Hartz IV recipients die 5 years earlier

Study: Who is poor dies on average five years earlier
People who are poor apparently die about five years earlier. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute compared the life expectancy of the rich and poor in Germany. Significant differences became apparent in some cases.

The ever-widening gap between rich and poor also leaves its mark on average life expectancy. People who, for example, just have to cope with the minimum subsistence level (Hartz IV) or lower, live about 5 years less than people with an above-average income. This was discovered by scientists as part of an investigation by the Max Planck Institute.

Poor people die much earlier. Image: Photographee.eu - fotolia

Scissors between poor and rich become more and more serious
According to the demographic study, in 2008, 65-year-old men with a high pension or old-age pension could still live an average of 20 years. But who got only a small pension or even just a basic security, had an average of 15 years lifetime before him. The institute also reports that the differences between rich and poor in recent years have become increasingly serious.

In the mid-nineties, a "well-off" rich pensioner in the western part of Germany lived about three years longer than a man with a significantly lower pension. In East Germany the difference was about three and a half years. In 2008, the life expectancy gap in the West was already 4.8 years and in the East 5.6 years. The reasons given by the researchers include nutrition and medical care. On the one hand, this is usually healthier for richer people, and medical diagnosis is often more thorough.

The data were evaluated by statisticians of the German pension insurance and recorded about 86 percent of all men living in Germany. Women or migrants were disregarded during the survey. (Sb)