From Part-Time to Prosperity: Women in Short-Hour Roles Could Lift Germany's Economy by 10% by 2050
15.06.2026 - 03:05:29 | boerse-global.de
Germany’s pension system could gain a crucial cushion over the next 15 to 20 years if more women switched from part-time to full-time work, says Marcel Fratzscher, president of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). Speaking Monday, Fratzscher highlighted the economic drag created by the country’s high part-time rate among women — currently nearly one in two employed women works reduced hours. That, he argued, amounts to billions in foregone income and output.
The potential payoff is sizable. An EU agency calculated that if full gender equality were achieved in the labor market, Germany’s gross domestic product could rise by as much as 10 percent by 2050. That bump would come from adding several hundred thousand additional full-time workers to the economy, easing long-standing labor shortages and strengthening economic output across sectors.
But the path to that gain is blocked by a web of structural obstacles. Fratzscher pointed to four main hurdles: inadequate childcare infrastructure, tax and mini-job rules that incentivize part-time work — particularly the married-couple tax splitting system and the regulations around low-income “mini-jobs” — persistent gender pay gaps, and the broader difficulty of balancing career and family.
“The economic potential cannot be unlocked without adjusting family and tax policy,” Fratzscher said. He called for targeted reforms to remove those barriers, arguing that the current setup locks in inefficiencies that hurt both households and the broader economy.
Beyond growth, a higher full-time share among women would also stabilize Germany’s pay-as-you-go pension system. With more contributions flowing in over a longer working life, the demographic burden on state pensions would ease — a point Fratzscher described as a tangible benefit for the coming decades.
The DIW chief’s remarks come as Germany continues to grapple with a tight labor market and an aging population, making any untapped workforce potential a politically charged issue. Yet the policy changes needed — from expanding child care to overhauling tax advantages for secondary earners — remain deeply contested in Berlin.
