As of: March 2, 2024, 6:01 a.m
By: Karolin Schaefer, Kilian Bäuml
Comments
Press
Split
Mini-jobbers risk poverty in old age through exemption from pension insurance.
But there are significant advantages to paying into the pension fund.
Bremen – From tutoring to retail and catering: mini-jobs are not only widespread among schoolchildren and students, but also among other population groups.
This type of part-time employment, where the monthly income does not exceed 538 euros, also offers entitlement to a pension.
Although mini-jobbers are generally subject to pension insurance, it is possible to be exempt from this upon application.
But is this really a wise decision?
In Germany, many pensioners collect deposits because they are affected by poverty in old age.
© IMAGO
Mini-jobs and pensions: Why liberation can be risky
It is not unusual that even full-time employment in old age is not enough to secure a living; Germany also performs poorly in international pension comparisons.
The situation is similar with mini-jobs.
Anyone who has been in part-time employment for a longer period of time and has been exempted from pension insurance does not accumulate any pension entitlements during their employment.
There is therefore a “high risk of poverty in old age” for mini-jobbers, as the Federal Employment Agency emphasizes.
It could therefore make sense to pay a small part of your salary into the pension fund.
According to the mini-job headquarters, mini-jobbers benefit from the full protection of pension insurance.
The advantages of paying into pension insurance according to the Minijob Center:
Collect waiting months
: Mini-jobbers collect a waiting month for each month of employment.
Anyone who has accumulated 60 months (around five years) is only entitled to a pension.
Increase your pension
: The full amount of your mini-job earnings will be credited towards your future pension.
This increases, albeit only slightly.
According to the German Pension Insurance, if you earn 538 euros a month, your pension will increase by five euros after one year.
Entitlement to
a disability pension
: Employees are entitled to a disability pension for the first time after reaching the minimum number of waiting months.
Entitlement to
state funding
: Mini-jobbers and married couples are entitled to private pension provision with state allowances, such as the Riester pension.
Entitlement to
rehabilitation
: The pension insurance pays a transitional allowance for rehabilitation measures.
To do this, compulsory contributions must have been paid into the pension fund for at least six months in the past two years.
Attention mini-jobbers: This is how pension insurance affects your future
The contribution rate is 18.6 percent, but at least 32.55 euros.
The costs are divided between the employer and part-time employees.
In the commercial sector, the employer pays a flat rate of 15 percent; in private households it is five percent.
For employees, the proportion is 3.6 percent in businesses and 13.6 percent in private households.
Although marginally employed people cannot expect a high pension in the long term and have a little less money available at the beginning of the month, there are significant advantages to paying into pension insurance.
My news
Driving license TÜV for seniors: Compulsory “re-registration trips” for 100 euros coming soon? read
Australians give up one thing and lose six kilos in a month
Two new changes to WhatsApp – messenger service blocks previous functions
More money for public sector employees: This is how much salary there will be from March reading
Telekom change affects existing customers: the streaming change should start in February
Long-abandoned McDonald's branch shows incredible prices from 1994read
Above all, the full protection of pension insurance is of great importance.
If mini-jobbers were to be exempted from payment, they would only be entitled to a pro rata waiting period.
Paying your own contribution can also be worthwhile for parents with a mini-job.
The German Pension Insurance points out that the contributions between the child's third and tenth birthday are increased by up to 50 percent when calculating the pension.
This refers to the so-called child consideration period.
Because of mini-jobs in old age poverty: The hidden risks of pension insurance exemption
Anyone who is considering being exempt from paying pension insurance contributions in a mini-job should consider this carefully.
The exemption applies until the end of the employment relationship.
With the exemption application, the personal contribution no longer applies, while the employer continues to pay the flat-rate contribution.
In other countries, no taxes have to be paid on the pension.
Due to poverty in old age, people in Germany are increasingly collecting deposit bottles as they get older.
Raising the retirement age is also being discussed.
However, Labor Minister Hubertus Heil makes it clear: “With me there will be no further increase in the retirement age.”
Leading economic experts see this as a mistake.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
Find out more about our AI principles here.