A History of the German Public Pension System

Continuity amid Change

Alfred C. Mierzejewski

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2016
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781498521178
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Economic History
• Index: History

A History of the German Public Pension System: Continuity amid Change provides the first comprehensive institutional history of the German public pension system from its origins in the late nineteenth century to the major reform period in the early twenty-first century. Relying on a wide range sources, including many used for the first time, this study provides a balanced account of how the pension system has coped with major challenges, such as Germany's defeat in two world wars, inflation, the Great Depression, the demographic transition, political risk, reunification, and changing gender roles. It shows that while the pension system has changed to meet all of these challenges, it has retained basic characteristics—particularly the tie between work, contributions, and benefits—that fundamentally define its character and have enabled it to survive economic and political turmoil for over a century. This book also demonstrates that the most serious challenge faced by the pension system has consistently been political intervention by leaders hoping to use it for purposes unrelated to its mission of providing the insured with secure and adequate retirement income.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Abbreviations
• The Origins of the German Public Pension System
• The Initial Period of Expansion, 1891–1913
• World War and Inflation, 1914–1923
• Temporary Stabilization and Renewed Crisis, 1924–1933
• Pensions under the Swastika, 1933–1945
• Interregnum, 1945–1949
• The Golden Era of Benefit Expansion in the West, 1949–1973
• The Long Crisis
• The Government Retirement Pension System of the German Democratic Republic, 1949–1989
• Political and Social Reunification, 1990–1994
• The Reform Era of 1994–2007
• Looking Back
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author