Four out of ten pensioners
Many pensioners have a net income of less than 1250 euros
“Pensioners are the main losers from inflation,” says Left-wing member of the Bundestag Dietmar Bartsch. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
“Pensioners are the main losers from inflation,” says left-wing politician Dietmar Bartsch, referring to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office.
Four out of ten pensioners in Germany (42.3 percent) have to have one Net income of less than 1250 euros per month. Of the almost 7.5 million people affected, more than 5.2 million are women, according to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office at the request of Left-wing Bundestag member Dietmar Bartsch. That is more than 53 percent of all pensioners in Germany. The Germany editorial network (RND, Sunday) first reported on the figures available to the German Press Agency. In its evaluation, the Federal Statistical Office refers to the initial results of the 2022 microcensus.
One in four pensioners (26.4 percent) have a personal net income of less than 1,000 euros. Here too, the proportion of women is significantly higher. 36.2 percent of female pensioners earn less than 1,000 euros, while 13.9 percent of female pensioners earn less than 1,000 euros.
“The pensioners are the main losers from inflation,” Bartsch told the RND. “In 2024 they are threatened with real loss of purchasing power for the fourth year in a row.” He called on the federal government to implement a one-off and additional pension increase of ten percent this year, which should at least compensate for inflation.
According to the German Pension Insurance, the average gross pension for men in 2022 was 1,728 euros. Women received an average of 1,316 euros.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil announced on Saturday that he wanted to soon launch the long-term pension security package that had been announced for months. “The draft law is available and should be implemented quickly after the budget resolution. We are stabilizing the pension and securing the pension level,” said the SPD politician to the “Rheinische Post”. The plan is to secure an existing holding line for the pension level of 48 percent in relation to wages in the long term. This so-called holding line currently applies to the level of statutory pension coverage until 2025.