The financial difference between a statutory pension and a civil service pension is enormous in Germany.
Left parliamentary group leader Bartsch makes a gloomy forecast for the future.
It is well known that the statutory
pension
in
Germany is
lower than the
pensions of
the federal civil servants.
Federal government figures now show how big the differences are between
pension
*
and pension.
Die
Linke
fears increasing old-age poverty in
Germany
and calls for reform.
Frankfurt - The discrepancy between the statutory
pension
and the
pensions
that federal civil servants receive in old age
is large
in
Germany
.
How big is the official figures of the federal government, which were presented to the federal parliamentary group of the party Die Linke in response to a parliamentary question.
As the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), which has the relevant figures, reports, more than 50 percent of all pensioners in
Germany
receive
less than 1000 euros a month as a statutory
pension
.
The pensions of people who were civil servants in their working life, on the other hand, are many times higher.
+
In Germany there is a deep gap between the statutory pension and the pensions of federal civil servants.
(Symbol image)
© Patrick Pleul / dpa
Government figures confirm the difference between civil servant pensions and statutory pensions
The answer of the federal government to the inquiries of the parliamentary group of the left shows that the
statutory
pension is
less than 1000 euros in 56.2 percent of the cases.
23.8 percent of pensioners, which corresponds to almost five million people in
Germany
, even have less than 500 euros available per month.
For comparison: The pensions of the former federal civil servants are significantly higher.
According to these figures, almost two thirds (65.2 percent) of pensions are over 2000 euros a month.
Federal civil servants' pensions: in euros |
proportion of |
|---|---|
less than 2000 euros |
34.8 percent |
between 2000 and 3000 euros |
45.6 percent |
between 3000 and 4000 euros |
14.6 percent |
between 4000 and 5000 euros |
3.0 percent |
over 5000 euros |
1.9 percent |
Source: editorial network Germany |
Large gap between civil servants' pensions and statutory pension: Government justifies the figures
According to information from the RND, the federal government justifies the figures presented by stating that the right to
statutory pension insurance
arises after a waiting period of just five years and that a lower
pension
is
accordingly
paid out.
In addition, the government drew attention to the fact that a large number of the civil servants had a university degree, a high school diploma or completed professional training.
In contrast to the statutory
pension, the
civil servant's
pension
always
includes
a company
pension
.
The parliamentary state secretary in the Ministry of Labor, Kerstin Griese from the
SPD
, told the RND: "It is not surprising that higher payments are more common in civil servants than in statutory pension insurance."
Too little money in old age: Left party leader Bartsch fears old-age poverty due to low pensions
Nevertheless: The figures on the statutory
pension
are worrying for left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch.
"We are heading towards a millionfold
poverty in old age
", he told the RND and called for people in
Germany to be
better paid and covered.
"Wages that
Hartz 4
mean in old age may no longer exist," said the left parliamentary group leader.
According to Bartsch, the
pensions
are not
too high, but rather the
pensions
in Germany are too low.
He calls for a new
pension scheme
, in which parliamentarians, civil servants and the self-employed should also participate financially, and a
pension reform
based on the systems of neighboring countries such as
Austria
*.
Low pensions in Germany: Women should seek private pension provision earlier
However, there are not only serious differences between civil servant pensions and the statutory pension: there is also a considerable gap in pension benefits between the sexes.
That comes from the numbers of the
German pension insurance
(DR).
Statistically speaking, pensioners in
Germany
receive an average pension of 1,048 euros per month.
While men receive a national average of 1166 euros, the monthly
pension
for
women is
only 959 euros.
This corresponds to a difference of almost 18 percent.
These figures make it clear that
women
in particular
should take care of
their
retirement provisions
much earlier
than men.
*
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