Institutionalized Normality and Individual Living Situations. The Non-Take-Up of Old-Age Basic Income Support in Germany

Abstract

The study analyzes the non-take-up of means-tested benefits among older people in Germany using GSOEP (2010–2015). The results suggest that 6 out of 10 do not claim benefits. To explain non-take-up the study looks at differences between individual living situations and institutionalized normality. The empirical section deals with three dimensions of the living situation: coping with financial hardship, acknowledgment of previous achievements, and temporal dynamics. While coping and temporal dynamics prove to be relevant, the results regarding acknowledgment are mixed.