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SOCIETY
TOPIC
STRONG WELFARE STATE
Germany has one of the most comprehens-
principle of the welfare state is embedded in
ive welfare systems. As in other developed
article 20, paragraph 1 and article 28 of the
democracies, in Germany too social spend-
Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Ger-
ing represents the largest individual item of
many. Politicians and social players must
public spending. Around 849 billion euros
continually renegotiate which form it takes
was committed to public social spending in
in a dynamic process; particularly demo-
2014, equating to a share of 29 percent of
graphic change necessitates adjustments.
gross domestic product (GDP). The tradition
of the state welfare system goes back to the
Social network to protect against
age of industrialisation in Germany in the
existential risks
second half of the 19th century and are associated with the then Reich Chancellor
Today a tightly woven web of state health,
Otto von Bismarck. It was under Bismarck
pension, accident, nursing care and unem-
that firstly mandatory health insurance for
ployment insurance protects citizens against
workers was introduced in 1883, and with
the consequences of existential risks and
the social legislation that was expanded in
threats. Moreover, the social network en-
the following years the basis was created for
compasses a basic income for pensioners and
an orientation on the welfare state. The
those permanently unable to work as well as
fiscal benefits such as the family allowance
system (child benefit, tax advantages). Following a further increase in 2015, families
NUMBER
30.4 m
is the number of employees subject to
mandatory social insurance contributions
that the Federal Employment Agency
counted in December 2014. This equates
to 75 to 80 percent of all employees. The
figure does not include those not subject
to mandatory social insurance contributions, i.e. civil servants, the self-employe B