As of: February 3, 2024, 6:24 a.m
By: Lisa Mayerhofer
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Many retirees have to make do with a meager pension.
Meanwhile, pension increases have been lagging behind inflation for some time.
An overview.
Berlin - 42.3 percent of German pensioners live on 1,250 euros net or less per month.
That's more than seven million people affected, as can be seen from the survey at the request of the left-wing MP Dietmar Bartsch, which is available to the
Editorial Network Germany (RND)
.
However, with inflation, the proportion could continue to rise and every second pensioner would be affected.
The burden of inflation was also high in 2023
In December, consumer prices rose by 3.7 percent compared to the same month last year, after 3.2 percent in November.
An important reason for the jump upwards: a year earlier, in December, the state had taken over the one-time cost of the discount for gas and district heating customers.
This price-dampening effect was omitted from the calculation for December 2023. According to the Bundesbank's estimates, inflation in Germany will more than halve in 2024, to around 2.7 percent.
But whether this will happen remains to be seen - the German economy is still quite weak.
Overall, the burden on consumers caused by inflation was still quite high last year.
The annual average inflation rate was 5.9 percent, which was lower than in 2022 when it was 6.9 percent.
But it was still the second highest annual average since reunification.
42.3 percent of German pensioners live on 1,250 euros net or less per month.
(Symbolic image) © Frank Rumpenhorst/dpa
Pension increases lag behind inflation
This has been a problem for pensioners for a long time: pension increases are lagging behind inflation.
Last year, pensions rose by 4.39 percent in the west and 5.86 percent in the east.
In 2022 and 2021 the increases also lagged behind the development of inflation.
Many experts are therefore calling for a reform of the pension system - more and more people are at risk of poverty in old age, while the financial burden on society is still increasing.
Actual offers such as the basic pension introduced three years ago should help.
“The basic pension helps, but it supports too few people”
But fewer pensioners receive this supplement than announced.
According to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), a total of 1.1 million people were receiving basic pensions at the end of 2022, as the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
reports.
The federal government expected 1.3 million people to be eligible for the introduction; SPD leader Saskia Esken even gave a figure of 1.4 million at the time.
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“The basic pension helps, but it supports too few people.
It is not enough to adequately combat poverty in old age,” said Peter Haan from DIW to the newspaper.
According to the institute, only 4.3 percent of the approximately 21 million pensioners receive the supplement.
The new pension package should come soon
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) is currently working on a new pension package.
The plan is to secure an existing holding line for the pension level of 48 percent in relation to wages in the long term.
However, experts such as economist Martin Werding criticize the plans as inadequate.
One thing is clear: the more time passes, the more the situation threatens to worsen for pensioners and future generations.
With material from dpa and AFP