SPIEGEL ONLINE : Ms. Gotz, you report in your book by an insurance employee who calls in the evening after 40 years of employment in a call center in a chord because her pension is not enough to live. How big is the problem?
Irene Götz : Affected are mainly single women, the low-skilled in the low-wage sector and the long-term unemployed. Nearly 17 percent of retirees are affected by old-age poverty, according to a new study by the DIW and the Bertelsmann Foundation, and even more in expensive cities like Munich. According to their forecast, it will be one in five in Germany in 20 years.
SPIEGEL ONLINE : And that's why more and more retirees and - as your book title - "no retirement" more?
Götz : Of course the title is a bit worse. Work is not just a duty and compulsion. The retirement brings with it many idle. They want to continue to be recognized and come out and seek a structure for their everyday lives. Therefore one can not say flat-rate, that pensioners work mainly from financial need. Nevertheless, the numbers of older mini-jobbers have risen enormously. In 2018, more than 1.4 million retirees earned something - and many are doing a mini-job. In Munich, for example, more than ten percent of mini-jobbers are over 65 years old. The percentage has more than doubled in recent years.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why did not the insurance clerk from your book just work on her old job?
Götz : She urgently needed the money because she worked part-time for many years with breaks for the children. She can not live with her pension in a city like Munich. But she had no chance with her insurance. The problem, in many cases, is that employers forcibly disavow their employees because they still consider the elderly to be a burden. That would not have to be. With the so-called Flexirente there are legal ways to continue working after retirement. Businesses need to be more empowered to reduce age discrimination.
SPIEGEL ONLINE : The insurance employee instead went to the call center.
Götz : She would have liked that differently. This is an industry with difficult working hours. She sits on the phone for two or three hours in the evening and says that when she comes out, she is exhausted. Depending on qualifications and industry, only a few attractive jobs remain. A former beautician told us that when she turns 70, she can not find any jobs, not even in the Christmas business, when people are urgently needed. That's how many are.
SPIEGEL ONLINE : The social gap between the privileged and the weak thus diverges. Where does the cut go?
Götz : Between those who can not or may not work, but would - and those who can continue to work, but it would not be urgent. The highly qualified desk workers have a double advantage: an independent editor can just go on. Nobody regulates them. And she is not as physically exhausted as a nurse or cashier. Those who have already been privileged in professional life are mostly retired.
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Irene Gotz
No retirement: how women deal with old-age poverty
Publishing company:
Publisher Antje Kunstmann
Pages:
280
Price:
EUR 20,00
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SPIEGEL ONLINE : How much should pensioners earn?
Götz : In the regular old-age pension you can earn as much as you want, it will be taxed accordingly. If they have health problems and receive a disability pension, they may work only to a limited extent on the side, depending on the degree of reduction. If they get basic security, they may work, but this will be charged immediately. That is a big problem. Many older people are thereby lead to moonlighting.
SPIEGEL ONLINE : At the honorary office expenses up to a height of 200 euros per month are not counted towards the basic security. Is that a solution - or is volunteering in the chord?
Götz : One of our interviewees was actually so busy that we found it difficult to hold a meeting. But that's not the problem. The danger is that regular work will be postponed. Older people who are not allowed to earn anything are vulnerable to exploitation. Secondly, in the voluntary work, the gender and social difference increases. Those who have always been active and qualified have the more lucrative ministries in their old age. Men become association board and thus gain social status. Women are socially active, where they have often been active throughout their lives, for example in nursing. Or they take care of the grandchildren. This brings no reputation, but it is considered a matter of course female activity.
SPIEGEL ONLINE : The women who interviewed you talked about strategies for coping without work. What did you say?
Götz : Many women draw on the knowledge that they have acquired as war and post-war children: they dispense, repair or recycle things. They spare their clothes and their living space, cook in and out, throw away a little. One of the interviewees baked kilo-ate vanilla crisps before Christmas and exchanged them for services such as travel services or balcony painting in a barter exchange. Another sold self-knitted.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You also give advice in this direction in your book.
Götz : We have written the book not only for scientists or politicians to show how women live, but also for those affected themselves. To relieve them, we have listed nationwide social centers. We give tips on how to culturally participate with little money and explain what a social department store is and where to find it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What happens when the war and post-war generations have died? Then a book of tips will hardly be enough to tackle old-age poverty.
Götz: The next generation may have learned to defend themselves more politically and will hopefully achieve another pension, housing and labor market policy. We need a return to decent work instead of mini-jobs to get a secure pension. Another problem: women often work part-time. In 2017, only 50 per cent of women insured were full-time. Mini Jobberinnen are there not even included. It baffles me.