Inequality in living conditions among Danish state pensioners

The object of this article is to analyze if and how economic differences between state pensioners manifest as inequalities in actual living conditions among state pensioners. This is analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics, and findings are controlled for relevant variables via regression analysis. The data sources are registry data on the gross population of 841,246 Danish state pensioners merged with survey data on 4,800 state pensioners. The analysis of living conditions of the 10 percent with the lowest income and the 10 percent with the highest income in addition to the state pension shows that the low income group is doing worse on all aspects of living conditions: marital status, composition of household, housing, education, well-being, loneliness, unwillingly alone, social relations, health, level of function, evaluation of economy, and deprivations. These findings of inequality are contextualized within the 1980s pension reforms which changed the economic configuration between state pensioners.