ZEW Publishes Two Studies on the Effects of Marriage and Family-Related Benefits in Germany

Research
20.06.2013

Two new studies within the framework of the on-going overall evaluation of family-related benefits in Germany were published on June 20, 2013. The final reports titled "Evaluation of Family-Related Benefits in Germany" and "Microsimulation of Selected Marriage and Family-Related Benefits Over the Life Cycle" include results compiled by the Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim (ZEW), Forschungszentrum Familienbewusste Personalpolitik (FFP) in Münster, and the Chair of Public Finance at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Both studies were commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ) and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF).

The studies investigate how key marriage and family-related benefits affect the economic stability and social participation of families in Germany, and they explore to what extent benefits contribute to the reconciliation of work and family life. The studies also analyse which families profit most from these policies, thereby enabling researchers to assess how different family types are compensated for disadvantages. The calculations conducted by ZEW researchers take the households’ short-term labour supply decisions as well as their impact on future professional careers into account.

The findings on the effects of family-related benefits in Germany are based on a behavioural microsimulation model which applies the German tax and transfer system to a sample of households taken from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). In order to describe the impact of a certain benefit on disposable income and labour status, the hypothetical non-existence of this benefit is taken as a benchmark.

The studies examined 13 marriage and family-related benefits with a total financial volume of about 100 billion euros per year: child benefit and child allowance, state-subsidized provision of childcare services, tax deductibility of childcare expenses, tax relief and advance maintenance payment for single parents, income tax splitting (the "splitting rule", i.e. the allowance for spouses to pool and equally divide their income to determine tax liability), cost-free extension of statutory health insurance to the spouse, increased unemployment benefit for households with children, reduced social care insurance contributions for parents, child-related components of social welfare benefits and housing benefits, supplementary child allowance, parental benefit.

The reports on the "Evaluation of the Family-Related Benefits in Germany" and the "Microsimulation of Selected Marriage and Family-Related Benefits in a Life-Cycle" supplement the findings of other studies within the overall evaluation. Further studies address the effects of family-related benefits on the promotion and well-being of children, the realisation of the desire to have one or more children, and intergenerational equity.

The final reports as well as the volume of methods and tables (in German)

For more information please contact

Prof. Dr. Holger Bonin, Phone +49 621/1235-151, E-mail bonin@zew.de

To contacts
Unit & Topics
Labour Markets and Social Insurance Inequality and Public Policy Press Relations and Editing
Tags
Family Family policy