohne Pflegebedarf. Insbesondere alleinlebende Pflegebedürftige verfügen über geringe finanzielle Ressourcen, stellen zugleich aber über 40 Prozent aller Pflegehaushalte dar.In 2013, some 2.6 million people received longterm care benefits. The number of benefit recipients has risen by 45 percent since 1998. A good 70 percent of benefit recipients, roughly 1.7 million people, are cared for at home and nearly 30 percent in a nursing facility. There are also a significant number of individuals who are dependent on care but not to such an extent that they are entitled to benefits from their care insurance. Instead, they are almost all cared for at home. Long-term care is usually a major burden on the individuals and households concerned. Alongside health-related restrictions, there are also additional costs due to medical expenses and care. At the same time, related caregivers often earn less, since they are forced to reduce working hours to take on care commitments. The present study shows thatcare households have similar incomes to households without care recipients. However, transfer payments for care recipients make up a relatively high share of total income. Moreover, care recipients' assets are far lower than those of individuals without care needs. Care recipients living alone have particularly limited financial resources, and they represent more than 40 percent of all care households

Grundsicherungsbezug und Armutsrisikoquote als Indikatoren von Altersarmut

Das Thema Altersarmut wird in Deutschland kontrovers diskutiert. Altersarmut gilt für viele als ein wichtiges sozialpolitisches Problem, da ältere Menschen nur wenige Möglichkeiten haben, etwas an ihrer Einkommensposition zu ändern. Arme Ältere sind deswegen einem hohen Risiko ausgesetzt, dauerhaft arm zu bleiben. Armut am Ende eines langen Erwerbslebens stellt für viele die Legitimität des vorhandenen Systems der Alterssicherung in Frage. Die aktuelle Kontroverse dreht sich insbesondere um das Risiko zunehmender Altersarmut in den kommenden Jahren und die politischen Handlungsempfehlungen, die daraus abzuleiten sind. Bemerkenswert ist allerdings, dass bereits das Ausmaß heutiger Altersarmut unterschiedlich gemessen und bewertet wird. Viele Autoren/innen betonen, dass die Debatte um Altersarmut „emotional“ geführt wird und eine Versachlichung angebracht erscheine. Zum besseren Verständnis der Debatte soll hier differenziert werden zwischen den unterschiedlichen Messkonzepten und Definitionen, die in der Debatte um Altersarmut verwendet werden. Dabei beschränkt sich die Darstellung auf die zwei gängigsten monetären Armutsindikatoren und geht nicht auf weiter gefasste Konzepte zur Messung materieller Deprivation ein. Einerseits wird Altersarmut anhand der Inanspruchnahme bedürftigkeitsgeprüfter Transfers wie der Grundsicherung, die das sozio-kulturelle Existenzminimum sicherstellen sollen, gemessen. Andererseits wird das Armutsrisiko auch mit Maßzahlen, die auf die relative Einkommensposition der Bevölkerung Bezug nehmen, bestimmt. Insbesondere bei den Älteren gelangt man für die verschiedenen Messgrößen zu sehr unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen über das Ausmaß der Altersarmut