The greater emphasis on market forces and the promotion of self-reliance within the unemployment and pension programs are one side of the social policy reforms. Largely
parallel to these changes new family policies were introduced and existing programs expanded.
Starting in the mid-1980s, family responsibilities were increasingly socialized. Family-oriented
17 Initially the maximum duration of benefit receipt for older workers was cut to 18 months, but was once again extended by the Grand Coalition government in 2007.
18 Cf. Peter Bleses and Martin Seeleib-Kaiser (2004) The Dual Transformation of the German Welfare State.
Basingstoke: Palgrave, pp. 48-67; Martin Seeleib-Kaiser and Timo Fleckenstein (2007) “Discourse, Learning and Welfare State Change,” Social Policy and Administration, 41 (5), pp. 427-448.
19 Ibid.
20 Cf. Peter A. Hall (2007) “The Evolution of Varieties of Capitalism in Europe,” in Bob Hancké, Martin Rhodes and Mark Thatcher (eds) Beyond Varieties of Capitalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 39-85.
21 David Soskice (2006) “Skill Specificity and the Modern Macroeconomics of Unemployment: Using the Iversen Tool-Kit,” Labor History 47 (3), pp. 429-439, p. 432.
22 Ibid.
benefits have been introduced into the formerly strictly earnings-related pension system and were subsequently expanded. Instead of basing old-age pensions solely on social insurance contributions or on derived benefits for survivors (based on the earned benefits of a male breadwinner) − both core principles of a conservative pension system − benefits are now also dependent on the number of children an individual has raised. Currently, the time devoted to child rearing will be recognized as a fictive contribution to the old-age insurance system for the duration of three years per child − equivalent to 100 percent of an average contribution.
Furthermore, if a parent should choose a part-time position to reconcile employment with the desire to at least partially care for the child personally, the state will contribute to the pension fund to make up for the ‘lost’ contribution up to a limit of 100 percent of the average contribution until the child is 10 years old.23 Through the recognition of (a limited) time spent as a caregiver, the state creates individual entitlement rights and reduces the dependence of the predominantly female caregivers on derived social insurance benefits of male breadwinners,24 while the level of derived benefits itself has been substantially curtailed over the years.
To reconcile employment with the desire to care for small children personally, the state enacted an entitlement to unpaid parental leave in 1986. Concomitantly the state introduced and subsequently expanded a flat parental benefit to two years (initially limited to 10 months) after the birth of a child. This benefit gave both fathers and mothers the opportunity to continue to work or opt out of the labour market and commit themselves to child rearing for a limited time period. The employer must guarantee the parent’s reemployment in a similar position and with equivalent remuneration following the parental leave.
Declining birth rates, especially among academically educated women, has recently reinforced the perception among the elite of the need to expand family policies. This perceived need has triggered a substantial modification of the parental leave benefit along the lines of Social-democratic approaches in Scandinavia: Starting January 1, 2007, parents are entitled to an earnings-related parental leave benefit of 67 percent of their previous income (capped at a maximum of € 1.800 per month) for the duration of 12 months (with additional two months if the other partner takes these – in Scandinavia these are often referred to as ‘Daddy Months’). This benefit is specifically focused towards the middle to high-income groups, as the parental leave benefit in the past was a flat rate, partially means-tested benefit. Under the new regulations all those parents not previously employed will be entitled to a flat monthly benefit of € 300. The parental leave benefit is financed through general tax revenues. 25
23 Bleses/Seeleib-Kaiser op.cit.
24 Traute Meyer (1998) “Retrenchment, Reproduction, Modernization: Pension Politics and the Decline of the German Breadwinner Model,” Journal of European Social Policy 8 (3), pp. 195-211.
25 BMFSFJ (2007) Elterngeld und Elternzeit. Berlin.
In 1992, the government introduced the right of every child between the ages of three and six to a place in a childcare facility. However, because of implementation problems at the local level, the entitlement only became effective in 1999. Although 600,000 new childcare places were created for children in this age group during this period, problems in coverage for children at other ages persisted. Beginning in 2002, improving day care facilities for children under the age of three became a priority. By 2004, the federal government had allocated 1.5 billion Euros annually. Complementing efforts to improve childcare facilities, the government furthermore allocated four billion Euros to support the Länder and local authorities to establish all-day schools.26 Finally, based on a compromise between the political parties of the Grand Coalition government in 2007, the capacity of publicly subsidised childcare is anticipated to fully meet demand by the year 2013. By this point, the government has agreed to introduce an individual entitlement to childcare for every child. It is estimated that the number of places will reach 750,000 by 2013, increasing coverage for that age group from approximately 14 percent in 2005/06 to 35 percent.27
Table 3: Supply of Childcare Facilities (number of places as a percentage of age group): 1975-2006
Notes: 11986; 2 1994; 3 Ages 6-10. The numbers in brackets are for the territory of the former East Germany and the numbers in italics are for unified Germany. Data over the years are not fully comparable.
Source: Martin Seeleib-Kaiser (2007) From Conservative to Liberal-Communitarian Welfare: Can the Reformed German Welfare State Survive?” Barnett Papers in Social Research, University of Oxford, No. 4/2007.
26 Bleses/Seeleib-Kaiser op.cit., pp. 82 ff.
27 Martin Seeleib-Kaiser (2008) “Social Democratic Reforms of the Welfare State,” in Martin Powell (ed.) Modernising the Welfare State, Bristol: Policy Press.
Year Age