2. Data base and access to data
2.1 Data base for current old age income
Data on the current income situation of the aged population are available in many surveys like
the GSOEP, the Micro census and the EVS. The different income structure of retired people
requires nevertheless a special survey design. Difficulties may arise because persons over a
certain age have difficulties to conduct an interview with and hard to reach if they live in an
institution and no longer in a private household. Process produced data are therefore helpful to
estimate the number of elder people who are not or no longer available for surveys. They offer
furthermore information about the legal conditions of a granted pension.
2.1.1 Sample of the pension records (RTBN) and Sample of the completed insured life-
courses (VVL)
The sample of the pension records includes all pensions paid from the German Pension fund
at the last day of the year. This data are a useful basis for validation of other sources on the
retired part of the population. Participation in the statutory pension insurance scheme is
mandatory in Germany for all persons employed in the private or public sector. Additionally,
contributions are paid out of unemployment insurance in the case of the unemployed, out of
health insurance in the event of long-term illness, and from the state for people in military or
civilian national service. The majority of the population thus comes into contact with the
pension insurance system at some point or another in life, and the pension insurance system
has data on about 90% of the entire population. The statutory old age and disability pension -
due to its income replacement tasks and broad social basis - provides the main income source
after retirement. Survivors’ pensions are the main source of income for widowed women.
The special levy ‘Completed insured life-courses’ (VVL 2004) is a useful source for
empirical analysis about retirement age and income in relation to the life-course. A 20%
sample of newly granted pensions of a particular year is the basis of this longitudinal data.
The calculation of the pension is one important source of information in combination with the
longitudinal dimension of the past life from the age of 14 until retirement. The sampling of
data of one year of newly granted pensions enables to compare different life courses ending in
the social status of becoming a pensioner in the same year in East and West Germany and
abroad. At retirement, the pension fund has gathered all information on the life-course as far
as the activities, contributions and legal entitlements are relevant for the pension benefit. The
moment of retirement is the point of time in life at which people hand over all necessary
proofs to the pensions fund in order to receive a pension on the basis of all relevant facts.
From the statistical point of view, it is therefore the point in time when the information about