1,721,254 research outputs found
Changes in the distribution of pre-government and post-government income in Germany 1973 - 1993 : paper presented at the Conference on the Personal Distribution of Income in an International Perspective at the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study in Delmenhorst
No full textTo sum up our findings we come to the following statements. - During the period from 1973 to 1993 inequality of the personal distribution of equivalent pre-government income increased to some extent, as was to be expected given the enormous rise in unemployment. - Inequality of post-government income also increased slightly, but was much lower than inequality of pre-government income due to the equalizing effect of the German tax and transfer system. - In 1993 inequality of pre-government income was higher, and inequality of post-government income was considerably lower in East Germany than in West Germany; the West German tax and transfer system that was transferred to East Germany after reunification - with some additional but temporary minimum regulations - seems to have had a stronger equalizing effect in the East than in the West. - A decomposition into three age groups, the young and the middle-aged group sub-divided further according to whether household members were affected by unemployment, showed that within-groups inequality explained by far more of overall inequality than between-groups inequality. - The relative positions of the two young groups as well as of the middle-aged group with unemployed members deteriorated with respect to their equivalent pre-government and post-government incomes. - During the first period with rising unemployment (1973 to 1978), the development of within-groups inequality and of between-groups inequality contributed to about the same extent to the increase of overall inequality of pre-government income. But this was fully compensated by the tax and transfer system as there were only a negligible change in inequality of equivalent net income and very slight effects of the (four) components of change which nearly compensated each other. - During the last period from 1988 to 1993 the equalizing effect of the German tax and transfer system seems to have weakened, at least in the western part of Germany. The increase in inequality of equivalent net income is mainly due to developments of within group inequalities
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full text"I did not come to call the righteous but sinners" (Mt 9:13).|Today's Gospel really made me think. It presents a disconcerting picture of Jesus and a disconcerting picture of the people he chose to be his closest disciples.|We would suspect that when choosing his closest disciples Jesus would go first to the religious figures in his culture. Wouldn't we expect him to choose first from among the priests who officiate at the temple services and also from among the Pharisees who are the official teachers and interpreters of the Jewish law? Yet there is no evidence that he called members of either group to be among his closest disciples.|Whom did he choose? Matthew, the author of today's Gospel, indicates that he went to tax collectors -- like himself -- and to "sinners" -- folks officially ostrasized by official Judaism because of non-observance of aspects of Jewish Torah.|Jesus doesn't seem to care what official status one has in society; he does however seem to care deeply about who you are as a person. In fact he seems attracted primarily to those with little or no status in society. Jesus seems attracted to peasants, fishermen, children, women, the physically and mentally impaired – yes even outcasts and "sinners."|Today's Gospel prompted me to ask: To whom would Jesus be attracted to today? Whom would he call to be his closest disciples?|Do we ostrasize and demean certain groups of people whom Jesus himself might be specially drawn to?|Today's Gospel got me wondering
Changes in income poverty and deprivation over time : a comparison of eight European countries from the mid-eighties to the mid-nineties with special attention to the situation of the unemployed ; this paper was also published as working paper 3 of EPUSE (the employment precarity, unemployment and social exclusion project), Oxford, october 1998
No full textAll-over in Europe, unemployment became a growing problem from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s. Nevertheless, the effects on the economical situation of the unemployed and the whole population are quite different in European countries. In this paper we first give a brief overview over the development of unemployment rates in eight member states of the European Union and over the different reactions to provide the social protection of the unemployed. Therefore we look at the social security expenditures, the level of income replacement for the unemployed and recent social policy reforms concerning them. In the second section of the paper, we examine the development of income distribution and poverty taking different poverty lines into consideration. There is no general pattern neither for the relationship of inequality among the unemployed to the whole economically active population nor for the development from the 80s to the 90s. But one can say that in countries with increasing income inequality also poverty is rising (especially in the UK) and that where inequality among the unemployed is less pronounced the proportions of the poor went down from the mid 80s to the mid 90s (France and Ireland). In nearly all countries the risk of being poor is ernormously high for the unemployed, Denmark is the only exception
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full text"Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See, darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory" (Is 60, 1-2).|God's choices are unpredictable. In our wildest imaginations we could never imagine the sequence of salvation history that we celebrate on this Feast of Epiphany.|God chose an insignificant people, the Jews and Jerusalem, and from among them God chose an equally insignificant Jewish virgin, Mary. Through them, God chose to reveal mystery of God's plan for the salvation of the entire world.|Today we celebrate the revealing of God's plan beyond the Jews to the world: "The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay him homage, all nations shall serve him"( Ps 72, 10-11).|In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul exalts that the mystery of salvation treasured by the Jewish people as their exclusive possession is also intended by God for the salvation of the Gentiles, the world beyond the Jews, "It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed . . . that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel" (Eph3: 5-6).|We Gentiles are coheirs of the promises of God!|God chose us!|And so we ask ourselves: How central to our lives is our personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we take this gift for granted or do we grow each year, each day, in treasuring the gift of faith in Jesus Christ?|The prayer from "Godspell" -- originally from St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, 1245-1253 -- seems especially fitting for the Epiphany:|"Lord, May I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly, day by day!
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full text|Why do we Christians insist on celebrating the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross?|Non-believers looking at the cross see nothing but a symbol of total defeat for Jesus. They see a life ignominiously cut short by torture and death and wonder why we Christians focus on this aspect. Why not focus, for example, on the perennial value of Jesus' teaching and example, rather than on this rather embarrassing end to his life?|But we Christians insist on exalting the cross of Christ. We even choose the cross as the central symbol of our faith, more significant than any other symbol!|Why?|Paul's reflection in Phillipians expresses the significance of the cross better than any text in Christian scripture. Jesus' cross becomes the occasion for his transformation: "He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him." For Paul, Jesus' embracing his cross is the occasion for his restoration to his divine dignity and glory with the Father -- not defeat but triumph!|Today's Old Testament passage gives some insight into this mystery. The Hebrews, in their wanderings in the desert — and their escape from slavery under the Egyptians -- complained to Moses about the living conditions. God punished the Hebrews by sending poisonous snakes. Many died. Then Moses' prayed to God. God instructed Moses to mount a bronze serpent on a pole and assured Moses that whoever was bitten and looked looked up at the bronze serpent would be saved from death. And indeed they were! To this day, it should be noted, that the bronze serpent remains the symbol of medical healing professions.|The Gospel, echoing the Old Testament story, assures us Christians that by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus raised up and mounted upon the cross we too will be saved from death: "Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life." John deftly uses this passage to help us Christians understand the significance of Jesus' death for us. Jesus, like the bronze serpent, was lifted up on a pole. John assures us that whoever believes and gazes on Jesus lifted up will never perish but will have eternal life.|But it's even better than this. How many Christians can witness to personal experiences of gazing up at Jesus on the cross, praying for strength to make it though sufferings — and experiencing Jesus' presence. This presence with Jesus -- sharing, as it were, his eternal life -- becomes the strength we need, not only to live through our sufferings, but to be transformed by them to a deeper union with Jesus. Paul continually assures us in many of his letters that no possible suffering can separate us from the love of Christ.|This truth is the heart of our salvation by Jesus Christ. Have we reached maturity as Christians until we can witness personally to strength in suffering through faith in Jesus?|And so today rightly we celebrate the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full text"Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord" (Ps 122:1).|We need holy places! Holy places became the axes between heaven and earth, awakening the awareness of God's in-breaking into our mundane human condition. Their presence in our communities reminds us of where we come from and where we are going!|Today's reading from Exekiel recalls the centrality of the temple for the Jews. Further the Responsorial Psalm reflects the sheer exultation the Jews felt visiting the temple – the symbol of their origin and destiny: "Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord"! |Haven't we all had similar experiences?|I recall visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcure in Jerusalem. I recall waiting outside the Church and being jostled by the noisy crowd of chattering tourists pushing one another through the narrow doors. But once inside, enveloped in the hushed darkness, we are crawling through the narrow passageway to empty tomb and we are standing before Calvary. We are stunned: here Jesus was crucified and buried!|We fall silent.|I recall visiting the St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. I recall waiting outside with a large crowd of noisy tourists. But once within, we are over whelmed by the sacred splendor and we process silently to the magnificent Bernini high altar. Beneath the altar are stairs descending to a subterranean grave containing a little box with the bones of St. Peter. Here on Vatican Hill an obscure Jewish fisherman gave his life witnessing to Jesus. Here our Church began.|We fall silent.|Near Mexico City I visited the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The shrine houses the miraculous portrait of Mary imprinted on the apron of the Mexican peasant Juan Diaz. Outside the shrine vendors loudly sell souvenirs. Inside the shrine barefoot peasants on their kneels, and often in tears and carrying children, crawl humbly down the aisle to honor Mary and seek her help. Mary was here.|We fall silent.|And we all have our local holy places. In the center of our university campus on the crest of a gentile hill we have a charming brick piazza surrounding a splashing fountain fronting the façade of our lovely campus church. Students, faculty, staff process by all day. Regularly in the evenings, with lights illuminating the church, I find myself on a bench behind the piazza-fountain recalling God's presence in the midst of my day. And I pray that our church may be for our university community a true axis between heaven and earth -- reminding us of where we have come from and where we are going!|"Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord!"|We need holy places
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full text|Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come, the glory of the Lord shines upon you. See darkness covers the earth, and thick clouds cover the peoples; but upon you the Lord shines, and over you appears his glory. Nations shall walk by your light, and kings by your shining radiance (Isaiah 60:1-3).|The glory of the Lord shines from Jerusalem throughout all the earth! And so we Christians now participate with Israel in God's manifestation to the world through the child born of Mary!|Gentiles, non–Jews, are now co-heirs with the Jews of God's promises! No one was more shocked at this revelation than Paul himself. As a devout Jew – indeed as a Pharisee – Paul believed that God's manifestation throughout Hebrew scriptures was intended exclusively for the Jews. Paul was actually on a journey to Damascus to persecute Jesus' followers when Jesus appeared and revealed the startling truth.|It was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel (Eph 3:5-6).|And could there be a more dramatic illustration of the significance of Jesus' birth for all nations than the dramatic scene of the three kings from the east following the star to Bethlehem?|And behold, the star they had seen at its rising preceded them until it came and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. They prostrated themselves and did him homage (Mt 1:9-11).|Today's feast of the Epiphany is a manifestation both that Jesus is Lord and that Jesus is Lord not merely of the Jews but of all peoples! Jesus' Lordship occurs through the power of the Holy Spirit! And the Church formally teaches that the light of the Holy Spirit shines not only in Jewish and Christian hearts but in all people of good will. Vatican Council II in The Church in the Modern World put this truth simply and elegantly.|All this hold true not only for Christians, but for all men of good will in whose heart grace works in an unseen way. For, since Christ died for all men, and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit, in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with the paschal mystery (#22).|Yes, authentic Christianity acknowledges the immanence of the divine in all people of good will in every culture. Let us celebrate God's epiphany to our troubled world! The responsorial psalm catches our joy: "Lord, every nation on earth will adore you.
Daily Reflections (Meditations) on the Scriptures from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.
No full text"For thus says the LORD, the creator of the heavens, who is God, the designer and maker of the earth, who established it, not creating it to be a waste, but designing it to be lived in: I am the Lord, and there is no other"(Is 45:18).|In Advent we seek a heightened sensitivity to God's presence in our lives. Our primarily invitation from God is to a heightened awareness of Jesus Christ -- the Word of God sent by the Father to be our savior. The responsorial psalm presents this dimension eloquently: "Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior" (Is 48:8). And so we ask ourselves: How is God inviting us to open our hearts further to allow the Father to "rain down" our savior?|Listen to Jesus' response to John's disciples: "Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them." This miracle-working Jesus can also heal the restlessness of our hearts. We pray: Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus! Heal the restlessness of our hearts! Recall adventus is the Latin word for "coming"!|But in Advent we also seek a heightened sensitivity to God's presence in creation. In his encyclical Laudato Si Pope Francis reminds us of a truth we tend to forget: God is the designer and maker of the earth; and God created it for us to be lived in and cherished: "The entire material universe speaks of God's love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God" (#84).|And the pope invites us to contemplate God's creation: "This contemplation of creation allows us to discover in each thing a teaching God wishes to hand on to us. . . . We can say that alongside revelation properly so-called, contained in Scripture, there is a divine manifestation in the blaze of the sun and the fall of night "(#85). And so we ask: How do we personally experience God's "caressing" us in the blaze of the sun and the fall of night? Have we adequately acknowledged that being drawn to the created beauty of oceans, mountains, sky, stars, lakes and woods is being drawn to their Creator?|Yes, we are invited to be open to God's presence in the simplicity of the manger scene as well as in the silence and grandeur of the starry, starry night!|"For thus says the LORD, the creator of the heavens, who is God, the designer and maker of the earth, who established it, not creating it to be a waste, but designing it to be lived in: I am the Lord, and there is no other"(Is 45:18)
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