| Abstract: | The concept of intergenerational justice has become ever more prevalent in discussions about welfare reform in Germany. For this reason, we analyse problems of justice between generations using the terminology of philosophical theories of justice. We argue that transfers by the welfare state and transfers by the family must be distinguished in the analysis of material and immaterial transfers between generations. As our empirical results show, problems of justice between generations arise mainly in the case of welfare state transfers. Subsequently, we describe the paradigms of intergenerational justice informing the public debate. Data from surveys over the past fifteen years show to what extend these (public) paradigms are shared by individuals in the German population. |
