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In 1984 the GSOEP began with the samples A and B, whereby sample A covers Germans and foreigners to the extent that foreigners are not overrepresented by sample B, which covers foreign nationals from the leading guest worker countries (Italy, Greece, Spain Turkey and Yugoslavia). In June 1990 sample C was introduced in the GDR for east German citizens.
This is GSOEP sample D with around 1 000 individuals (aged 16+) surveyed in more than 500 households in which at least one person who has entered the country since 1984 is resident.
The needs weighting is based on the standard-rate proportions set out in the law on minimum social benefit which accords a weight of 1 to the head of the household, 0.8 to other adults and between 0.5 and 0.9 to children depending on age. The net equivalent income of a household is then ascribed to each member of the household under the assumption that all household members participate equally in household income. The analysis is then conducted at the level of individuals.
In order to determine the sensitivity of the results, a stricter definition of poverty was also applied, in which income is less than 40% of the average, together with a “low income area”, defined as those persons whose income is less than 60% of average net equivalence income.
The poverty rates for east Germany were calculated on the basis of west German average income (including immigrants) because of the orientation of east German citizens to west German standards; accordingly, the rates of minimum social benefit in east and west Germany are virtually the same.
For asylum-seekers and refugees it is assumed that the benefits received under the Asylum-seekers' Benefit Law (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz) are seen as a functional equivalent to minimum social benefit and are reported as such in the GSOEP questionnaire. In order to simplify the presentation, the term minimum social benefit will be used in the following for all sub-groups.
As a rule the level of average transfer benefit received increases with household size. West German households drawing minimum social benefit are, with an average of 2.4 persons, significantly smaller than those of foreign nationals (3.0 persons) and immigrants (3.5 persons), whereby in the latter two groups the presence of children aged less than 18 plays an important role. It cannot be precluded that these figures overstate the number of persons in these households drawing minimum social benefit, as on the basis of these data it is not possible to determine whether each household member covered actually belongs to the family unit (Bedarfsgemeinschaft) for which minimum social benefit is granted and which is tightly circumscribed by law.
To this end a logistic regression model was used. It explains the proportion of households drawing minimum social benefit multivariately (i.e. allowing for a large number of potential factors simultaneously) and indicates the statistical significance of the various influential variables with respect to a reference category. For example, households with younger (up to 25 years of age) and older (65 years and over) heads are compared with those in which the head is aged between 26 and 64. On the basis of these models the figures for the proportion of households drawing minimum social benefit can be calculated for each influential factor. A detailed description of the regression models is available in German: Felix Büchel, Joachim Frick and Wolfgang Voges, Der Sozialhilfebezug von Zuwanderern in Westdeutschland,Diskussionspapier der wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Dokumentation der TU Berlin, no. 1996/21, Berlin.
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Frick, J.R., Buechel, F., Krause, P. et al. Immigration has increased income inequality and poverty in Germany slightly. Economic Bulletin 34, 25–32 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02683912
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02683912