Standard of living. The five decades since the end of the Second World War have seen the growth of unprecedented prosperity in Germany. The social market economy has raised the country from destruction to one of the most powerful economies in the world with widespread affluence. Nearly half of the employed members of the community own their own houses or apartments. And eastern Germany, too, just a few years after the country’s unification, is already approaching the level of prosperity of the west.

In 1964 the disposable monthly income of a four-person household headed by an employee with a medium income was DM 904 in the old federal states. DM 823 was spent on private consumption - nearly two thirds of this on food, clothing and housing. In 1 995 the same type of household in western Germany disposed of more than DM 5,350 per month, of which DM 4,103 was spent on private consumption. Only about 57.5 percent of this amount had to be spent for food, clothing and housing. Spending on leisure, automobiles, education and telephones, by contrast, has risen markedly. Germans spent DM 1,972,02 billion on private consumption in 1995.