Old age policies in France and Germany from the last decades of the nineteenth century to the First World War: a quantitative re-definition

Abstract

This paper aims to produce, with the methods of quantitative history, a comparative analysis of old age policies in France and Germany during the period 1880-1914. This period is particularly interesting for comparison. In Germany, Bismarck's social insurance laws become effective. In France, debates on retirement are widely present in parliamentary discussions; compulsory retirement pensions are obtained by some professions, as miners (1894) or railroaders (1910), but other old age welfare systems already exist (assistance, life annuities by personal and voluntary saving etc.). An analysis in economic history terms, with the contribution of homogeneous statistical series, seems likely to improve the understanding of different systems in application in both countries. Among these, what is, for each country, the number of persons drawing social security and receiving an old age pension? What are the characteristics of these welfare systems, and in particular what is the aggregate amount of social security benefits devoted to old age? The various series - and especially total expenditure devoted to old age - shall allow us to analyse differences between France and Germany. Also, they will allow us to understand if these differences are due to legislative or institutional differences, or if they actually represent