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From the July 2001 issue of World
Press Review (VOL.48, No.7)
Poverty Report Reveals Widening DisparitiesNeue Zürcher Zeitung, (conservative), Zurich, SwitzerlandApril 26, 2001 Germany is a socially homogeneous country, where people pay careful notice to any differences in income and wealth. This holds true for the distribution of wealth both among social groupings and among the regions. It is not without reason that the mandate for equal living conditions throughout the whole country is a constitutional right. Accordingly, the first nationwide “poverty and wealth report” published by the federal government on April 25 is attracting wide notice. Depending on what the definition is, between 4 million and 11 million people in Germany are poor, according to the report. The figures gathered from 1973 to 1998 in West Germany and, since the ’90s, also in the former East Germany point to a high degree of stability in the ratios between social classes. While it is true that disparities in income are on the increase, the differences turn out to be significantly less if income transfers—such as subsidies for children, welfare, taxes, and payroll deductions for social security—are factored in. In other words, the German welfare state is an efficient mechanism for income redistribution and social leveling. Since 1973, the number of people receiving welfare in West Germany has increased fourfold, while it has doubled in the new states of East Germany. In the West, at 3.7 percent of the population, the proportion of recipients is significantly higher than in the East, where it is 2.7 percent. In contrast to income levels, the gap between rich and poor in terms of wealth has slightly narrowed. As for the unequal distribution, nothing has changed. The highest 10th representing the richest households own 42 percent of the total private wealth, while the bottom half owns only 4.5 percent. However, the impression of a wide range is put into perspective by the following figures: Only 13,000 people have annual net incomes of more than 1 million marks [US$458,373]; that represents only 0.043 percent of taxpayers. The gap between East and West also has narrowed. Thus, in 1993, the average income in the former states of East Germany was two-thirds of that in the West, while by 1998 it represented three-fourths. Despite the generally secure social safety net, there are a few striking divergences. In particular, the income situation among those with the lowest revenues has worsened. Single mothers and young families with many children are very frequently affected by poverty.
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