In Germany, a significant building block of the social safety net is social insurance, which is obligatory for employees earning below a certain income limit. All self-employed people, such as business people who own more than a 50% share of a company, lawyers and physicians are freed from this insurance obligation. But they can insure themselves privately. Workers who are not self-employed and earn below a certain income limit fall under the insurance obligation.
There are various types of social insurance:
- health insurance
- pension insurance
- unemployment insurance
- long-term care insurance
- accident insurance
The insurance premiums are divided equally between the employer and employee - 50% each - except for accident insurance. The premium is set by law and equals a certain percentage of income.
