This statistic shows an assessment of living standards by Germans from 2007 to 2011. In 2011, 23 percent of respondents stated that their standard of living is getting worse.

In 1800, the region of Germany was not a single, unified nation, but a collection of decentralized, independent states, bound together as part of the Holy Roman Empire. This empire was dissolved, however, in 1806, during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras in Europe, and the German Confederation was established in 1815. Napoleonic reforms led to the abolition of serfdom, extension of voting rights to property-owners, and an overall increase in living standards. The population grew throughout the remainder of the century, as improvements in sanitation and medicine (namely, mandatory vaccination policies) saw child mortality rates fall in later decades. As Germany industrialized and the economy grew, so too did the argument for nationhood; calls for pan-Germanism (the unification of all German-speaking lands) grew more popular among the lower classes in the mid-1800s, especially following the revolutions of 1948-49. In contrast, industrialization and poor harvests also saw high unemployment in rural regions, which led to waves of mass migration, particularly to the U.S.. In 1886, the Austro-Prussian War united northern Germany under a new Confederation, while the remaining German states (excluding Austria and Switzerland) joined following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871; this established the German Empire, under the Prussian leadership of Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. 1871 to 1945 - Unification to the Second World War The first decades of unification saw Germany rise to become one of Europe's strongest and most advanced nations, and challenge other world powers on an international scale, establishing colonies in Africa and the Pacific. These endeavors were cut short, however, when the Austro-Hungarian heir apparent was assassinated in Sarajevo; Germany promised a "blank check" of support for Austria's retaliation, who subsequently declared war on Serbia and set the First World War in motion. Viewed as the strongest of the Central Powers, Germany mobilized over 11 million men throughout the war, and its army fought in all theaters. As the war progressed, both the military and civilian populations grew increasingly weakened due to malnutrition, as Germany's resources became stretched. By the war's end in 1918, Germany suffered over 2 million civilian and military deaths due to conflict, and several hundred thousand more during the accompanying influenza pandemic. Mass displacement and the restructuring of Europe's borders through the Treaty of Versailles saw the population drop by several million more.

Reparations and economic mismanagement also financially crippled Germany and led to bitter indignation among many Germans in the interwar period; something that was exploited by Adolf Hitler on his rise to power. Reckless printing of money caused hyperinflation in 1923, when the currency became so worthless that basic items were priced at trillions of Marks; the introduction of the Rentenmark then stabilized the economy before the Great Depression of 1929 sent it back into dramatic decline. When Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi government disregarded the Treaty of Versailles' restrictions and Germany rose once more to become an emerging superpower. Hitler's desire for territorial expansion into eastern Europe and the creation of an ethnically-homogenous German empire then led to the invasion of Poland in 1939, which is considered the beginning of the Second World War in Europe. Again, almost every aspect of German life contributed to the war effort, and more than 13 million men were mobilized. After six years of war, and over seven million German deaths, the Axis powers were defeated and Germany was divided into four zones administered by France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the U.S.. Mass displacement, shifting borders, and the relocation of peoples based on ethnicity also greatly affected the population during this time. 1945 to 2020 - Partition and Reunification In the late 1940s, cold war tensions led to two distinct states emerging in Germany; the Soviet-controlled east became the communist German Democratic Republic (DDR), and the three western zones merged to form the democratic Federal Republic of Germany. Additionally, Berlin was split in a similar fashion, although its location deep inside DDR territory created series of problems and opportunities for the those on either side. Life quickly changed depending on which side of the border one lived. Within a decade, rapid economic recovery saw West Germany become western Europe's strongest economy and a key international player. In the east, living standards were much lower, although unemployment was almost non-existent; internationally, East Germany was the strongest economy in the Eastern Bloc (after the USSR), though it eventually fell behind the West by the 1970s. The restriction of movement between the two states also led to labor shortages in t...

The study on living conditions in East and West Germany was conducted by the Forschungsgruppe Wahlen Telefonfeld on behalf of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government. During the survey period 05.07.2023 to 25.07.2022, eligible voters in Germany aged 18 and over were asked in telephone interviews (CATI) about the following topics: living conditions in East and West Germany as well as the relationship of the respective sections of the population to politics and trust in institutions. The survey examines how the sense of identity differs in East and West and how strongly East and West Germans feel their interests and experiences are represented in politics and society. It also looks at the assessment of living conditions, especially in the areas of infrastructure, mobility, health care, social participation and life in the city and in the countryside. The respondents were selected by means of a multi-stage random sample according to the RDD method, including landline and mobile phone numbers (dual-frame sample).
Predominance of differences or similarities with regard to East and West Germany as well as North and South Germany; satisfaction with democracy; democracy as the best form of government; opinion on social justice in Germany; trust in institutions (courts, science and research, churches, police, federal government, politicians, parties and media); interest in politics; strength of conflicts between different social groups (rich and poor, employers and employees, young and old, foreigners and Germans, East Germans and West Germans, women and men); strength of conflicts between supporters of Corona vaccination and opponents of vaccination and between left-wing political forces and right-wing political forces; assessment of the situation in various areas in one´s own region (road conditions, provision of public transport, fast internet and doctors, shopping facilities for daily needs, wages and salaries, childcare facilities in after-school and day-care centres, cultural and recreational opportunities, jobs on offer, economic situation of people in the region as a whole); life satisfaction; optimism about the future; assessment of one´s own economic situation; East Germans are now better or worse off than West Germans; political conditions today better or worse than in the Federal Republic before reunification (West Germans aged 45 and over); political conditions today better or worse than in the GDR before reunification (East Germans aged 45 and over); assessment of social security and own economic situation compared to then (respondents aged 45 and over); identity as a German, West German or as an East German; assessment of the relationship between East Germans and West Germans; relationship between East Germans and West Germans tended to get better or tended to get worse in recent years; greatest injustices for both East Germany and West Germany; agreement with various statements (East Germans are still second-class citizens, East Germans do not recognise what a great contribution West Germans have made to the reconstruction of East Germany, West Germans are not interested in the problems in East Germany); feeling of personal representation of interests in politics, in the media as well as by various interest groups; personal sense of justice; attitude towards political influence (politicians can promise whatever they want, I don´t believe them, for me there are more important things to do than to care about politics, people like me have no influence on the politics of our country anyway, politicians care about the welfare of our country); behaviour of politicians: Politicians should stick to their opinion once it has been expressed or adjust their opinion once in a while in case of new insights and situations; politicians should always orientate themselves on the opinion of the majority of the population or on their conscience; opinion on meetings of politicians with business representatives (rather good because the business representatives can advise the politicians or rather bad because they have too much influence this way); party preference.

Demography: sex; age; education: school-leaving qualification or intended school-leaving qualification; university degree; occupation; job security; professional position; simple, higher or managerial occupation (employee); occupation in simple, middle, higher or higher service; household size; number of persons in the household aged 18 and over.

Additionally coded were: Respondent ID; federal state; Berlin district of residence (formerly West/East Berlin); city size; sample frame (reached via mobile or landline); weighting factors.

Sampling Procedure Comment: Multi-stage random sample

Persons between the ages of 16 and 75 who were living in private households at the time of recruitment

Judgement on current situation in life and political and economic development of the country in times of economic and social upheaval.

Topics: 1. Common part of the survey for all participating countries: most important problems of the country; intent to emigrate and country of choice; desired occupation for one´s own child; judgement on the work of the president of the country; fears and desires for the future; assessment of current standard of living and comparison of the situation five years ago and expected future development; judgement on the situation of the country in comparison over time; preference for freedom or social security; attitude to admission of undemocratic parties; attitude to freedom of the press; perceived discrimination against women; attitude to division of labor in raising children; judgement on conduct of parliamentary representatives and attitude to democracy in the country (scale); feeling of political effectiveness; internal or external control; achievement orientation; attitude to the national economy; demand for increased environmental protection; desire for foreign support for one´s country; the government as guarantor of equal opportunities and social security; welfare state; necessity of the willingness to compromise in politics; interest in politics at municipal level; diminishing interest in political events; self-assessment as patriot; attitude to securing of peace through military strength; readiness for national defense; necessity of participation of one´s country in world politics; claims to territory in neighboring countries; attitude to restriction on immigration; attitude to use of military for restoration of world order.

Religion and morals: importance of prayer and significance of God in one´s own life; doubt in the existence of God; attitude to prohibition of books critical of society and to sex magazines and films; attitude to freedom of speech even for fascists; assessment of the general trustworthiness of people; AIDS as punishment by God; representation of traditional values in the area of family and marriage; attitude to abortion; clear concepts of Good and Evil; perceived intensification of class differences; assessment of personal things in common with uneducated and persons of another race or ethnic affiliation; satisfaction with one´s own financial situation.

Demography: party membership; union membership; residential status; city size; religiousness.

1. Additional questions in this survey: judgement on political and economic changes; changes in the last few years; particularly positive and negative changes; attitude to introduction of the multi-party system and the free market economy; preference for forgetting or bringing to account those responsible in the old regime; judgement on the current position of women in comparison to their position in the old regime; judgement on the speed of transition to the free market economy; judgement on the influence of the media and selected organizations as well as institutions on the country; assessment of the influence of foreign nations on one´s own country; threat to the nation from within or without; occupation outside of one´s home; work satisfaction; satisfaction with employer; attitude to Gorbachev, Bush, Kohl, the Pope, Heinrich Boell, Guenter Grass, Willi Brandt, Wolf Biermann, the UN and the European Community; attitude to the West Germans, Soviet soldiers in the country, ethnic Germans, Romas, gipsies, Vietnamese, Poles, Soviet emigrants and Turks; attitude to advertising (scale); acceptance of advertising in selected media; desired establishing of prices through demand, production costs or government determination; attitude to use of weapons in third world countries; party preference; most reliable alliance partner for one´s country; countries from which the greatest threat originates; identification as European; expectation of acts of violence before the withdrawal of Soviet troops; judgement on the speed of unification; estimated time required until achievement of equivalent living conditions in both parts of Germany; characterization of Germans in the other part of Germany; improvement in personal living conditions since unification and expected development in the next few years; judgement on the costs of unification; attitude to moving by ethnic Germans; most important fears; perceived influence of former STASI employees on society; attitude to publication of STASI files; attitude to the new legal and social system; feeling of acceptance of the former GDR by the FRG; feeling like a second-class German; identification as German or East German; preference for a form of the old GDR in contrast to unification; perceived interest of western politicians in the prosperity of the people in Eastern Germany; assumed changes of the West Germans through life in the capitalist system; judgement on the effects of social changes on the standard of living, moral concepts, public morals, dealing of...

The housing situation, job situation and situation in life of Turks in the Federal Republic.

Topics: religiousness; nationality of spouse; living together with spouse in Germany; number and ages of children; number of children living in Germany; attendance of children at a Koran school; region of origin in Turkey; size of place of residence in city of origin; social origins; length of school attendance as well as type of school attended and school degree in Turkey; occupational activity last practiced and occupational position in Turkey; area of business of the company in Turkey; reason for moving; intent to return when moving; planned length of stay; year of arrival; age at moving; parents living in Germany when moving oneself or at the current point in time; occupational position of father in Germany when moving oneself; originally planned length of stay of parents.

Detailed information on occupational situation and general situation in life at three various points in time, namely at start of stay, at mid-point of stay and in the current situation: employment and occupational position as well as information on company and area of business; satisfaction with occupational activity; number of German and Turkish colleagues in personal work area; monthly income and family income; monthly savings amount; information on use of savings; residential status; manner of arranging for a residence; amount of rent; residence equipment; possession of durable economic goods; size of residence; number of persons living in residence; satisfaction with housing situation; number of foreigners living in residential surroundings or in building; contacts with Germans; reasons to be shy of contacts with authorities; personal language ability; satisfaction with living conditions in Germany.

The following questions were posed regarding the situation at the half-way point in the stay: significant decisive point in life during the stay in Germany; reasons for remaining in Germany; point in time of decision to remain in Germany; school attendance or school degree in Germany; vocational training in Germany.

The following questions were also posed regarding the current situation: desired minimum furnishing of a residence; rent upper limit for a better residence.

Importance of selected infrastructure facilities of the residential surroundings as well as satisfaction with facilities actually present (scale); length of living in the part of town; interest in change of residence; reasons for change of residence or remaining in current residence; desired quality of a better residence (scale); identity assimilation; strength of ties to region, city, part of town and immediate residential surroundings (scale); intent to return home; satisfaction with living conditions; memberships; perception of discrimination (scale); assumed attitude of Germans on integration of foreign fellow-citizens and personal readiness for assimilation (scales); desire to live together with Germans or Turks; interest in participation in municipal elections; party preference; desired aid measures for foreigners.

Demography: age; sex; marital status.

Also encoded was: building type; age of building; use of building; closeness to near-by industry; damage and deficiencies in residence; reason for moving from last residence and reasons for moving into new residence; results of a short language test; aggregate regional data on structure of total population as well as information on proportion of foreigners and proportion of Turks in apartment house, street and part of town.

The German Internet Panel (GIP) is an infrastructure project. The GIP serves to collect data about individual attitudes and preferences which are relevant for political and economic decision-making processes.

Experimental variations in the instruments were used. The questionnaire contains numerous randomizations (order of questions or answer categories) as well as a cross-questionnaire experiment.

Topics: Political responsibility of selected institutions for the economic situation in the country (Federal Government, banks, International Monetary Fund (IMF, IMF) and European Union); assessment of the probability to vote for the parties CDU, CSU, SPD, Die Linke, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, FDP and Alternative für Deutschland (AfD); opinion on European unification as well as presumed position of the aforementioned parties on European unification; approval of the Federal Government´s achievements; approval of last year´s EU policy; participation in the European elections and voting behaviour; assessment of Germany´s membership in the EU; party affiliation and identification; degree of party affiliation; dealing with the issue of personal influence on the environment; correspondence of lifestyle with personal commitment to the environment; assessment of personal lifestyle as environmentally friendly; most important environmental problems in Germany (air pollution, chemicals and pesticides, water scarcity, water pollution, nuclear waste, household waste disposal, climate change, genetically modified food, depletion of raw materials and natural resources); extent of concern about climate change; opinion on global warming (proven fact caused by emissions, proven fact caused by natural processes or hitherto unproven theory); reasons for the global rise in temperature; demand for the German government to limit climate-damaging greenhouse gases; government and industry should start climate protection, not the ordinary citizen; demand for financial support from the state for solar systems in private homes; global warming can be slowed down without fundamental changes versus only with fundamental changes in lifestyle; personal environmental behavior: switching off lights in unused rooms, refusing to buy because of packaging, buying products made of recycled paper, own shopping bag when shopping, using public transport; number of occupational flights and holiday flights in the last year; number of kilometres driven by car in the last month or respondent does not drive a car; purchase of green electricity; acceptance of higher prices, higher taxes and cuts in living standards to halt climate change; opinion on shifting decision-making power from Germany to the European Union; estimated proportion (classified) of foreign-born (divorced) per 100 people in Germany; knowledge of exact proportion of foreign-born per 100 people in Germany; demand for government measures to reduce income disparities; migration preference: government should allow more well-qualified versus low-qualified immigrants from other countries to live in Germany.

Demography: sex; citizenship; year of birth (categorised); highest school leaving certificate; highest professional qualification; marital status; household size; employment status; private internet use; federal state.

Additionally coded was: interview date; questionnaire evaluation; assessment of the survey as a whole; unique ID, household ID and person ID within the household.

Aim: Despite the country’s explicit political goal to establish equivalent living conditions across Germany, significant inequality continues to exist. We argue that premature mortality is an excellent proxy variable for testing the claim of equivalent living conditions since the root causes of premature death are socioeconomic. Subject and Methods: We analyse variation in premature mortality across Germany’s 402 districts and cities in the year 2014. Results: Premature mortality spatially clusters among geographically contiguous and proximate districts/cities and is higher in more urban places as well as in districts/cities located further North and in former East Germany. We demonstrate that, first, socioeconomic factors account for 62 percent of the cross-sectional variation in years of potential life lost and 70 percent of the variation in the premature mortality rate. Second, we show that these socioeconomic factors either entirely or almost fully eliminate the systematic spatial patterns that exist in premature mortality. Conclusion: On its own, fiscal redistribution, the centrepiece of how Germany aspires to establish its political goal, cannot generate equivalent living conditions in the absence of a comprehensive set of economic and social policies at all levels of political administration, tackling the disparities in socioeconomic factors that collectively result in highly unequal living conditions.

Description of one´s own working and living conditions and reasons to move to Germany. Perception of one´s own countrymen and third-party image of the Germans. Perceived reasons for integration difficulties.

Topics: The survey of foreign workers was conducted with questions identical to ZA Study No. 1043.

Besides the identical part of the survey the following additional questions were posed: country of origin; training in country of origin; reasons for moving to Germany and information about working and living conditions before moving to the FRG; planned length of stay before moving to the FRG; correspondence of concepts and facts about the FRG; satisfaction with housing situation and living conditions after arrival; description of characteristics of first occupational activity in the FRG (scale); satisfaction with this activity; development of contacts with countrymen in the FRG; planned length of stay; reasons for current stay in the FRG; ethnic infrastructure facilities in residential area; interest in acquisition of German citizenship; judgement on one´s own knowledge of German; feeling of national identity.

Demography: sex; year of birth; school education; vocational training; occupational position; employment; social origins; income; marital status; nationality of spouse; employment and occupational position of spouse.

Judgement on the economic situation of the country and expected development of the economic situation. Attitude to market economy questions. Attitude to the common European currency. Topics: most important problems in Germany; intent to participate in the election; party preference (Sunday question); behavior at the polls in the last Federal Parliament election; judgement on current economic situation in Eastern Germany or Western Germany; expected personal economic situation, currently and for the future; judgement on the economic situation in Germany; judgement on the economic situation in the country in comparison to Western European neighbors; judgement on the socially-oriented market economy in Germany; expected development of the standard of living for the future; wage costs, environment regulations or sales markets as major reason for production by German companies abroad; judgement on the level of business profits and business taxes in Germany; judgement on the sales tax increase; most important countries as competetors of German business; judgement on the quality of industry products from Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Czech Republic, USA and from the People´s Republic of China; comparison of technical progress in Germany, Japan and USA; judgement on the speed of technical progress and governmental hinderance of progress; assessment of the readiness of Germans for innovation; trade unions, businesses, Federal Government, Bundesbank, German unity or world economic situation as major reason for current economic problems; preference for wage contracts at association level or company level; orientation of wage increases on the rate of inflation; creation of jobs as task of government or companies; most important reasons for unemployment in Germany; judgement on the extent of governmental intervention in business; judgement on the extent of current social services; problems of reunification solved; preference for economic growth or environmental protection; judgement on the situation in the universities: too many students, study times too long, too little money for universities, too low support of the highly gifted, preference for introduction of tuition fees, too little effort by college instructors and students; attitude to a leading role by the Federal Republic of Germany in European foreign and security policy as well as in European economy and financial policy; advantageousness of membership of the country in the EU; necessity of political unification of Europe to preserve prosperity; too much influence of the EU on national decisions; attitude to the new common currency, Euro; advantages or disadvantages of introduction of the Euro for the German economy, for the respondent personally, for Germany in the short-term as well as in the long view; expected change of political influence by Germany on Europe through introduction of the Euro; expected changes in unemployment and cost of living in Germany; assessment of the stability of monetary value after introduction of the Euro; expected introduction of the Euro and expected observance of the time plans for introduction; desire to stick to the Maastricht criteria as condition for participation in the common currency; advantages or disadvantages as result of postponing introduction of the Euro; significance of the Euro for the respondent; necessity of a common currency for progress of European unification; preferred countries for immediate participation in the European currency; protection of the European market through duties or preference for open competition; self-assessment of extent to which informed about the Euro; counseling services personally received about the effects of the Euro and statement of counseling institution; assessment of the counseling service of banks and savings banks in view of the topic Euro; assessment of the security of the Eurocheque card; possession of a Eurocheque card. Demography: state in which the respondent is eligible to vote; city size; age in classes; school education; occupational training; extent of employment; personal jeopardy to job; occupational group; size of household; persons in household 18 years old and older; union member in the household; close persons who are unemployed or whose job is endangered; sex.

Attitudes to the current political situation and expectations of the development after unification. Topics: Evaluation of personal prospects for the future and future development on the territory of the GDR; prediction on the length of time for of achievement of equivalent living conditions in East and West; judgement on the economic situation on the territory of the GDR; judgement on one's own economic situation currently, a year ago and in one year; Sunday question; decision for H. Kohl or O. Lafontaine given possible elections of the all-German federal chancellor; stand on municipal right to vote for foreigners; personal identity; prediction on economic development of Eastern Germany; stand on German-German unification; effects of unification on personal social security, the standard of living and life happiness; dominance of differences or things in common between the two German states; assessment of the possibility of a real community of the two German states and length of time for the process; description of personality traits of the West Germans and the citizens of the GDR (scale); sympathy assessment for other peoples (scale); personal basic position on life; time span for planning for the future; goals in life (scale); feeling of threat in view of threat to the environment, danger of war, falling standard of living, North-South conflict, loss of job; assessment of condition of health; self-assessment of dealing with problems in life; assessment of changes in emotional condition; feeling of being threatened in view of the increase of aggressiveness and violence, right-wing radicalism, unemployment and egoism; interest in politics; self-classification on the left-right scale; religiousness; stand on remaining in the territory of the GDR; full-time or part-time employment; job security; length of unemployment and prospect of a new job; assessment of the significance of work in life; stand on living in the GDR and working in the west; confidence in personal development until the year 2000; confidence in political development, preservation of peace, natural environment and occupational development until the year 2000; satisfaction with housing situation; amount of monthly rent; existence of building owners from the FRG; concern for termination of residence lease; assessment of the closeness of contact with relatives or friends and acquaintances in Western Germany; comparison of standard of living of these relatives, acquaintances and friends with one's own and self-assessment of emotional consequences; frequency of various leisure activities (scale); average daily television time; satisfaction with time for reading; preference for more leisure time or more income; amount of monthly net income; assessment of experiences with the market economy; intended participation in state parliament elections and party preference.

In May 1941, less than two years after the German invasion of Poland, the total number of forced laborers in the German economy stood at approximately three million people. Around half of these worked in an agricultural capacity, and a third worked in industry. Over the next three years, the number increased to 7.1 million forced laborers, and the industrial sector grew to be the largest user of forced labor. Forced laborers Due to the high number of men mobilized, and a reluctance to have women to enter the workforce, the Nazi regime heavily encouraged the voluntary migration of workers from annexed territories in the early years of the war, in order to meet the labor demand of the Reich. There was a small influx of voluntary workers, but it quickly became evident that working conditions were much harsher than expected (especially for Poles), and the stream of workers dried up. In April 1940, authorities in German-annexed Poland then ordered that all available workers born between 1915 and 1925 were required to move to Germany. The largest source of forced labor, however, was from concentration camps; it was mostly Jews and Slavs, as well as other ethnic minorities, political prisoners, criminals, and prisoners of war. Between 1939 and 1944, the number of German laborers also grew substantially; the Nazi regime implemented stricter laws and sentences that punished people for any activities perceived to be critical of or in contrast to Nazi ideology (such as listening to foreign or underground radio stations), and 16 year olds were also sentenced as adults. However, Germans made up a minority of forced laborers in Germany, and this fell to just five to 10 percent of forced laborers by the war's end. Extermination through work Most forced laborers were contributing directly to the German war effort, producing food, armaments, and materiel for the front lines. Because of this, their places of work became targets for Allied bombing campaigns, which had a disproportionate effect on Germany's forced labor population. Forced laborers were then used in the active repair and rebuilding of these targeted areas, which exposed them to further raids, undetonated bombs, and chemical hazards. In later years, the share of Gypsies, Jews, and Slavs working in Germany increased further, and the living conditions for these prisoners worsened. As the Reich's resources became stretched, food and provisions for prisoners were rationed, healthcare became non-existent, and work quotas increased; it was only in mid-1944 that the authorities realized how detrimental this was to output and rations were increased. In the winter of 1944-45, as the Soviets pushed west into Germany, many of the larger concentration camps in the east were evacuated and the prisoners were sent on "death marches" to reinforce the workforce in Germany. Some estimates suggest that up to 700,000 prisoners were forced on these death marches (including 56,000 from Auschwitz in mid-January), and between 200,000 and 350,000 were killed. Despite its negative impact on production for the war effort, the extermination of ethnic minorities and so-called "undesirables" by exhaustion was still seen as an overall favorable outcome.

Abstract

EU-SILC has become the EU reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at European level, particularly in the context of the "Program of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion" and for producing structural indicators on social cohesion for the annual spring report to the European Council. The first priority is to be given to the delivery of comparable, timely and high quality cross-sectional data.

Social exclusion and housing-condition information is collected at household level. Income at a detailed component level is collected at personal level, with some components included in the "Household" section. Labour, education and health observations only apply to persons 16 and older. EU-SILC was established to provide data on structural indicators of social cohesion (at-risk-of-poverty rate, S80/S20 and gender pay gap) and to provide relevant data for the two 'open methods of coordination' in the field of social inclusion and pensions in Europe.

EU-SILC produces two types of datasets: 1) Cross-sectional data pertaining to fixed time periods, with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions. 2) Longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically - usually over four years.

The fifth revision of the 2005 Cross-Sectional User Database (UDB) as released by Eurostat in August 2009 is documented here.

Geographic coverage

The survey covers following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway.

Small parts of the national territory amounting to no more than 2% of the national population and the national territories listed below may be excluded from EU-SILC: France - French Overseas Departments and territories; Netherlands - The West Frisian Islands with the exception of Texel; Ireland - All offshore islands with the exception of Achill, Bull, Cruit, Gorumna, Inishnee, Lettermore, Lettermullan and Valentia; United kingdom - Scotland north of the Caledonian Canal, the Scilly Islands.

Analysis unit

• Households;
• Individuals 16 years and older.

Universe

The survey covered all household members over 16 years old. Persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

On the basis of various statistical and practical considerations and the precision requirements for the most critical variables, the minimum effective sample sizes to be achieved were defined. Sample size for the longitudinal component refers, for any pair of consecutive years, to the number of households successfully interviewed in the first year in which all or at least a majority of the household members aged 16 or over are successfully interviewed in both the years.

The cross-sectional sample sizes were calculated in order to achieve an effective size of 121,000 households at the European level (127,000 including Iceland and Norway). Then, the allocation among the countries aims to ensure a minimum precision for each of them.

Member States using registers for income and other data may use a sample of persons (selected respondents) rather than a sample of complete households in the interview survey. The minimum effective sample size in terms of the number of persons aged 16 or over to be interviewed in detail is in this case taken as 75 % of the figures shown in columns 3 and 4 of the table I, for the cross-sectional and longitudinal components respectively.

The reference is to the effective sample size, which is the size required if the survey were based on simple random sampling (design effect in relation to the 'risk of poverty rate' variable = 1.0). The actual sample sizes will have to be larger to the extent that the design effects exceed 1.0 and to compensate for all kinds of non-response. Furthermore, the sample size refers to the number of valid households which are households for which, and for all members of which, all or nearly all the required information has been obtained. For countries with a sample of persons design, information on income and other data shall be collected for the household of each selected respondent and for all its members.

At the beginning, a cross-sectional representative sample of households is selected. It is divided into say 4 sub-samples, each by itself representative of the whole population and similar in structure to the whole sample. One sub-sample is purely cross-sectional and is not followed up after the first round. Respondents in the second sub-sample are requested to participate in the panel for 2 years, in the third sub-sample for 3 years, and in the fourth for 4 years. From year 2 onwards, one new panel is introduced each year, with request for participation for 4 years. In any one year, the sample consists of 4 sub-samples, which together constitute the cross-sectional sample. In year 1 they are all new samples; in all subsequent years, only one is new sample. In year 2, three are panels in the second year; in year 3, one is a panel in the second year and two in the third year; in subsequent years, one is a panel for the second year, one for the third year, and one for the fourth (final) year.

According to the Commission Regulation on sampling and tracing rules, the selection of the sample will be drawn according to the following requirements:

1. For all components of EU-SILC (whether survey or register based), the crosssectional and longitudinal (initial sample) data shall be based on a nationally representative probability sample of the population residing in private households within the country, irrespective of language, nationality or legal residence status. All private households and all persons aged 16 and over within the household are eligible for the operation.
2. Representative probability samples shall be achieved both for households, which form the basic units of sampling, data collection and data analysis, and for individual persons in the target population.
3. The sampling frame and methods of sample selection shall ensure that every individual and household in the target population is assigned a known and non-zero probability of selection.
4. By way of exception, paragraphs 1 to 3 shall apply in Germany exclusively to the part of the sample based on probability sampling according to Article 8 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1177/2003 concerning

Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Article 8 of the EU-SILC Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council mentions: 1. The cross-sectional and longitudinal data shall be based on nationally representative probability samples. 2. By way of exception to paragraph 1, Germany shall supply cross-sectional data based on a nationally representative probability sample for the first time for the year 2008. For the year 2005, Germany shall supply data for one fourth based on probability sampling and for three fourths based on quota samples, the latter to be progressively replaced by random selection so as to achieve fully representative probability sampling by 2008. For the longitudinal component, Germany shall supply for the year 2006 one third of longitudinal data (data for year 2005 and 2006) based on probability sampling and two thirds based on quota samples. For the year 2007, half of the longitudinal data relating to years 2005, 2006 and 2007 shall be based on probability sampling and half on quota sample. After 2007 all of the longitudinal data shall be based on probability sampling.

Mode of data collection

Mixed

Social change in Eastern Germany during political and economic transformation. Topics: Hopes and fears; importance of selected areas of life such as work, partnership, education, social security, health, residence, religion, environment, leisure time; general contentment with life; materialism and postmaterialism; current subjective classification of social class and approx. 10 years ago; extent to which informed about the system of social security, culture and leisure selection, problems with children, qualification and education opportunities, healthful way of life, work law, partner relations, work, environmental protection, establishment of wages and prices, housing market; attitude to foreigners (scale); views on structuring life; time horizons; building loan contract, life insurance or loans; satisfaction with selected sides of life (scale); change of satisfaction in individual areas of life (scale); assumed satisfaction of other groups; reasons for unemployment; fear of personal unemployment; acceptance of conditions to avoid of personal unemployment; reasons for unsuccessful search for work so far; preferred leisure activities (scale); party membership or party sympathies; membership in clubs, trade unions, citizen initiatives; willingness to participate in various organizations; understanding of democracy; interest in politics; expectations of family and friends of one's conduct; assessment of personal economic situation, of the state and of the Federal Republic; duration of income equalization East-West; status and extent of achievement of equivalent living conditions for East and West; German unification as gain or loss; attempt to change situation in various areas of life; expected social changes in the next few years; desire for children; change in desire for children since unification; temporal deferral of fulfillment of the desire for children; future development of birth rate in Eastern Germany; time worked each week; shift work or flextime; work on the weekend; limited work contract; changes of occupational demands in comparison to the time before the turning point; the route to work; desire for part-time work, "jobbing", not working at all; preferred arrangement of working hours; arrangement of working hours in Germany; protection of jobs and reduction in unemployment through reduction in working hours; reduction of working life, annual and weekly time worked; acceptance of new arrangements of working hours to protect one's own job; personal unemployment; future employment situation; religious community; sources of income (scale); number of children in household; financial possibility to satisfy needs; tenancy; desire to purchase residence; residential furnishings; self-assessment of condition of health; change of instinctive relations to various groups of persons since unity of Germany.

Quality of life and satisfaction in selected areas of life. Evaluation of financial, occupational and health situation. Life style and expectations of the future.

Topics: 1. Housing situation: housing situation in primary residence; number of rooms; living space in square meters; furnishing characteristics of residence; residential status; house-hunting in the last six months and outcome of this; satisfaction with housing (scale); sense of security in residential area; stress scale for noise, air pollution, lack of free nature, destruction of countryside and quality of drinking water.

1. Society: postmaterialism; conflict groups in society; opinions about the preferred or current primary bearer of the transformation costs in the re-structuring process in the eastern part of Germany; comparison of current personal living conditions with those at the time of unification in 1990.

2. Public safety: satisfaction with public safety and environmental protection; probability of victimization; anomy.

3. Life situation: optimism/pessimism; education level and satisfaction with education (scale); self-classification of social class.

4. Role distribution between the sexes: the woman between role of mother and occupation (scale); attitude to the GDR model of support of working mothers; satisfaction with division of work in household (scale) and note of presence of partner in answering this question; memberships; current feeling of happiness; satisfaction with leisure time (scale); desire for more leisure time; frequency of selected leisure activities.

5. Household: detailed information on size of household and persons living in it; satisfaction with family life; marital satisfaction or satisfaction with partnership; living together with a partner or living separately from spouse.

6. Social contacts: judgement on chances for new contacts; number, care and possession of close friendships; frequency of contacts with friends; contacts with acquaintances and relatives in the other part of Germany before the turning point; change of frequency and quality of contacts since the turning-point.

7. Occupation: detailed information on occupation; satisfaction with role as housewife (scale); reasons for work as housewife; satisfaction with situation in life; difficulties to find a suitable position; desire for employment; preference for a full-time position or part-time employment; search for work in the last 12 months; intensity of desire for employment; work in occupation learned; employment in short time work or ABM {work creation measure}; job at place of residence; job in East or West Germany or abroad; most important criteria for a job and comparison of these criteria with current situation at work (scale); job satisfaction (scale); importance of areas of life, occupation, leisure time and family; desire to end employment; fear of unemployment or forced change of position; expected difficulties with a hypothetical new search for work; social mobility; evaluation of financial security in case of unemployment.

8. Financial and health situation: satisfaction with the ´net of social security´ (scale); gross income, net income and household income; personal inheritance in the last three years; inheritance of building or real estate; extent of inherited assets; satisfaction with household income, standard of living and health (scale); personally being handicapped or in need of care; change of occupation for health reasons; regular use of medication; psychological and physical health; religiousness; satisfaction with church (scale).

9. Future expectations: optimistic expectations of income development, the development of job security, the development of the cost of living, the environment situation at place of residence, the development of professional career and opportunities to exert political influence; optimistic future expectation for personal surroundings; interest in politics; satisfaction with opportunities for political activity and democratic institutions in the country (scale); party inclination and party identification; general contentment with life (scale); concerns for economic development, maintenance of peace, the flow of applicants for political asylum, the costs of German unity; development of crime and development of unemployment in Germany; comparison of personal living conditions with earlier and later times as well as with persons in other parts of the country and other countries.

10. Life style: most important goals in life; interest in selected musical styles; interest in special television offerings and preferred areas; intensity of interest in selected literature genres; media usage; preferred information from newspapers; preferred magazines; characterization of personal clothing style as well as furnishing style; psychological self-characterization and preferred behaviors; Demography: age; sex; marital status; occupation household income; household size; household composition;...

Changes of social structures and life situations in the process of German-German unification. Topics: Employment; length of personal unemployment; form of property of employing company; change of job and reasons for this; economy branch in which occupational activity is exercised; social position before and after November 1990 (self-classification according to GDR social structure); industry branch to which the employing company belongs; number of subordinate employees (self-employed); characteristics of employment; assessment of standing of occupational groups and of one's own occupation; intended actions given jeopardy to job; territorial room for action for this; management function; management level; membership in trade unions; functions in trade union or other committees; personal shift work and that of partner; preferred party for political representation of interests (scale); membership in parties and organizations; functions in parties; political participation; intended change of place of residence; moving of friends to the FRG: point in time, contacts still existing, assessment of their situation; change of living conditions in the areas work, income, education and qualification, housing, environment, children, social security, leisure time, health since November 1990 (scale); development of interhuman relations; satisfaction in individual areas of life (scale); expected changes of living conditions (scale); possible activities to improve living conditions (scale); change of personal freedom, of interest in politics, of future optimism, of social activity, of pride in what one has achieved in life, of family orientation; general satisfaction, agreement with current development; concern about environment, peace, developing countries, general economic situation of GDR, drugs, AIDS, crime, radicalization, social security, job security, equal rights for women, dealing with foreigners; assessment "40 years GDR"; environmental pollution in residential area; tenancy; form of property of residence and its effects on further remaining in residence; residential furnishings; telephone; amount of rent as well as its proportion in net household income; health disturbance; handicapped members of household; religiousness.

Datatable in the search- and downloadsystem HISTAT Information: HISTAT is offered only in German language.

1. Durchschnittslöhne und Lebenshaltungskosten in Ost- und Westdeutschland (= Average wages and cost of living in East and West Germany) (1938-1989)

2. Kaufkraftbereinigte Nettodurchschnittseinkommen der Arbeiter- und Angestelltenhaushalte der DDR in Relation zu denen der Bundesrepublik (= Net average income, adjusted for purchase power, of workers and employees households in the GDR in relation to those of the Federal Republic) (1950-1988)

3. Anteil der Eigentumsformen am Nettoprodukt der Wirtschaftsbereiche (= Share of different modes of ownership in the net product of economic sectors) (1950-1988)

4. Ausstattungsbestand der Haushalte in der DDR mit langlebigen technischen Konsumgütern (= Stock of Equipment of homes in the GDR with durable consumer goods) (1955-1989)

5. Entwicklung der Wohnungsversorgung in der SBZ/DDR und in der Bundesrepublik, Wohnungseinheiten (WEH) (= Development of housing supply in the former Sovjet occupation zone / GDR and the Federal Republic, housing units) (1939-1989)

06a. DDR/NBL: Struktur der Haushaltsausgaben nach Haushaltstypen, in Mark/DM (= Structure of household expenses by household types, in mark/DM) (1949-1992)

06b. BRD/ABL: Struktur der Haushaltsausgaben nach Haushaltstypen, in DM (Structure of household expenses, in DM) (1950-1992)

1. Sparquoten in der Bundesrepublik und der DDR (= Savings rates of the Federal Republic of Germany and of the former GDR) (1950-1989)

In the build up to the Second World War, the United States was the major power with the highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world. In 1938, the United States also had the highest overall GDP in the world, and by a significant margin, however differences in GDP per person were much smaller. Switzerland In terms of countries that played a notable economic role in the war, the neutral country of Switzerland had the highest GDP per capita in the world. A large part of this was due to the strength of Switzerland's financial system. Most major currencies abandoned the gold standard early in the Great Depression, however the Swiss Franc remained tied to it until late 1936. This meant that it was the most stable, freely convertible currency available as the world recovered from the Depression, and other major powers of the time sold large amounts of gold to Swiss banks in order to trade internationally. Switzerland was eventually surrounded on all sides by Axis territories and lived under the constant threat of invasion in the war's early years, however Swiss strategic military planning and economic leverage made an invasion potentially more expensive than it was worth. Switzerland maintained its neutrality throughout the war, trading with both sides, although its financial involvement in the Holocaust remains a point of controversy. Why look at GDP per capita? While overall GDP is a stronger indicator of a state's ability to fund its war effort, GDP per capita is more useful in giving context to a country's economic power in relation to its size and providing an insight into living standards and wealth distribution across societies. For example, Germany and the USSR had fairly similar GDPs in 1938, whereas Germany's per capita GDP was more than double that of the Soviet Union. Germany was much more industrialized and technologically advanced than the USSR, and its citizens generally had a greater quality of life. However these factors did not guarantee victory - the fact that the Soviet Union could better withstand the war of attrition and call upon its larger population to replenish its forces greatly contributed to its eventual victory over Germany in 1945.

Abstract

In 2012, the EU-SILC instrument covered all EU Member States plus Iceland, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland and Croatia. EU-SILC has become the EU reference source for comparative statistics on income distribution and social exclusion at European level, particularly in the context of the "Program of Community action to encourage cooperation between Member States to combat social exclusion" and for producing structural indicators on social cohesion for the annual spring report to the European Council. The first priority is to be given to the delivery of comparable, timely and high quality cross-sectional data.

There are two types of datasets: 1) Cross-sectional data pertaining to fixed time periods, with variables on income, poverty, social exclusion and living conditions. 2) Longitudinal data pertaining to individual-level changes over time, observed periodically - usually over four years.

Social exclusion and housing-condition information is collected at household level. Income at a detailed component level is collected at personal level, with some components included in the "Household" section. Labor, education and health observations only apply to persons aged 16 and over. EU-SILC was established to provide data on structural indicators of social cohesion (at-risk-of-poverty rate, S80/S20 and gender pay gap) and to provide relevant data for the two 'open methods of coordination' in the field of social inclusion and pensions in Europe.

This is the 1st revision of the 2012 Cross-Sectional User Database as released in September 2014.

Geographic coverage

The survey covers following countries: Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Spain; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Hungary; Malta; Netherlands; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovenia; Slovakia; Sweden; United Kingdom; Iceland; Norway; Turkey; Switzerland

Small parts of the national territory amounting to no more than 2% of the national population and the national territories listed below may be excluded from EU-SILC: France - French Overseas Departments and territories; Netherlands - The West Frisian Islands with the exception of Texel; Ireland - All offshore islands with the exception of Achill, Bull, Cruit, Gorumna, Inishnee, Lettermore, Lettermullan and Valentia; United Kingdom - Scotland north of the Caledonian Canal, the Scilly Islands.

Analysis unit

• Households;
• Individuals 16 years and older.

Universe

The survey covered all household members over 16 years old. Persons living in collective households and in institutions are generally excluded from the target population.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

On the basis of various statistical and practical considerations and the precision requirements for the most critical variables, the minimum effective sample sizes to be achieved were defined. Sample size for the longitudinal component refers, for any pair of consecutive years, to the number of households successfully interviewed in the first year in which all or at least a majority of the household members aged 16 or over are successfully interviewed in both the years.

For the cross-sectional component, the plans are to achieve the minimum effective sample size of around 131.000 households in the EU as a whole (137.000 including Iceland and Norway). The allocation of the EU sample among countries represents a compromise between two objectives: the production of results at the level of individual countries, and production for the EU as a whole. Requirements for the longitudinal data will be less important. For this component, an effective sample size of around 98.000 households (103.000 including Iceland and Norway) is planned.

Member States using registers for income and other data may use a sample of persons (selected respondents) rather than a sample of complete households in the interview survey. The minimum effective sample size in terms of the number of persons aged 16 or over to be interviewed in detail is in this case taken as 75 % of the figures shown in columns 3 and 4 of the table I, for the cross-sectional and longitudinal components respectively.

The reference is to the effective sample size, which is the size required if the survey were based on simple random sampling (design effect in relation to the 'risk of poverty rate' variable = 1.0). The actual sample sizes will have to be larger to the extent that the design effects exceed 1.0 and to compensate for all kinds of non-response. Furthermore, the sample size refers to the number of valid households which are households for which, and for all members of which, all or nearly all the required information has been obtained. For countries with a sample of persons design, information on income and other data shall be collected for the household of each selected respondent and for all its members.

At the beginning, a cross-sectional representative sample of households is selected. It is divided into say 4 sub-samples, each by itself representative of the whole population and similar in structure to the whole sample. One sub-sample is purely cross-sectional and is not followed up after the first round. Respondents in the second sub-sample are requested to participate in the panel for 2 years, in the third sub-sample for 3 years, and in the fourth for 4 years. From year 2 onwards, one new panel is introduced each year, with request for participation for 4 years. In any one year, the sample consists of 4 sub-samples, which together constitute the cross-sectional sample. In year 1 they are all new samples; in all subsequent years, only one is new sample. In year 2, three are panels in the second year; in year 3, one is a panel in the second year and two in the third year; in subsequent years, one is a panel for the second year, one for the third year, and one for the fourth (final) year.

According to the Commission Regulation on sampling and tracing rules, the selection of the sample will be drawn according to the following requirements:

1. For all components of EU-SILC (whether survey or register based), the crosssectional and longitudinal (initial sample) data shall be based on a nationally representative probability sample of the population residing in private households within the country, irrespective of language, nationality or legal residence status. All private households and all persons aged 16 and over within the household are eligible for the operation.
2. Representative probability samples shall be achieved both for households, which form the basic units of sampling, data collection and data analysis, and for individual persons in the target population.
3. The sampling frame and methods of sample selection shall ensure that every individual and household in the target population is assigned a known and non-zero probability of selection.
4. By way of exception, paragraphs 1 to 3 shall apply in Germany exclusively to the part of the sample based on probability sampling according to Article 8 of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EC) No 1177/2003 concerning

Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions. Article 8 of the EU-SILC Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council mentions: 1. The cross-sectional and longitudinal data shall be based on nationally representative probability samples. 2. By way of exception to paragraph 1, Germany shall supply cross-sectional data based on a nationally representative probability sample for the first time for the year 2008. For the year 2005, Germany shall supply data for one fourth based on probability sampling and for three fourths based on quota samples, the latter to be progressively replaced by random selection so as to achieve fully representative probability sampling by 2008. For the longitudinal component, Germany shall supply for the year 2006 one third of longitudinal data (data for year 2005 and 2006) based on probability sampling and two thirds based on quota samples. For the year 2007, half of the longitudinal data relating to years 2005, 2006 and 2007 shall be based on probability sampling and half on quota sample. After 2007 all of the longitudinal data shall be based on probability sampling.

Detailed information about sampling is available in Quality Reports in Documentation.

Mode of data collection

Mixed