The title is not quite right for her: The voice of the elderly in the Munich district? No, so be the center of attention, that’s not your business. Johanna Hagn, SPD councilor in Ismaning and until the local elections in March 2020, has been a member of the district council of her party for more than two decades, in fact a woman who always raises her voice when it comes to social issues in general and the older generation in particular goes. Hagn, himself 73 years old, and fortunately blessed with good health, can be combative and insistent when it comes to senior citizens.
Especially with regard to the increasing poverty in old age, which primarily affects women, Hagn does not mince words: “Something must be done here urgently,” she urged this morning in the office of the Ismaning Hospice Association, of which she is chairwoman has been for many years.
The local politician doubts that there will be entry into the basic pension or even a “pension for all” when the coalition negotiations between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP are successfully concluded in Berlin and the traffic lights rule in Germany. At the same time, basic care of this kind is so urgently needed for people who have received a low wage throughout their life or who have done unpaid care work for the family and who can barely live off their salaries when they are old, says Hagn. Especially in the district of Munich, a high-price region where rents know no limits, the cost of living is comparatively expensive, and the cultural and social participation of the elderly often tears a hole in the wallet of those affected.
While the district policy has no influence on the pension development, efforts have been made for some time to at least alleviate the greatest hardships a little. “At the district level, the issue of age has attracted attention in recent years,” says Hagn. The district has been continuing its overall senior policy concept since the 1990s, which is also due to demographic change in the relatively young district. The aim is far-sighted planning and forward-looking action when it comes to ensuring a good quality of life for the elderly and people in need of care, as the district office says. When developing the overall concept for senior citizenship, the authors focused on various topics that are important for older people: living at home, living in old age, care and care needs planning, support for family carers, advice and information for affected families. Representatives of the district municipalities, experts in senior citizen assistance and the senior citizens themselves were and are involved. The concept must be implemented by the cities and municipalities.
As far as the construction of senior-friendly apartments is concerned, the responsibility lies with the individual town halls. Johanna Hagn from Ismaning thinks that her home community is well positioned in this regard. Only recently, the local council decided to build another 60 rental apartments for the elderly. Meeting and advice centers have existed for a long time, as has day care that gives relatives air to breathe.
Johanna Hagn does not only work as a councilor in Ismaning to ensure that senior citizens are heard. For many years she had the say in the social democratic working group 60 plus in the sub-district for the elderly. It was not until mid-October that she resigned the chair for private reasons and handed it over to Joachim Krause, who is the third mayor of Garching and was elected by the AG members. The committed SPD politician said goodbye to great applause as well as an impressive activity report and a promise to the young generation: “We are fully supporting the concerns of the young. After all, these are our children and grandchildren,” she said at the event.
However, their endeavors will continue to apply primarily to the older generation. And there, first and foremost, the many women who find themselves in the poverty trap after a busy life. “They are the most secretive,” says Hagn, and mostly difficult to reach. The Corona crisis has exacerbated their situation, but also that of all seniors – regardless of whether they are active and healthy, or withdrawn and battered. In the time of the lockdown, the supermarket was the only “ratchet zone” for all those who dared to leave the house and were still able to provide for themselves. With everyone else, the isolation has often assumed enormous dimensions, reports Hagn.
Since the meeting places are open again, meetings can take place in compliance with the pandemic-related conditions and the hospice association can help again, there is a lot to do and work on. And of course to discuss. Johanna Hagn will definitely raise her voice when it comes to the social concerns of her peers and their families.