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In Germany, the possibility of social participation and the risks of exclusion for older people vary according to social class. Thus, for older people, poverty, when examined in the context of social class, represents an important obstacle to independence. The specificity of poverty among older people is that it is largely invisible. Moreover, with advancing age, the link between socio-economic category, health status and access to health, medical and therapeutic care have an important impact for individuals to realise their potential. Vertical social inequalities, as meas-ured by the index of social class (income, education level, employment) interact with other social characteristics (gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation) on the one hand, and on the other hand with the conditions of the social domain and the consequences for the possibility of participation and the risks of exclusion.