Employmentweb_low

labour Markets and welfare states: a country perspective
program (which may be education or work placement) after 100 days
of open unemployment (arbetsformedlingen, 2008). another
example is a range of special programmes designed for people with
different kinds of disabilities, such as supporting part of employers'
costs when hiring a disabled person.
Germany - Wolfram metzger and michael Kronawitter
germany is a parliamentary, representative democratic republic
with 16 federal states. among the core welfare countries, germany
is an example of a corporatist conservative labour market. Its gDp is
the largest in Europe and the fourth largest in the world, behind the
united states and Japan. With a population of nearly 82 million,
germany is the most populous nation of the European union. nearly
a fifth (19.8%) of the population are over 65 years old (median age 43)
and the population growth rate is negative (-0,033%); these are
demographic features of an over-aged and shrinking population,
which is recognised as a national problem. In 2006, 51.5% of the total
population was defined as economically active. of these, 7.2% were
jobless according to the International labour organization’s criteria,
whereas registered unemployment was 9.2 per cent. Those
employed were divided in 88.7 per cent wage-holders and 11.3 per
cent self-employed. Immigrants represent 8.2 per cent of the
german population (6.7 million), mainly from Turkey (1.76 million),
followed by Italy, former yugoslavia, poland, and greece.
Employment conditions are significantly different in "old" and "new"
german states. In the ten states belonging to former West germany, an
average of 7.8 per cent of the civil labour force is registered as
unemployed, whereas in the five states belonging to former East
germany the average unemployment rate is 15.9%. part-time work in
germany exists in higher proportion among female workers than in
male workers. In 2005, nearly a third (30.4%) of women were working
fewer than 21 hours a week, while only 6% of men were doing so. on the
other hand, 43.1% of men were working 40-44 hours a week, compared
to 24.3% of women (sources for the above paragraphs: statistisches
Bundesamt, 2006a; 2006b; 2006c; 2007; Central Intelligence agengy
[CIa], 2007; Bundesagentur für arbeit, 2007).
The average income per capita was 1564 Euros/month and was
20% higher in old states than in new states. Interestingly, the gini
coefficient for property increased from 1993 to 2003 (0.625 to 0.675)
in old states and decreased in the same period in new states (0.718 to
0.671) (Bundesregierung der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, 2005).
salary disparities between men and women are relatively high in
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