Le patrimoine des ménages en République Fédérale Allemande

[fre] Household Wealth in West Germany Renatě H. Draus Over the last thirty years, the household share of total saving in the Federal Republic of Germany has expanded from 26 to 83 per cent. The counterpart has been a fall in the shares both of public administration and of private business. The stock of financial assets held by households has grown strongly, although the relationship with net incomes has remained broadly unchanged for each income category. Large families and couples with no children have the largest stock of savings. Households on average hold half their assets in savings accounts, 20 per cent in savings for housing and mortgages, and 30 per cent in stocks and shares. The latter have grown fastest (bonds more than stocks), with corresponding falls in the share of savings for housing and mortgages. Real estate typically accounts for about two-thirds of a household's total wealth. This is so in France, too, but the diffusion of real estate assets has been more important there than in the Federal Republic of Germany. In both countries assets nevertheless remain quite concentrated, and the change in the degree of concentration occured in different periods. In the Federal Republic of Germany disparities shrank intil 1973 but have increased since then.