• Uwe Fachinger.
• Forschungszentrum Altern und Gesellschaft, Hochschule Vechta - Universität, Driverstr. 22, 49377, Vechta, Germany. uwe.fachinger@uni-vechta.de
• Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2008 Oct 1; 41 (5): 360-73.

AbstractTrying to analyse the effects of the paradigm shift in the old age social security system in Germany (GRV) from a life cycle gender perspective yields light and shade - it is a conglomeration of individual- and family-specific transfers, financed by a mix of contributions and taxes, and with measures of explicit and implicit, intended and not intended ex-post and ex-ante redistribution and discrimination.The paradigm shift has increased the complexity of the system and created additional elements of gender specific discrimination as well as reduced established elements of the so called "social compensation". Furthermore, the relevance of complementary private and occupational pensions will increase absolute and relative due to the reduction of the pension level. This will raise the importance of earnings in old age especially those that are without any elements of social security compensation or without elements of recognition of activities beside employment. Overall the paradigm shift has intensified the discrimination of women in two ways and the pension privatisation has caused redistribution from the bottom to the top. In other words, there is an increase in inter- and intra-gender discrimination. Due to the changes and the emphasis of aspects of an independent old age security savings for women the norm of the "male breadwinner model" has increased. The importance of "providing one's own pension" additionally creates distribution conflicts within a partnership. Because of the necessity of constant payments over time within a private insurance and the changes of an individual income and gender-specific life cycle, conflicts may occur time and again. The dependence of life-long partnerships on each other is not reduced or abolished with the strengthening of the individualistic model of protection, but is qualitatively and quantitatively improved. Against this background, the measures of the statutory pension system which are aimed towards the situation of a woman's life are important factors to combat the disadvantages of private funded pension systems of which mainly women are affected in building up rights to future benefits. The analysis shows that the paradigm shift primarily brings disadvantages to women. They disproportionally depend on statutory pension system benefits, and therefore also on compensating benefits of the negative consequences of private and occupational pension systems. For the future an increase in poverty of older people - and especially women - can be seen to emerge because of pension privatisation and the reduction of the pension level in the German social security system.

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