Every fifth pension under 500 euros - Ministry: Amount says nothing about total income in old age
Created: 01/21/2022, 09:38 am
About every fifth pensioner in Germany receives a pension of less than 500 euros per month.
(Iconic image) © Sebastian Kahnert / dpa
Many older people in Germany receive a pension of less than 500 euros per month.
This emerges from an overview of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs.
Berlin - About every fifth pensioner in Germany receives less than 500 euros in pension* per month.
This emerges from a response from the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs to a request from AfD MP René Springer, which the dpa has received.
Almost half of the pensions are less than 1,000 euros per month
Around 3.4 million old-age pensions were less than 500 euros at the end of 2020, which was 19.8 percent, according to the information.
Around half (49.5 percent) of the pensions* were less than 1,000 euros a month.
A particularly large number of small pensions are paid in the West and to women.
Springer spoke of “decades of irresponsible pension policy”.
In its reply, however, the Ministry notes that a low pension from the statutory pension insurance says little about the overall income in old age.
Small pensions result primarily from very short contribution periods.
Government: Low pensions 'much more common' in high-income households
Short contribution times are caused, for example, by "short employment biographies, as was often the case for women in the old federal states" or by the change in the insured status from statutory pension insurance to civil service pensions.
According to the government's old-age security report*, low pensions are "much more common" in high-income households.
There are a total of around 21 million pensioners in Germany.
This includes not only old-age pensioners, but also people who receive survivor's or disability pensions.
(dpa)
*Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
