A large number of German citizens are looking forward to retirement, often years before the time comes. Finally get rid of the stress of daily work. Finally travel or read whenever and as often as you like. Finally lead a self-determined life.
But how many years you can actually enjoy retirement depends very much on what kind of profession you were previously in. This is confirmed by a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) on behalf of the social association VdK, which was presented on Monday. According to this, civil servants – measured against workers – live an average of more than four years longer.
The difference is particularly serious for men: According to statistics, civil servants who reach the age of 65 can expect to live an additional 21.5 years. Employees and self-employed people still have a life expectancy of 19 years at the same age. According to statistics, workers, on the other hand, have to expect to live only 15.9 years after they retire – 5.6 years less than civil servants and 2.5 years less than salaried employees. There are also such differences among women, albeit less pronounced: According to the DIW study, female civil servants have a life expectancy that is three years longer than female workers.
Hard physical or mental work – for example on construction, in care or at the cash register – shortens life expectancy, and thus also the duration of the pension, i.e. the costs for the pension fund. In other words: high earners not only have higher pension entitlements at the end of their working lives, they also receive money from the pension fund for much longer. This is exactly what the DIW data shows: Those who belong to the lowest income group have an average life expectancy of 82.6 years, the highest income group lives 87.5 years – almost five years longer.
Early in the morning on the A9: Can you still work on the construction site at the age of 70?
(Photo: Robert Haas)
According to VdK President Verena Bentele, these facts must have consequences for pension policy after the federal election at the end of September. Above all, the VdK rejects one thing: a general increase in the standard retirement age. Even now, only a minority manage to work fully up to the age of 65, and certainly not up to 67, the age limit that will apply by law in Germany from 2029 onwards. That is why the VdK discussed the DIW study under the headline: “Live longer, retire later – is that socially fair?”
But well-known pension experts and economists recently called in a study for the Federal Ministry of Economics to raise the age limit with generally increasing life expectancy – to 69 years, according to the rule of thumb for extended life expectancy: two thirds work, one third receive a pension. Bentele strictly rejected this: “An increase to 68, 69 or even 70 years would further exacerbate the division in the older population and lead to even more poverty in old age.”
Hard-working people should retire at the age of 63 and without discounts, the VdK boss demands
The VdK boss appealed to the next federal government: Instead of setting up the next pension commission, which “suggests letting everyone work longer across the board, we need more flexible solutions”. Anyone who has worked in physically or mentally demanding occupations for a lifetime must be able to retire earlier, without any discounts, even at the age of 63. The current system is “not fair”, criticized the VdK President. A revaluation of lower pensions is necessary, beyond the basic pension, which has just been introduced, but which was the right step. However, there is also a clear need for improvement with regard to disability pensions. Anyone who received a disability pension for the first time in 2020 has an average of just EUR 882 per month at their disposal.
The VdK also advocates for workers, employees and self-employed, but also civil servants in one Unite Pension Fund – like in Austria. Civil servants who retire early, Bentele said, could not currently fall below 1761 euros per month. For many others this is out of reach. But: The fact that civil servants live longer means that they are financially a burden on the pension fund. In Austria, their entitlements have therefore been gradually adjusted.