Reformen der Alterssicherung und der sozioökonomische Status Älterer in Großbritannien und Deutschland [Pension reform and the socioeconomic status of older people in Britain and Germany]

The paper outlines in short the development of old age security systems in the United Kingdom and Germany and shows the current state of the socio-economic status of the elderly. We start with a brief and only the basic conception characterizing description of the old age security systems, followed by a presentation of the political discussion and the development of the law since 2000. Then the current old age policy is evaluated on the basis of four criteria: Income adequacy for pensioners, degree of inequality of pensioner incomes, sustainability of pension schemes and maintenance of incentives to save. This is followed by a brief outline of the emerging challenges over the next ten years. Finally some conclusions are drawn, which occur from the analysis.