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Hand-Coded Grundrente

We are currently working on an analysis of the introduction of the Grundrente in Germany, which came into force on 01.01.2021. The reform was first mentioned in the coalition treaty between the Union and the SPD in March 2018 and was finally passed on the second of July, 2020. The aim of the law is to grant supplementary pension to employees who have paid into the pension fund for more than 33 years and still receive a below-average pension. Over 70% of all benefit recipients are women – so this is a welfare reform that primarily benefits a politically weak group. By analyzing this specific reform, we hope to answer the question of the conditions under which solidaristic welfare reforms occur in an (welfare state) environment characterized by retrenchment rather than expansion, especially when such a reform benefits politically less influential groups.

With the help of Factiva, the team around Prof. Dr. Silja Häusermann hand-coded a total of 580 articles on the reform from 6 different German newspapers. All articles were published between January 2018, when the first newspapers reported on the planning of a Grundrente, and July 2020, when the introduction of the welfare reform was decided. Specifically, we were interested in what various political actors, whether parties, representatives of those parties, or government officials, had to say about the reform. These were statements regarding the generosity, implementation, eligibility and financing of this welfare reform. However, it was just as important for us to find out which frames these political actors used to justify their positions on the reform.

In addition, we also hand-coded the parliamentary debates on the bill in the Bundestag.  On the one hand, we also wanted to pick up the positions and frames of the opposition parties, which were less strongly represented in the newspapers studied. On the other hand, this is a more qualitative assessment of the parties’ positions on this welfare reform.

We look forward to sharing the results with you in the foreseeable future.