Demographic Trends and the Changing Ability of Households to Buffer Poverty Risks in Germany.

The article investigates how demographic trends influenced households' abilities to compensate for low or lacking earnings among their members. I focus on the probability that household earnings excluding those of the respondent are above the poverty threshold. The share of households where this is the case declined sharply between 1993-1996 and 2009-2012, implying a deterioration of households' potential to hedge labour market risks. The growing importance of single-adult households partly explains the decline, but the negative trend is also found for women living with a partner. Increased female labour force participation counterbalances the general trend for men in couple households. A comparison by individual economic status shows that the availability of earnings from other household members decreases more for persons with lower educational levels and the unemployed. Contrary to expectations, the uneven development of the share of single adults between social strata and the increasing correlation of spouses' employment status explain only part of this increasing spread of household resources. Overall, the results underline the importance of changes in household resources for the increase in poverty in Germany overall, as well as for growing disparities between poverty risks by individual employment status and education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]