Dr. Ruth Maria Schüler

Senior Economist for Social Security Systems and Income and Wealth Distribution

Tel: +49 221 4981-885 Mail: schueler@iwkoeln.de Ruth Maria Schüler

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Passau
Master of Science in Economics at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster
Master of Science in Economic History at the University of Lund
Doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich
Since 2018 at the IW
Since 2021 in the theme cluster State, taxes and social security
Research interests: Social security, distribution

Topics

Distribution and Public Finances

Research unit

The State, Taxes, Social Security

IW Publications

Schüler, Ruth Maria / Seele, Stefanie, 2026, Wegfall der Hinzuverdienstgrenze. Wie hat sich das Renteneintrittsverhalten seit 2023 verändert?, Gutachten unter Zuwendung vom Forschungsnetzwerk Alterssicherung (FNA) Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund, IW-Report, Nr. 29, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie

Geis-Thöne, Wido / Hammermann, Andrea / Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2026, Lebenslanges Lernen als Schlüssel für einen späteren Renteneintritt?, in: IW-Trends, 53. Jg., Nr. 1, S. 93-109
Zur Studie

Schüler, Ruth Maria / Stockhausen, Maximilian / Böhmer, Hendrik / Wendt, Jan, 2025, Eigenbeteiligung in der vollstationären Pflege. Eine Analyse regionaler Kostenunterschiede, IW-Report, Nr. 59, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie

Pimpertz, Jochen / Schüler, Ruth Maria / Stockhausen, Maximilian, 2025, Kapitaldeckung in der Pflege. Argumente gegen eine Ausweitung der Pflichtversicherung, IW-Policy Paper, Nr. 11, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie

Schüler, Ruth Maria / Seele, Stefanie, 2025, Heraufsetzung und Wegfall der Hinzuverdienstgrenze. Wie hat sich das Renteneintrittsverhalten verändert? , IW-Report, Nr. 25, Köln / Berlin
Zur Studie

Hammermann, Andrea / Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2024, Determinanten und Motive des Renteneintritts, in: IW-Trends, in: IW-Trends, 51. Jg., Nr. 3, S. 45-65
Zur Studie

Diermeier, Matthias / Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2023, Reform der Rentenversicherung in Deutschland. Eine Empirie zu Reformaversionen, in: IW-Trends, 50. Jg., Nr. 4, S. 45-60
Zur Studie

Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2023, Die Bedeutung von Wissen um die Alterssicherung für das Altersvorsorgeverhalten in Deutschland, in: IW-Trends, 50. Jg., Nr. 2, S. 77-95
Zur Studie

Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2023, Renteneintritt von Paaren in Deutschland, in: IW-Trends, 50. Jg., Nr. 1, S. 45-61
Zur Studie

Schüler, Ruth Maria / Diermeier, Matthias, 2023, Aufstieg und Fall von Industriestädten dies- und jenseits des Atlantiks, IW-Kurzbericht, Nr. 16, Köln
Zur Studie

Beznoska, Martin / von Haldenwang, Christian / Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2022, Steuervergünstigungen in den OECD-Ländern. Erkenntnisse aus der Global Tax Expenditures Database, IW-Report, Nr. 33, Berlin / Köln
Zur Studie

Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2022, Sorgen um die Altersversorgung in Deutschland. Determinanten und normative Implikationen, in: IW-Trends, 49. Jg., Nr. 1, S. 21-39
Zur Studie

(in cooperation with Wido Geis-Thöne)
Lebenslagen und Kompetenzentwicklung von Grundschulkindern
IW-Trends 2/2019

(in cooperation with Oliver Koppel)
Akademikerberufe – Nicht nur die Nachfrage bestimmt den Preis
IW-Kurzbericht 66/2018

Expertises

Pimpertz, Jochen / Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2025, Anforderungen an ein zukunftsfähiges Pflegewesen. Die Pflegewirtschaft zwischen steigenden Pflegebedarfen und zunehmendem Arbeitskräftemangel, Gutachten im Auftrag des Bundesverbands der privaten Anbieter sozialer Dienste e. V. – bpa, Köln
Zur Studie

(in cooperation with Christina Anger, Oliver Koppel, Axel Plünnecke, Enno Röben)
MINT-Fruhjahrsreport 2019 – MINT und Innovationen – Erfolge und Handlungsbedarfe
Gutachten für BDA, BDI, Mint Zukunft schaffen und Gesamtmetall, 2019

(in cooperation with Christina Anger, Oliver Koppel, Axel Plünnecke, Enno Röben)
MINT-Herbstreport 2018 – MINT: Qualifizierung und Zuwanderung zur Stärkung von Forschung und Digitalisierung
Gutachten für BDA, BDI, Mint Zukunft schaffen und Gesamtmetall, 2018

(in cooperation with Christina Anger, Axel Plünnecke)
Bildungsmonitor 2018 – Teilhabe, Wohlstand und Digitalisierung
Gutachten für die Initiative Neue Soziale Marktwirtschaft, 2018

External Publications

Beznoska, Martin / Schüler, Ruth Maria, 2023, Tax expenditures in OECD countries. Findings from the Global Tax Expenditures Database, in: German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Discussion Paper 7/2023, Berlin / Köln
Zur Studie

(in cooperation with Francesco Cinnirella)
Nation Building: The Role of Central Education Spending
Explorations in Economic History, Vol. 67, 2018, pp. 18–39

Education Economics from a Historical Perspective
ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung 78, 2018

Educational inputs and economic development in end-of-nineteenth-century Prussia
Ifo Working Paper, No. 227, 2016

Centralized Monitoring, Resistance, and Reform Outcomes: Evidence from School Inspections in Prussia
Ifo Working Paper, No. 223, 2016

(in cooperation with Francesco Cinnirella)
The Cost of Decentralization: Linguistic Polarization and the Provision of Education
CESifo Working Paper, No. 5894, 2016

More from Dr. Ruth Maria Schüler

IW-Report No. 29 19. June 2026 Ruth Maria Schüler / Stefanie Seele

Abolition of the Additional Earnings Limit

The ageing population in Germany is increasing pressure on the social insurance systems and will (in the future) exacerbate the shortage of skilled labour.

IW-Trends No. 1 19. May 2026 Wido Geis-Thöne / Andrea Hammermann / Ruth Maria Schüler

Is Lifelong Learning the Key to Later Retirement?

There appears to be a connection between lifelong learning and remaining longer active in the labour market.

IW-Report No. 59 17. November 2025 Ruth Maria Schüler et al.

Co-payments in inpatient care: An analysis of regional cost differences

This report is based on the evaluation of price data from a total of 10,820 full-time nursing homes in Germany which are provided on the ‘pflegelotse.de’ platform of the Association of Substitute Health Insurance Funds (vdek) and were collected at the beginning of October 2024 using a web scraping process.

IW-Policy Paper No. 11 2. October 2025 Jochen Pimpertz / Ruth Maria Schüler / Maximilian Stockhausen

Funding of long-term care: Arguments against extending compulsory insurance

The German Federal-State Commission on the ‘Future of long-term Care’ is tasked with developing a reform by the end of 2025. Its mandate is guided by the overarching goal of contribution rate stability.

IW-Report No. 25 10. June 2025 Ruth Maria Schüler / Stefanie Seele

Increase and abolition of the additional earnings limit

If statutory pensioners reach 35 or 45 years of creditable periods, they may draw their old-age pension early, i.e. earlier than their individual standard retirement age, from the age of 63 or a maximum of two years before their individual standard retirement age.

Expertise 4. April 2025 Jochen Pimpertz / Ruth Maria Schüler

Making the care system future-proof

The topic of care hardly played a role in the German election campaign. Yet there is an urgent need for reform. This is because demographic change is already having an impact in the new legislative period.

IW-Trends No. 3 19. September 2024 Andrea Hammermann / Ruth Maria Schüler

How Germans Decide when to Retire

As German life expectancy has increased over recent decades, the number of years retirees draw a pension has also risen significantly.

IW-Analyse No. 156 10. June 2024 Jochen Pimpertz / Ruth Maria Schüler

The Political Economy of Pension Reform

As the German population ages, the country’s statutory pension scheme, which is financed on a pay-as-you-go basis, requires higher and higher contributions while the level of pensions is falling.

IW-Trends No. 4 13. November 2023 Matthias Diermeier / Ruth Maria Schüler

Changing Germany's Statutory Pension Insurance: An Empirical Study of Popular Aversion to Reforms

The demographic transition is putting the German statutory pension insurance system under enormous pressure to reform. Despite widespread concern, no reform of the adjustment mechanisms incorporated into the pension system meets with the approval of a majority of the population.

IW-Trends No. 2 30. June 2023 Ruth Maria Schüler

The Importance of Awareness of the Old-age Pension System for Retirement Planning in Germany

People in Germany have a relatively accurate knowledge of the main details of the German pension system.