Essays on Social Policy in Germany: Analyses Based on Survey and Simulated Data

This thesis analyzes two different aspects Social Policy in Germany is concerned with. This relates to (1) the aging of society and (2) the shifting household composition from ‘classic’ families to single-parent households. In Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 we analyze the evolution of the financial situation, the changes in income composition as well as the evolution of income distribution of the elderly on basis of two datasets, the EVS and the SOEP. In Chapter 4 it is examined, whether the German market for private old-age provision is subject to adverse selection in the private pension insurance market. Here we use the SAVE dataset and estimate a probit model of insurance holdings. In Chapter 5 we generate an artificial dataset and derive implicit equivalence scales in order to investigate the equity perceptions that are inherent in the German tax-benefit system. Thereby we specially focus on the German support legislation.