Germany's social security system is surveyed, its benefits and contributions are discussed. The expansion of this system in the last decades is described, its impact on employment and growth is studied and proposals for the reform of the system are discussed.

The key to economic reform in Germany is a significant reduction in the high costs of labour.The main factor driving up German labour costs is the funding of the extensive German welfare state through social insurance contributions that in effect operate like payroll taxes on employment. The...

The paper presents new findings on a specific 'gendered' problem resulting from 'activation policies' and a certain group of unemployed which has been widely neglected so far in public and academic discourse although it is both quantitatively significant and reveals systematic failures of...