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Press Release
At the FIFA World Cup 2006, the method of using the market value of the teams ("transfer value") was first proposed as a simple and transparent basis for forecasting the outcome of a major football tournament. Indeed, the countries with players of the highest market value were world champions in 2006 and 2010 (Italy and Spain, respectively), just as the most expensive team won the European ...
11.06.2014
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Press Release
Family-related breaks in employment often lead to lower statutory pension entitlements, especially for retired mothers. Against this background, the legislation for marriage- and family-related payments has been designed to compensate for such deficits in old-age provision. These payments are directly related to old-age pensions and can be of relevant importance for the economic stability of families ...
04.06.2014
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Press Release
Unemployment affects the mental health of partners almost as much as that of the unemployed person. The impact on mental health does not depend on which partner is unemployed: both women and men suffer from their partner being unemployed. These are the findings of a study conducted by DIW Berlin on the basis of data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) which looked at couples affected by unemployment ...
27.05.2014
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Press Release
Natural gas makes a major contribution to European energy supply. Consequently, the political crisis between Russia and Ukraine increases fears of the consequences of Russia suspending natural gas supplies to Ukraine and the European Union. The last time this occurred was in the winter of 2009, as Russia and Ukraine disputed the price of natural gas and transit costs. However, the European Union has ...
27.05.2014
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Press Release
When mothers with young children contemplate employment, a decisive factor is whether day care is available. Extensive research has been carried out on the subject. However, to date, it has failed to address the extent to which the quality of day care affects maternal employment decisions. We examine this research question using data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and the extension sample ...
21.05.2014
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Press Release
The planned increase of the insurance periods recognized for bringing up children (Mütterrente) will increase the pension contribution rate by an average of 0.3 percentage points and reduce the gross pension level by an average of 0.4 percentage points by 2018. However, since government subsidies to the pension system are to be gradually increased from 2019, the longer-term impact on contribution ...
14.05.2014
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Press Release
Germany's draft bill to improve the benefits provided under the statutory pension insurance scheme (Gesetz über Leistungsverbesserungen in der gesetzlichen Rentenversicherungen) will entitle, in particular, those who have contributed for many years (at least 45) to retire early on a full pension (without any reductions to their pension payments) at the age of 63. The proposed reform is in stark ...
07.05.2014
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Press Release
Previous studies on the impact of day care center attendance on child development have focused on quantitative aspects (e. g., capacity of the center). Yet the quality of a day care center is also relevant and is increasingly being discussed in the context of day care expansion. The discussion is often limited, however, to improving children?s skills and rarely addresses their health, although this ...
30.04.2014
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Press Release
Housing rents in Germany have been rising for several years. Especially in major cities such as Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich, the increases have recently been higher than the German average growth rate of rents that makes up roughly two percent. The German government would like to respond to this development by introducing caps on rents for new rentals. But are rent really necessary? The growth rates ...
09.04.2014
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Press Release
The daughter and son who take care of their parents or look after their neighbor who is no longer mobile while working at the same time: informal care is a central pillar of the German care system—particularly with regard to the aging population and the resultant increase in the demand for care. Between five and six percent of all adults regularly provide informal care according to DIW Berlin’s ...
02.04.2014
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Press Release
Three years after the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima one observes a certain momentum with regard to lifetime extensions as well as some interest in new building of nuclear power plants. Advocates of nuclear power argue in term of low-cost electricity generation, a secure supply as well as a contribution against climate change. The Reference Scenario of the European Commission - which sets the agenda ...
26.03.2014
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Press Release
Inflation in the euro area has been below the European Central Bank's target for almost a year now and it is also expected to remain at a very low level in the near future. On the one hand, such a low level of inflation is not in line with the ECB's objective. On the other hand, there is the risk that this situation will lead to a slide into deflation. In view of the ECB's historically low policy rates, ...
19.03.2014
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Press Release
In 2014, the German economy is expected to grow by 1.8 %. Next year, GDP will increase by 2.1 %. The output gap will decline significantly this year, but will only be fully closed in the coming year. Inflation will remain low in this environment.
The upward momentum of the global economy weakened slightly in the final quarter of 2013. However, developed countries were almost able to maintain their ...
12.03.2014
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Press Release
In January 2014, the European Commission proposed a framework for its climate and energy policy up to 2030. It includes targets for reducing greenhouse gases and using renewable energies, but no specific targets for increasing energy efficiency. By 2030, greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 40 percent over 1990 figures. Another element of the proposal is the introduction of a market stability ...
05.03.2014
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Press Release
People are investing their life savings in financial products, for instance, to provide for their retirement, and in doing so they are making their future financial situation almost entirely dependent on the success of these investments. The financial sector promotes numerous investment opportunities with widely varying levels of risk - from the classic private pension insurance to high-risk equity ...
26.02.2014
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Press Release
According to current analyses based on the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), the total net assets of German households in 2012 amounted to 6.3 trillion euros. Almost 28 percent of the adult population had no or even negative net worth. On average, individual net worth in 2012 totaled more than 83,000 euros; that is slightly more than ten years previously. The degree of wealth inequality remained virtually ...
26.02.2014
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Press Release
In 2012, almost five million people, or roughly 10 percent of the labor force in Germany, worked from home most or some of the time. Of these home workers, 2.7 million were employees, i.e., eight percent of the labor force. It is primarily highly qualified employees such as managers, academics, lawyers, publicists, engineers, or teachers who work from home; the majority has a university degree. However, ...
19.02.2014
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Press Release
Member states of the euro area have been struggling with the legacies of the severe financial and economic crisis for four years now. But debt ratios are still rising. Negative primary balances, low growth, and low inflation do not allow for a recovery similar to the one in the US after the Second World War. Between 1946 and 1953, the US was able to almost halve its debt with no haircuts. The crisis ...
12.02.2014
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Press Release
To date, the European Union has been at the forefront of international climate protection. But there are now a number of other countries also pursuing a proactive energy and climate policy. They are increasingly investing in renewable energies, exploiting potential energy efficiencies in industry, buildings and transportation, and contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through carbon ...
05.02.2014
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Press Release
In the fall of 2013, DIW Berlin presented a study on minimum wages which was based on data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study for 2011. The data for 2012 have since become available. As expected, in terms of structures for employees with gross hourly earnings of less than 8.50 euros, i.e., those expected to receive the planned minimum wage, little has changed. These include, to an above-average degree, ...
29.01.2014