Richard Hauser

Poverty Dynamics in Eight Countries

Despite very different macroeconomic conditions, demographic structures and degrees of income inequality, favorable income changes among low-income families with children were widespread and strikingly similar across the eight countries in our study. In most European countries, the combination of modest inequality and extensive mobility among the poor enabled virtually all families to avoid relative income deprivation at least occasionally. However, even substantial mobility among the poor in the Unites States could not elevate the living standards of one in seven white and two in five black families to a level that was half that enjoyed by a typical American family.

Wife or Frau, Women Do Worse: A Comparison of Men and Women in the United States and Germany After Marital Dissolution*

Longitudinal data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the German Socio-Economic Panel show that in the Federal Republic of Germany, women experience even sharper drops in economic status immediately after a marital split than in the United States, while German and American men fare about the same. German social policy does little to reduce the disparities.

A Comparison of the Main Household Income Surveys for Germany: EVS and SOEP

Description and analysis of the personal income distribution in Germany rely heavily on two major surveys, the EVS (Income and Consumption Survey) and the SOEP (Socio-Economic Panel Study). These surveys, however, do not deliver exactly the same results in terms of income levels and structure, as well as on inequality and poverty. Some of the discrepancies have led to confusions in the political debate following the first official Poverty and Wealth Report in Germany.1 Thus, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the methodological differences between EVS and SOEP against the background of the recommendations of the “Canberra Group” (Expert Group on Household Income Statistics) and to give a comparison of some substantive results on the basis of both surveys. In describing and discussing systematically the features of the two major inquiries on household income, we aim to improve the understanding of differences in fmdings when measuring the German income distribution using SOEP and EVS, respectively.

The personal distribution of income in an international perspective

The book examines the development and the dynamics of the personal distribution of income in Germany, Great Britain, Sweden and the United States and some other OECD countries. Starting with the distribution of labour income, the issue is then expanded to include all monetary incomes of private households and to adjust for household size by an equivalence scale. Some authors analyse one country in detail by decomposing aggregate inequality measures, other authors focus on direct comparisons of some features of the income distribution in Germany with those in Great Britain or in the United States. The results suggest dominant influences of unemployment as well as of tax and transfer policies and different welfare regimes, respectively, but also show that our knowledge about distributional processes is still limited.

Armut in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Armut im Sozialstaat — hier bezogen auf die Bundesrepublik Deutschland1 — ist ein Thema, das in der politischen und offentlichen Diskussion immer wieder Popularitatsschube erlebt, um dann wieder, mehr oder minder lautlos, in Vergessenheit zu geraten. Innerhalb der Soziologie ist das unterste Segment der sozialen Schichtung nur wenig beachtet und thematisiert worden. Im Gegensatz dazu steht beispielsweise die Tradition der starker soziologisch orientierten Armutsforschung in Grosbritannien und den USA. In der Bundesrepublik ist das Feld der Armutsforschung haufig den Okonomen, Sozialpadagogen und Sozialrechtlern uberlassen worden. Dies mag damit zusammenhangen, das Armut im bundesdeutschen Sozialstaat primar als sozialpolitisches Problem wahrgenommen wird, das sich durch Merkmale wie Verrechtlichung und Okonomisierung auszeichnet. Das idiosynkratische Verhaltnis von Soziologie und Sozialpolitik beschrieb von Ferber im Jahre 1977 (S. 11f.) wie folgt: „Praktische Sozialpolitik, Wissenschaftliche Sozialpolitik und Soziologie stehen einander so fremd und beziehungslos gegenuber wie vor 24 Jahren, als Gerhard Mackenroth im Verein fur Socialpolitik einen vielbeachteten Vortrag uber die ‘Reform der Sozialpolitik durch einen deutschen Sozialplan’ hielt“.2 Zwar hat sich bis 1992, 15 Jahre spater, einiges geandert, dennoch kann dieses Verhaltnis immer noch als distanziert beschrieben werden.

Soziale Gerechtigkeit – ein magisches Viereck

Zusammenfassung Der Beitrag bezieht sich auf das Problem der Gestaltung von Institutionen, die Soziale Gerechtigkeit gewahrleisten sollen; Es geht also um jene gesetzlichen Regelungen, die die Verteilung von Einkommen, Vermogen, Gutern, Rechten, Freiheitsspielraumen und Verwirklichungschancen innerhalb einer Gesellschaft bestimmen. Dabei wird die individuell-ethische Perspektive vollig ausgeklammert, d. h., dass Verhaltensvorschriften fur die Staatsburger, die uber die Beachtung der Gesetze hinausgehen, nicht behandelt werden. Schlagworte: Gerechtigkeit, Grundgesetz, Einkommen, Vermogen, Institutionen, Naturrecht

Inequality in Income: a Comparison of East and West Germans Before Reunification and During Transition

This article analyses the income distribution of East Germany at the time of reunification with West Germany, the pertod 1990 to 1993. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (GSOEP), we compare the situ ation in East Germany on the eve of the union to that in West Germany. We then analyse the change of relative income positions of certain social groups — such as lone-parent households and the aged - in the three years following reunification. The article also provides a dis cussion of the measurement problems that arise when comparing income distributions across nations and across time. The data proves that the general income distribution in East Germany — starting from a very low level of inequality — is slowly approaching West German standards. It appears that persons in similar socio-demographic groups are in com parable relative income positions in both regions. In East Germany unemployment is of increasing importance as a source of decline in economic well-being .

Zur Entwicklung von Armut und Wohlstand in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland — eine Bestandsaufnahme

Die aktuelle Debatte um Kinderarmut bzw. die „Infantilisierung der Armut“ hat das gesellschaftspolitische Interesse an Altersarmut verdrangt und teilweise durch Thesen einer „Uberversorgung“ der Senior(inn)en ersetzt. Die in diesem Zusammenhang implizit aufgeworfene Frage nach der Generationengerechtigkeit stellt einen spezifischen Aspekt des allgemeinen Problems der Verteilungsgerechtigkeit dar.2 Sie ist von daher nur im Kontext der Gesamtentwicklung von Wohlstand und seiner Verteilung in einer Gesellschaft sinnvoll zu diskutieren. Hier wird versucht, einen empirischen Beitrag zur notwendigen Bestandsaufnahme zu leisten, ohne die eine sachliche gesellschaftspolitische Auseinandersetzung nicht moglich ist. Dabei gilt unter den normativen Gesichtspunkten von Gerechtigkeit und sozialstaatlichen Aufgaben den Randbereichen der Verteilung, d.h. Armut und gehobenem Wohlstand3, besondere Aufmerksamkeit.

Adequacy and Poverty Among Retired People

This paper compares the well-being of the elderly populations in 14 highly industrialized countries. It is based on empirical data gathered by the Luxembourg Income Study referring to years around 1990. It shows that the positions of persons in pensioner households compared with persons in non-pensioner households differ widely. In some countries there are also great differences between male and female pensioners, between age cohorts, and between the poverty ratios of the elderly population.

The Main Problems of International Comparative Poverty Research

International comparative poverty research is part of international comparative social policy research, which has increased in importance in recent years. A quote from the English researcher Catherine Jones (1985, p. 4) shows why scientists are interested in international comparative social policy research: “... the necessity for it rests on three grounds: comparative study promotes a better understanding of the home social policy environment; it helps broaden ideas as to what may be done in response to particular issues or problems and may even suggest ‘lessons from abroad’; it opens the doors to a greater breadth and variety of case material, such as may further the development of theoretical constructs about social policy formation and development to an extent that could not be possible on the basis of home country experience and material alone.”