In addition to the approximately 21 million pensioners, many recipients of disability pensions can also count on significantly more money. Anyone who has been receiving a disability pension since 2014 or longer should receive a supplement of 7.5 percent on their pension, and anyone who has become a disability pensioner between 2014 and 2019 will receive 4.5 percent. This is provided for in a first draft law by Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD). Süddeutsche Zeitung present. According to this, around three million people should benefit from the step from July 1, 2024, and the ministry estimates the costs at around 2.6 billion euros a year.
The Ministry of Labor announced on Tuesday that pensions would increase by 5.35 percent in western Germany and 6.12 percent in eastern Germany as of July 1 of this year. With the same draft law, Heil now wants to make disabled pensioners happy with significantly higher payments. Previous federal governments had increased benefits for disabled retirees in 2014 and 2019, but that only affected retirees who were newly receiving the benefit. The new law should also benefit people who have been drawing their pension for a long time, so-called existing pensioners. At the same time, recipients of survivor’s pensions also benefit. Heil is thus implementing an agreement from the coalition agreement, but it does not specify how much these pensions should rise.
Anyone who is no longer able to work for health reasons receives a disability pension, which is intended to replace the previous income. Young professionals are also protected in this way. Since 2019, the recipients of such an early pension have received benefits in the same amount as if they had paid social security contributions up to the regular retirement age as before. A partial disability pension is intended for those who can still work a few hours a day.
The improvements introduced years ago for new recipients of disability pensions have contributed to the average monthly pension increasing from around 628 euros for new pensioners in 2014 to around 882 euros in 2020, according to the draft law.
Almost 1.8 million people received a disability pension in 2019
The number of people in Germany who receive a disability pension has increased significantly over the past ten years. According to a list by the federal government from last June, around 1.55 million people received this support in 2010, and in 2019 it was almost 1.8 million, an increase of a good 15 percent.
Mental illnesses such as depressive disorders and “mental and behavioral disorders caused by alcohol”, chronic lung diseases and back pain are among the most common causes. Such a restriction of the workforce often leads to an economic crash, and those affected are sometimes dependent on basic security.
According to Heil’s draft law, it is now also possible to understand how much the increase in current pensions is likely to cost on July 1 of this year: 18.8 billion per year.