All of life is give and take.

Older semesters know this from their own experience.

But who finances the state in the form of taxes and levies and to what extent - and who benefits from its services?

Manfred Schäfers

Business correspondent in Berlin.

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Intuitively it is clear that the curve shifts over the years: when you are younger you can benefit from day-care centers, schools and universities, later when you first earn money the state demands its part, with your career the tax burden increases disproportionately, and the progressive factor ensures that this is the case Tax system before things start turning again in old age because pensions exceed health insurance contributions and indirect taxes.

In addition to age, gender, income, level of education can play a role, in which direction the cash flow is moving and how strong it is.

Martin Beznoska from the employer-related Institute of German Business (IW) wanted to know exactly.

He has collated and combined information from various sources.

Last but not least, with the help of the Socio-Economic Panel, he has developed an instrument that can be used to playfully understand the age distribution of taxes, social security contributions, transfers and state benefits in kind for the year 2021, as can be tried out directly on FAZ.NET on the basis of his study entitled " The age distribution of taxes, duties and government benefits”.

After that, up to the age of 24, on average, the benefits received from the state exceed the taxes and social security contributions paid.

The monetary benefits such as child benefit are attributed to the adults, but not the benefits in kind such as day care centers and schools.

The health services are already noticeable in the year of birth.

Otherwise, in the early years of life, the care costs (up to more than 9,000 euros per child and year) and educational services (up to 10,000 euros per student and year) outweigh the costs.

However, the university services (up to 11,000 euros for a student per year) affect a significantly smaller part of the population.

In middle and old age, benefits in kind only consist of health benefits, which increase significantly with age.

The highest monetary transfers occur between the mid-30s and mid-40s (unemployment benefit I and II, but also family-related benefits such as child benefit and parental benefit).

From the mid-50s, income replacement benefits are more important.

Disability pensions are shown in the figure from around the age of 50.

According to the study, at around the age of 60, the number of pension recipients and thus the average pension received increases sharply.

"In the age cohorts of 80 and over, the average retirement income per person is almost 20,000 euros."

In the Socio-Economic Panel, no personal income of minors is observed, so no income tax or social security contributions are paid for this group in the model.

Later, more people from that age cohort enter the labor market.

The peak of the tax burden is reached in the mid-50s, the income tax then amounts to an average of 13,500 euros per year.

Pension contributions are treated as a levy, even though they earn entitlements for old age almost on a one-to-one basis.

Conversely, pension payments are treated as state benefits.

It could be debated, but that's normal.

The total social security contributions of workers in their mid-50s average almost 7,000 euros.

As more and more workers retire, and at the same time pensions received and healthcare costs rise, the tipping point is coming.

At the age of 65, on average, the benefits received exceed the payments made.

This surplus continues to increase until the end of life.

According to the study, there are clear differences between women and men over the life cycle in terms of employment history, wages, the number of hours worked and parental leave.

These differences are reflected in the income and, accordingly, in the taxes and social security contributions paid.

But in couple households, both partners benefit from the joint household income, writes author Beznoska.

Thus, an individual attribution of income says nothing about the welfare position of women and men.

"This is also made clear by the widow's pensions, which lead to pension incomes aligning in old age."

Overall, according to the study, people with a university degree generate the greatest “plus” for the state.

"Government revenue of over 355 billion euros from the taxes and social security contributions considered here is offset by state expenditure on transfers, pensions, pensions and benefits in kind of 220 billion euros," it says.

The group with vocational training generates 450 billion euros in state revenue and receives 435 billion euros.

People without vocational training paid almost 80 billion euros to the state and received 125 billion euros.

Last but not least, the pensions are the lowest in this group due to the lower lifetime income.

"A political goal for the sustainability of public finances could/should be aimed at reducing the proportion of people without professional training in the population," says the economist.