How has the distribution of income developed in Germany? What does this mean for society? The new “distribution report” from the trade union-affiliated research institute WSI provides answers.
According to the research institute WSI, income inequality in Germany contributes to the alienation of individual groups from the democratic system. “If people no longer feel socially valued and lose trust in the political system, then democracy also suffers,” writes the Economic and Social Sciences Institute (WSI) of the trade union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation in its latest “distribution report”.
In the study presented on Thursday, the WSI experts examined how income is distributed in Germany and what possible effects this has. The study is based on two large, representative surveys that are carried out every year.
Households are divided according to income. In addition to a large middle-income area, there are poor and rich households. Those whose household net income is less than 60 percent of the average income in Germany are considered poor. According to the WSI, the limit for a single household is a maximum of 1,200 euros per month. Anyone who has more than twice the average income is considered to be rich.
A third of the poor have little trust in the legal system
According to the study, trust in democratic institutions depends heavily on income levels. There are only a few rich people who don’t trust the police or the legal system. Among the permanently poor, however, it is more than 22 percent in the case of the police and more than a third in the case of the legal system. Less than 20 percent of the rich and 30 percent of people with middle incomes reported low trust in the Bundestag. However, among the permanently poor it was more than 47 percent. “In other words: almost half of the permanently poor have little trust in the Bundestag,” says the analysis.
The study also finds clear differences in trust towards parties and politicians: While a good third of the rich reported low trust in parties and politicians, well over half of all people among the permanently poor said this.
Trust in institutions has probably continued to decline
The authors emphasized that the numbers refer to the year 2021. “They therefore fall at a time when satisfaction with democracy was at a relatively high level, especially compared to the following years.” It can be assumed that trust in institutions has decreased since then.
Overall, according to the study, income poverty decreased slightly from 2021 to 2022. In 2022, 16.7 percent of people in Germany lived in poverty; in 2021 it was still 16.9 percent. The authors suspect that the reason for the decline is the federal government’s relief measures in the crisis year of 2022.
However, the poverty rate has increased noticeably since 2010. At that time it was 14.5 percent. In the pre-Corona year 2019 it was 15.9 percent. According to the study, the unemployed, mini-jobbers, East Germans, single parents, women or people with an immigration background are affected by poverty disproportionately often.
WSI director Bettina Kohlrausch called the high proportion of poor people in Germany “worrying”: “Growing poverty has the potential to put further pressure on this society,” she told journalists.
Some poor people can’t afford new shoes
The study also takes into account the effects on living conditions. Poor people in Germany often have to go without everyday goods such as new clothes or shoes and sometimes cannot heat themselves adequately. According to the study, in 2021 new clothing was unaffordable for 17 percent of people who lived below the poverty line permanently, i.e. for five or more years. Among people who were poor in 2021, but not consistently in all four years before, a good eight percent could not afford new clothing.
According to the study, more than four percent of the permanently poor felt they were financially unable to heat their homes adequately. Five percent said they could not afford new shoes. The data made it clear that poverty, even in a rich country like the Federal Republic, is often associated with significant everyday deprivation, the WSI analyzed.
Source: Stern
