SOEP Research: Inequality and Mobility

Real estate price polarization projected to increase until 2030 in Germany

Demographic projections for Germany indicate a drop in the population of many regions by 2030. This is likely to have an impact on the real estate market. Our report presents the result of a model calculation of asking prices for residential real estate in Germany up to 2030 based on market data from empirica-systeme GmbH and a population projection from the Bertelsmann Foundation. Depending on the ...

Distributive and Poverty-Reducing Effects of In-Kind Housing Benefits in Europe: With a Case Study for Germany

While cash housing benefits are generally included in household disposable income, the effect of social housing is not accounted for. This may provide a misleading picture of the impact of overall housing policies on inequality and poverty, as countries use different policies to help households meet their housing expenses. In this article, we present the first comprehensive study of the impact of in-kind ...

Einkommensunterschiede in der Mortalität in Deutschland – Ein empirischer Erklärungsversuch

In dieser Studie gehen wir der Frage nach, welche Faktoren die einkommensbedingten Unterschiede in der Mortalität erklären können. Auf der Basis des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) werden ereignisanalytische Modelle der Mortalität ab dem Alter 65 geschätzt, die Auskunft über den Mediatoreffekt von acht Faktorenbündeln geben. Als Mediatoren zwischen Einkommen zum Alter 65 und Mortalität werden Bildung, ...

A Head-to-Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States

We provide levels of, compositions of, and inequalities in household augmented wealth – defined as the sum of net worth and pension wealth – for two countries: the United States and Germany. Pension wealth makes up a considerable portion of household wealth: about 48% in the United States and 61% in Germany. The higher share in Germany narrows the wealth gap between the two countries: While average ...

Measuring the Consistency of Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Income Information in EU-SILC

The EU-wide survey “Statistics on Income and Living Conditions” (EU-SILC) is extremely important for international social science research and policy advice. It is therefore crucial to ensure that the data are of the highest quality and international comparability. This paper is aimed at identifying unexpected developments in income levels, income mobility, and inequality in the EU-SILC data between ...

Policy Goals in the Eyes of the Public: Preservation of the Liberal Democratic Order Remains Most Important

More than just a few politicians and scientists see an imbalance in policy’s primary orientation toward economic goals, especially the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In view of scientific and public discourses on prosperity, this report analyzes how voting-eligible Germans, the electorate, rated the significance of different policy areas in 2013 and again at the beginning of 2017. It is based on two ...

Improving the Quality of Care for the Elderly Is of High Relevance for all Age Groups: Six Questions for Marco Giesselmann

An Integrated Approach for Top-Corrected Ginis

Household survey data provide a rich information set on income, household context and demographic variables, but tend to under report incomes at the very top of the distribution. Administrative data like tax records offer more precise information on top incomes, but at the expense of household context details and incomes of non-filers at the bottom of the distribution. We combine the benefits of the ...

Real Income Rose Significantly between 1991 and 2014 on Average – First Indication of Return to Increased Income Inequality

The real disposable income of private households in Germany, accounting for inflation, rose by 12 percent between 1991 and 2014. This is what the present study based on data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) has shown. However, the trends varied greatly depending on income group. While the middle income segment rose by more than eight percent, the highest income segment increased by up to 26 percent. ...

The Gap between the Rich and the Poor Keeps Growing: Seven Questions for Markus M. Grabka