Redistribution and Insurance in the German Welfare State

Charlotte Bartels

No 419, SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research from DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP)

Abstract: Welfare states redistribute both between individuals reducing annual inequality and over the life-cycle insuring against income risks. But studies measuring redistribution often focus only on a one-year period. Using German SOEP data from 1984 to 2009, long-term inequality over a 20-year period is computed and then decomposed into an inter- and intra-individual component. Results show that annual inequality is higher than long-term inequality, but redistribution is also larger annually. In the long-term, the German welfare state clearly gives priority to insurance over redistribution. This gets even more pronounced at later stages of the life-cycle through the payment of social security pensions.

Keywords: Long-term income inequality; Income redistribution; Social security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 H53 H55 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 p.
Date: 2011
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ias
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.390629.de/diw_sp0419.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Redistribution and Insurance in the German Welfare State (2012)
Working Paper: Redistribution and insurance in the German welfare state (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp419

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