Heise: Since the end of the 1990s changes in our circumstances such as the rise in terrorism, stock-market crises, unemployment, a lack of economic growth and cuts in social welfare provision have caused people to focus more on the risks associated with life today than on the opportunities.

What we wanted to find out was how this new lack of certainty was affecting people in Germany, whether their individual goals had changed, whether or not they were satisfied with their lives, and how likely it was that they would actually achieve their goals.

Heise: That people now put greater emphasis on such things as individuality and being responsible for making decisions on matters which affect them, as well as wanting to feel safe and secure. Consequently, for people in Germany, feeling satisfied with their lives, is seen as being dependent on their own long-term planning, particularly their financial planning.

To a certain extent, we found that some goals seemed to have become somewhat taboo because it is difficult to achieve them under the current circumstances. For example, it initially seems that people are less inclined to strive for self-fulfillment through their job and career and that they have less desire to own their own homes. Moreover, the study confirmed the widely held belief that nowadays people prefer to concentrate on their personal lives, on their families and close friends.

However, in this study statistical procedures allowed us to differentiate between subjective and objective desires.

Heise: People are striving to take over more responsibility for their own welfare and the study clearly shows that they have become much less dependent on state welfare provision than politicians sometimes feared they would. In terms of objective desires, therefore, people's jobs, their knowledge and their financial situations do play an important role.

So the good news is that a relatively high number of people have understood that it is necessary for them to make their own provisions, particularly where old-age provision is concerned.

People are getting used to the fact that the state is no longer the provider of all, though those with a higher income and who are better educated are more aware of this. Having said that, people are less aware that they need to take responsibility in two further areas, their health and their education, even though these two areas are as important to their social welfare as sufficient old-age provision.

Heise: Politicians must inform people honestly and very clearly what areas of their welfare they need to take responsibility for. People must be told that they not only need to make provision for old age, but also for health and education.

At the same time, everyone in Germany, particularly those with low incomes, must be given scope for making financial provision. For this reason the introduction of the tax relief measures which have already been approved is extremely important, as is a significant reduction in the percentages of their incomes people currently contribute to social insurance. The aim of these measures is not only to boost spending, but also to improve private provision conditions for everyone.

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