ABSTRACT
This chapter documents the progress of income trends since the mid 1980s for West Germany, and since 1990 - the year of unification - for the East also. It begins with a description of the database used, the Socio-Economie Panel (GSOEP), and income measurement, and describes the growth and distribution of income for Germany as a whole, and for the former West and East German Lander separately. The chapter mainly uses monthly household net income taken directly from the survey, as this gives a figure consistent with the socio-demographic composition of the household. It addresses the question of what individual characteristics and what family and household types are associated with inadequate household income, and which socio-demographic groups experience a more or less than average incidence of poverty as a result. The chapter also addresses the extent of the change itself, and the subject of income dynamics.
