The poverty risk of elderly recipients of means-tested unemployment benefit in east-west comparison

Abstract

"As transition to retirement comes closer, elderly recipients of means-tested unemployment benefit (ALG II) are faced with the perspective of being able to withdraw from receiving such support in the foreseeable future, even if they have not been reintegrated into employment any more. Whether this transition does not only mean the beginning of a new stage in life for those concerned but is also linked to the sustainable overcoming of need, primarily depends on the previous pension scheme that the person concerned and his/her partner or husband/wife has. Is the neediness of older recipients of support in the first instance only temporary poverty which will end at the latest on retirement? Or will poverty continue past retirement age for many of those affected - with only small chances of ever overcoming being in need of help? The article examines these issues with a view to the differences between women and men in western and eastern Germany. However the study can only approach the problem of poverty of the elderly in a general way because material living conditions are determined by the financial resources of all members of a household while the database does not allow for corresponding analyses at the household level. Instead, the focus is on the contribution that the individual pension entitlements of the beneficiary make in each case to avoiding future old-age poverty in the household. This individual perspective is complemented by information on the structure of the pension schemes of couples and singles. The basis for this is a survey of recipients of means-tested unemployment benefit, carried out between November 2005 and March 2006 on behalf of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB)." (text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Wübbeke, C. (2010): Das Altersarmutsrisiko von Beziehern des Arbeitslosengelds II im Ost-West-Vergleich. In: P. Krause & I. Ostner (Hrsg.) (2010): Leben in Ost- und Westdeutschland : eine sozialwissenschaftliche Bilanz der deutschen Einheit 1990-2010, p. 369-384.