The AVERAGE pension after at least 45 years of employment in Germany amounts to 1543 euros. This information was presented by the German government in response to a question from the head of the Left Party parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, writes DW.

At the same time, the difference between the pensions of women and men amounts to several hundred euros. The average “male” pension is 1637, and the “female” one 1323 euros. The average in the west of the country is higher than the average in the former East German states and amounts to 1605 euros, compared to 1403 euros in the east.

“A shameful balance sheet of policy”

For Bartsch, that average pension amount is a “shameful balance sheet of pension policy over the past two decades”. The fact that women and East Germans have significantly lower pensions is, for him, a sign that they are far from a fair system.

This politician asked the federal government to “introduce an extraordinary pension increase of 10 percent for all pensioners this year as compensation for inflation”. According to him, “it cannot be that ministers, state secretaries and civil servants receive an additional 3000 euros because of inflation, while pensioners continue to lose purchasing power”.

Women have a pension one-third lower than men

Bartsch called for a reform of the pension system. In order for pensions to be higher, a “pension fund for all” could be established. According to his idea, this would be pension insurance into which absolutely all employed people would pay contributions: “Both civil servants and self-employed businesspeople, and above all parliamentary representatives and ministers.”

In Germany, the pension is on average 48 percent lower than the salary the employee received.

The Federal Statistical Office confirmed that women are financially worse off than men in old age. According to the results of the 2021 income and living conditions survey, women older than 65 have an average gross pension of 17,814 euros per year, and men 25,407 euros, one-third more.

The reasons given for this are that women often work in sectors where wages are lower, that they often do not work full-time, and that they more often and for longer periods do not work at all, for example because of children or family members who depend on care from others.

At the same time, accommodation costs, that is, co-payments in nursing homes, “jumped” again at the beginning of July. In the first year, residents must pay an average of 2548 euros per month out of their own pocket – 348 euros more than in mid-2022. The main reason is the increase in staff wages.

Source: index.hr