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Nicole Uhde
In: Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik 11 (2010), 4, 407-439
Life satisfaction in Germany has decreased since 2001 in contrast to increasing material prosperity. This paper provides evidence that publicly and privately provided social security measures contribute to the explanation of this development. The analysis is based on survey data of the Socio-Economic Panel for the period from 1992–2007 and is conducted by an Ordered Logit Model and an OLS Model with individual fixed effects. The results offer suggestions for economic policy as they indicate that public and private social spending matters. Concerns about job security and the respondents’ financial situation clearly reduce life satisfaction. Evidence is provided that perceived social security strongly depends on net household income and employment which are at the same time the basis for public social spending and private insurance against risks.