Europe

Home page

Europe

’Wealth gap fueling violence in Germany’

16 July 2010 02:41 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Sociologists and economists warn that widening wealth gap in Germany could have serious implications for the German society, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website.

The economic polarization of the German society has fueled violence in German cities, including in Hamburg, which is the scene to violent protests earlier in May, experts say.

There is an increasing tendency among German youth to stage violent protests or revolt, Deutsche Welle quoted German police officials as saying.

A report by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) had previously warned about the widening wealth gulf, saying that Germany is now catching up with the United States in economic inequality.

The DIW report said that both the number of households that earn less than 70 percent of Germany’s median income and the number earning more than 150 percent have risen significantly over the past decade.

The number of households in the bottom group rose to 22 percent in 2009 from 19 percent in 2004. Meanwhile, the number of households at the upper end of the wealth spectrum, earning an average of 3,870 euros a month, rose from 16 percent in 2000 to 19 percent.

Analysts also believe that the fast-growing inequalities bring up other forms of social misbehavior, such as xenophobia among lower classes. Psychological pressure factors such as lack of job security and a fear of moving to the lower rungs of the class ladder is widespread in the country.