Wages in Eastern Germany Still Considered More Unjust Than in the West

Abstract

Almost 25 years after the fall of the Wall and far more eastern Germans are unhappy with their income than western Germans. In 2013, around 44 percent of employed eastern Germans rated their earnings as unfair compared with approximately one third in western Germany. Although the east-west gap has been diminishing since 2005--to around 12 percent in 2013--this is not because eastern Germans feel that they are now being paid more fairly, but rather because western Germans are increasingly unhappy with their earnings. Evidence of this is seen in analyses conducted by the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).