Dissertation_Paula Aleksandrowicz_12 ... - Jacobs University

Figure 5: Inflows of women into the pension system, Western Germany
Source: DRV (http://forschung.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de).
The inflow of West German women into the pension system shows a quite different
picture (Fig. 5). It was mainly concentrated on three types of pensions: disability pensions
were prevalent among women with a short contribution period, that pathway was however
blocked by a change in qualifying conditions in 1985 (Jacobs et al. 1991: 188). As
simultaneously the contribution period required for the standard old-age pension was
lowered from 15 to five years and women were credited with one contribution year per each
child, the inflow of women was channelled to that pension which significantly raised the
exit ages (ibid: 188-9). Finally, the old-age pension for women started gaining significance
in the 1960s and especially in the 1980s as more women participated in the labour market
for longer periods of time and could meet the eligibility criteria for this type of pension.
Take-up rates of the old-age pension for women in West Germany have started falling in
2000, when pension deductions at the age of 60 started taking effect (Büttner/Knuth 2004:
5).
Since 1997, persons retiring before the standard retirement age incur permanent
deductions of 0.3 per cent per month (with the exception of transitory rules and different
regulations with regard to the old-age pension for women and for the severely handicapped).
Those deductions serve as a disincentive to early retirement and are responsible for the rise
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