Intergenerational Income Stability: Is Germany Lagging Behind?

The ongoing discussion on inequality also covers the question of equal opportunities, or the extent to which income differences are due to the individuals themselves or their circumstances. According to a study recently published by the OECD, Germany is lagging behind the other industrialised nations in this respect. This article critically examines these results and shows that they represent a clear outlier compared to existing literature on this topic. The exceptionally high persistence level is particularly due to the observation of a specific population group, as well as the definition of income that is selected.