As of: March 19, 2024, 8:06 a.m
By: Mark Stoffers
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Dramatic figures for statutory pensions: According to a response from the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, over half of pensioners are below the poverty line.
Berlin – The traffic light coalition could be heading towards the next conflict regarding pensions with regard to a report.
While the new traffic light pension package, which Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) recently presented, is facing criticism from many directions.
Pension below 1100 euros: Millions of pensioners fall below the poverty line
Among other things, the economists Veronika Grimm and Martin Werding complained that the traffic light pension package “puts the greatest burden on one group in particular”.
The first civil servants are already storming against a possible aspect of the so-called pension package II. This is the police union (GdP).
This assesses the Federal Labor Minister's plans to integrate civil servants into pension insurance in the long term with open skepticism.
But the new reform is actually intended to stabilize pensions and put them on a secure footing for the future.
A request from the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance underlines how important the reform is.
The response from the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs shows that millions of Germans receive less than 1,100 euros per month from their statutory pension.
The newspapers of the editorial network Germany (RND)
reported this
on Monday (March 18).
Pension in Germany: Over half of pensioners are below the poverty line
This means that over half of pensioners in Germany fall below the poverty line.
According to the answer, 10.1 million people in Germany receive a statutory old-age pension of less than 1,100 euros net per month, which corresponds to 54.3 percent of all pensions.
Poverty line in Germany (Destatis) |
1,250 euros |
|---|---|
Pensioners who receive less than 1,100 euros in monthly statutory pension |
10.1 million |
Proportion of Germans who make private provisions for old age |
47 percent (age group 18 to 24) |
There are 12.4 million (66.6 percent) in retirement pensions below the amount of 1,300 euros and 15.1 million in retirement pensions (81.1 percent) below 1,600 euros per month.
The vast majority of statutory pensions in Germany are currently below 2,000 euros per month, namely in around 17.3 million cases or 93.1 percent of all old-age pensions.
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“Mockery of people”: Wagenknecht criticizes pension levels after request
Wagenknecht, who also describes the stock pension as a “casino pension”, criticized the result of the inquiry about the pension level in clear terms.
According to her statement, Germany would “put millions of old people into poverty,” complained the Bundestag member at the
RND
.
This is a “mockery of people”.
According to new figures, more than half of pensioners in Germany receive less than 1,100 euros from their statutory pension.
For Bundestag member Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW), this is another reason to make demands on her pension.
© Carsten Koall/dpa
At the same time, Wagenknecht called for “citizens to have more influence on the future of their pensions”.
A referendum on the pension system should also take place on the day of the 2025 federal election, said the MP, who has been warning for some time that “Germany is heading towards a pension catastrophe”.
“It should be about a fair system in which all citizens finally pay.”
Statutory pensions are not enough: Low retirement pensions generally do not mean low retirement income
Not everyone shared Wagenknecht's indignation that over half of pensioners receive less than 1,100 euros per month from the statutory pension.
Instead, there were also voices that tried to put some perspective on the numbers, which at first glance seemed alarming.
In a letter, Labor Minister Heil's ministry explained that additional retirement income is often added to statutory pensions.
“A low old-age pension in the statutory pension insurance cannot, in principle, be inferred as a low retirement income,” writes State Secretary Kerstin Griese (SPD).
Low statutory pensions are therefore “much more common in households with high incomes”.
Pension of 1100 euros per month for pensioners: Numerous retirement income such as company pension and Riester pension
Last week, economist Schnitzer explained on the ZDF program “Maybrit Illner” that a total of 17 percent of pensioners in Germany relied solely on the statutory pension.
The remaining 83 percent made private provision for retirement.
These include, among other things, Riester pension contracts, rental income or employment in the minimum wage range in order to supplement the pension.
A spokesman told the
RND
that pension recipients “in numerous cases receive retirement income from other sources, such as
company
pensions, income from a partner or claims for survivor benefits derived from this . ”
“The income situation can therefore only ever be determined in the household context.”
The federal government's most recent old-age security report from 2020 shows that married couples in Germany have an average net total income from old-age security benefits and additional income of 2,907 euros per month.
“Among single people aged 65 and older, men receive an average total income of 1,816 euros, while for women it is 1,607 euros,” the spokesman continued.