Pension: government adviser criticizes increase - "populist and anti-future measures"
Created: 06/16/2022, 04:47
By: Patricia Huber
Around 21 million German pensioners can look forward to more money from July.
But the federal government's pension advisor considers the increase to be a mistake.
Berlin – The approximately 21 million pensioners in Germany will receive significantly higher payments from July 1st.
Pensions will increase by 5.35 percent in the West and by 6.12 percent in the East.
The increase this year is stronger than it has been for a long time, which is made possible by the good wage development in Germany.
But there is also criticism: The economist Professor Axel Bösch-Supan, who advises the government on pensions, considers the increase to be too "generous".
Pensions: increase on the backs of the younger generation?
The pension policy is "a prime example of how populist and anti-future measures are taken on the backs of the younger generation of contributors in favor of a large constituency," he told
Bild
.
Harsh words for the traffic light coalition, which is trying to relieve the burden on citizens due to inflation.
But many retirees are suffering from the ever-increasing cost of living despite rising salaries.
According to Bösch-Supan's calculations, the pension should only have increased by 3.9 percent.
According to the pension expert, the increase decided by the government will come at the expense of the younger generation.
After all, this has to finance the pension funds.
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Pension: Minister of Labor Heil sees pension increases positively
Demographic change is pushing the pension system to its limits: fewer and fewer people are paying into the pension fund, while more and more people from the baby boomer generation are retiring.
Then the federal government has to step in.
Last year, the pension fund was subsidized with around 100 billion euros.
Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD), on the other hand, defended the pension increase and stated that it was good news for the people "who have kept the shop running for years through their work".
(ph)
