More than half of statutory pensions in Germany amount to less than 1,100 euros per month. This emerges from a new response from the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs to the request of the parliamentarian and leader of the BSW party, Sahra Wagenknecht.
More than half of pensioners receive less than 1,100 euros per month
According to this letter, 10.1 million people in Germany receive a statutory old-age pension of less than 1,100 euros per month, which corresponds to 54.3 percent of all pensions, according to the letter to which the editorial network has access. Germany (RND).
There are 12.4 million pensions less than 1,300 euros (66.6 percent) and 15.1 million pensions less than 1,600 euros per month (81.1 percent). The vast majority of statutory pensions in Germany are currently below 2,000 euros per month, i.e. around 17.3 million cases or 93.1 percent of all old-age pensions, according to current statistics. of pension insurance.
Wagenknecht: Germany is releasing “millions of elderly people into poverty”
Wagenknecht criticized the level of pensions: This would mean that Germany would “release millions of elderly people into poverty”, he told the RND: “If more than half of the statutory pensions in the country are below 1,100 euros, then the promise of Labor Minister Heil is the level of pensions “Permanently fixing the current level is not a promise, but a mockery of the people,” explained the president of the “Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance” (BSW) and called for “more influence from citizens about the future of their pensions”: “On the day of the federal elections in 2025 “there will also be a referendum on our pension system,” said Wagenknecht. “It should be a fair system where all citizens ultimately pay.”
Minister: Additional income is often added
On the contrary, the ministry underlines in the letter that additional retirement income is often added to statutory pensions: “Therefore, a low retirement pension in the statutory pension insurance cannot in principle be regarded as retirement income. low,” writes BMAS State Secretary Kerstin Griese. .
The German Pension Insurance (DRV) also stated that pension recipients “in many cases receive retirement income from other sources, such as company pensions, income from a partner or rights to survivor benefits resulting from this”, as explained by a spokesperson for the RND. According to the latest report on old-age security, married couples in Germany receive on average a total net income from old-age security benefits and an additional income of 2,907 euros per month, according to the DRV.