Kerstin Bruckmeier studied economics at the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg from 1998 till 2004. Since August 2004 she is working as a scientific assistant at the institute of job market and occupational research. Her main fields of research are political simulations and analyses on the dynamics in low-wage sector. Her dissertation at the chair of public finance deals with the regional distributional and stabilising effects of the unemployment insurance in Germany.