Poverty a growing issue even in wealthy Germany

BoyRacer · June 29, 2010, 10:51pm

Poverty a growing issue even in wealthy Germany -> dw-world.de/dw/article/0,5732454,00.html

Poverty even affects the middle-class in Germany, which still has no minimum wage. Since the early 1970s, earned income rates have sunk relative to national income. The number of low-income jobs has also grown - and with it the number of people who cannot live off their earnings.

Social Democrat Malu Dreyer explained that this phenomenon can have drastic consequences on society.

Having a minimum wage and giving giving welfare aid commensurate with the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court, she said, are essential to ending poverty in Germany.

Though there is no apparent end to poverty in sight, experts agree that there won’t be social unrest any time soon in Germany. Instead of fighting for greater equality, it’s believed that poor people in Germany more often focus their discontent inward, triggering illness and affective disorders. For that reason, it is not rare for children growing up in poverty to suffer depression.

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