Zahlt sich systemrelevante Arbeit aus?: Eine empirische Untersuchung des materiellen und symbolischen Wertes von Berufen in Deutschland

The coronavirus pandemic has given rise to a new discourse on the recognition of occupational activities that ensure basic social services. The aim of this study is to examine occupations in Germany more closely in terms of their monetary value (remuneration) and their symbolic appreciation (prestige) as central dimensions of social inequality. The first step is to compare the average income and prestige of the so-called system-relevant occupations with the other occupations. As both groups include a variety of activities with different complexity and qualification requirements, a more detailed analysis is then carried out, taking into account the requirement level of the occupations. The empirical findings based on broad survey data indicate that, on average, systemically relevant occupations are not paid significantly higher than non-systemically relevant occupations, but attain a higher social prestige. Systemically relevant unskilled and semi-skilled jobs in particular, as well as specialist jobs, are associated with special symbolic recognition. These results complement previous considerations on the emergence of occupational prestige and raise further questions on the (re)evaluation of socially necessary work.