The federal cabinet decided on Tuesday the planned pension zero round in the West.
For retirees in the East, however, there is a homeopathic plus.
Berlin - The pension increase in July is canceled this year in the west.
Millions of retirees are affected by this decision.
What was already hinted at in March is a done deal today.
For the first time since 2010, retirees in the western federal states do not receive a pension increase.
The reason for this is the corona crisis, says Federal Social Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD).
Because the development of the pension is linked to the gross wages of the previous year.
These fell on average in the Corona year 2020.
A pension reduction is excluded by a “statutory pension guarantee”, which is why the salaries in the West now remain at the current level.
In the east, on the other hand, old-age pensions will rise by a very manageable 0.72 percent, because the pension value will gradually be brought into line with that in the west by 2024.
But even this increase cannot compensate for the current inflation rate.
The price increase in Germany in March 2021 was 1.7 percent compared to the same month of the previous year.
This is evident from the information provided by the Federal Statistical Office.
Economist criticizes federal government for "lush pension increase" in 2020
The corona crisis is hitting the economy hard.
In 2020, around 480,000 more people were unemployed than in the previous year.
This emerges from information from the Federal Employment Agency.
And this despite the fact that around six million people were on short-time work in April 2020 alone and were therefore not included in the unemployment statistics.
Economist Jochen Jochen Pimpertz sees the responsibility for the zero round with the federal government.
The government would have paid out a “generous pension increase” last year - although the effects of the corona pandemic could already be assessed at that time.
In the new federal states, the pension increased by 4.2 percent in 2020, in the old federal states by 3.45 percent.
The expert from the employer-related Institute of the German Economy (IW) in Cologne therefore expects further premium increases over the next few years. The reason for this is the catching-up factor. It plays a role in the pension calculation and first compares whether any necessary pension cuts have not been made. This is the case due to the statutory pension guarantee in 2021. If wages rise again, "there will be scope for increases in pensions, which, however, may not be offset against the current minus until the middle of the decade due to the suspended catch-up factor," says the economist.
(dpa / bm)
