"The life expectancy of people with incomes below the poverty line for 8-11 years is shorter than the life expectancy of people with higher incomes," participants of the congress stated.
"According to recent findings, poor people are two to three times more likely to suffer from a heart attack or stroke, chronic illnesses, in particular diabetes, as well as mental illness," research fellow at the Robert-Koch-Institut (RKI) Dr. Thomas Lampert said in an interview with Sputnik Germany.
In Lampert's opinion, the difference in living conditions among German residents continues to grow. At the moment, he said, about 14% of the population and about 20% of children are threatened by poverty.
Moreover, researchers noted that older representatives of disadvantaged groups of society have "poorer living conditions" and are less socialized.
According to social psychologist Thomas Altgeld, people in Germany increasingly need social justice. However, in his opinion, the social system in Germany lacks "energy and anger" to achieve positive changes.
So far, there are two types of health insurance in Germany: public health insurance that offers coverage of only basic requirements, and private health insurance that covers almost all medical services, but is affordable only to high-income earners.
In this regard, Altgeld called on other participants to be more active and appeal to political circles. The psychologist demanded "to bring more anger to the system" and explain to the politicians that something must be changed.
