Berlin – It is good news for the more than 21 million pensioners in Germany. Your salaries could increase significantly in the coming year. In the west there is 5.2 percent more money, in the east as much as 5.9 percent. After a zero round last year, the pension insurance has recovered. The reserve in the pension fund is increasing, despite the pandemic, the allocation is robust. The final pension increase will not be determined until spring. But it is already becoming apparent that Germany’s senior citizens have good years ahead of them. An increase of a similar magnitude is likely to be expected in 2023 as well. Statutory Pension Crisis, Was There What?
Pension: The grand coalition pursued politics with a watering can
The numbers – as good as they are for people with small pensions – should not hide the fact that the whole system is on shaky ground. The grand coalition has pursued a pension policy with a watering can in recent years. The CSU received the maternal pension, the SPD an earlier retirement age and the basic pension. Red and black have suspended the catch-up factor that should stabilize pensions until 2025. None of this helps the pension system. It’s just expensive – and a burden on those who work and pay taxes today.
What is missing is political foresight. It is already clear that the baby boomers will retire in the next few years. The labor market will then lack millions of gainfully employed people, and at the same time the number of beneficiaries will increase. That can’t go well in the long run. The proposed solutions are on the table: more qualified immigration, a better work-life balance and yes: a longer working life should not be taboo. Economists have been calling for this for a long time. A pension increase is nice for now. It would be even better to stabilize the system. And finally to be raised in a way that is fair to the generations.
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