Altersarbeit, Alterseinkommen und Altersstruktur in Deutschland seit dem neunzehnten Jahrhundert

One of the most prominent features of modern German society since the late nineteenth century has been the emergence of retirement as a distinctive phase of life. This article focuses on three key aspects: the evolution of retirement as the last phase of the life course; the creation of a multi-pillar system of retirement income; and the age structure of German society. Traditionally, the life course of most men and women was comprised of a short period of education, a long working life and, if life was not ended by a premature death, a brief period of disability. A new life course model was initiated when a social security pension system was established in Germany in 1889. The social security pension system and state pension schemes were conceived to provide disability or old age pensions for a short period of disability at the end of the life course, when people were physically or mentally unable to work. With the evolution of the welfare state, the last phase of the life course came to be redefined not as disability, but as retirement: a period of leisure earned by a productive working life. Disability might still wait at an advanced old age, but before that many years of retirement should be enjoyed in good health. Concurrent with the new life course model, the labour force participation of the older population declined. Retirement requires income. In Germany, the social security pension system and state pensions still provide the bulk of retirement income. In recent years, however, the government has encouraged a change to a multi-pillar system where public transfers from government or social security are supplemented by corporate pension systems and income from assets, the elderly. The rise in life expectancy and the decline of the birth rate have resulted in an ageing German society. As the population ages, the maintenance of an adequate standard of living for the older population requires an increasing share of the nation′s income. The multi-pillar system enhances income security in old age, but in the long run adequate retirement incomes depend on full employment and economic growth. An unresolved issue is the future of family caregiving in an ageing society. If more people opt for a life without children, there will, in a not too distant future, be a growing number of elderly people who cannot rely on family members to take care of dependent or demented relatives. The consequences are either vastly increased expenditures for professional care or a reduced standard of caregiving.