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The fiscal balance of children in the German tax and social system Study commissioned by the Robert Bosch Foundation

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Werding
  • Herbert Hofmann

Abstract

This study was conducted by the Department of Social Policy and Labour Markets for the Robert Bosch Foundation and completed in June 2005 to support the work of the commission on families and demographic change initiated by the Foundation. The study focused on calculations of the fiscal effects in connection with the birth of a child under the current German tax and social system. Model calculations were conducted for a child born in the year 2000 for its entire life-cycle and including also the effects of its own children. Family-policy benefits and public education spending that a child receives in its youth were taken into consideration along with taxes and social insurance contributions paid during and after its working life as well as all other contribution- and tax-financed public services that it receives over a lifetime. The goal of the calculation was to estimate the amount of the fiscal externalities associated with the upbringing and care of a child under current laws, since this can provide important information for future reforms of family policy in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Werding & Herbert Hofmann, 2005. "The fiscal balance of children in the German tax and social system Study commissioned by the Robert Bosch Foundation," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 27.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ifofob:27
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    File URL: https://www.ifo.de/DocDL/ifo_Forschungsberichte_27.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Helmut Rainer & Stefan Bauernschuster & Natalia Danzer & Timo Hener & Christian Holzner & Janina Reinkowski, 2013. "Kindergeld," ifo Forschungsberichte, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 60.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • H60 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - General
    • J10 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - General
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure

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