Germany will introduce, in 2021, a minimum old age for the poorest, the government announced on Wednesday, adding that the measure will cost 1.3 billion euros per year.
The 1.3 million retirees who receive low pensions will receive, from next year, a supplement, according to the bill adopted by the Council of Ministers. "The creation of this minimum pension will contribute to more social justice in our country," said Social Democratic Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil, who carried this project.
Reform blocked by conservatives
The latter will benefit "especially women", who represent around 70% of the people called upon to benefit from the recovery, particularly in the sector of low-paid services, such as gastronomy. The boost will benefit "especially in the east of the country", the former communist GDR where the average purchasing power of the population remains lower than that of the west of the country, fueling a frustration that particularly benefits the far right politically. The latter has its main strongholds there.
According to the Ministry of Labor, a hairdresser who has contributed 40 years to the minimum wage should see her retirement go from 512 euros today to 960 euros per month. The conservatives of Angela Merkel have long blocked this reform which the SPD social democrats had made a priority of the mandate, even going so far as to threaten to leave the coalition last year for lack of an agreement.
An insufficient gesture for unions and associations
The SPD is in free fall in the polls and hopes to go up the slope by giving itself a more left profile. The party recently elected a duo of presidents on this line. The conservatives CDU and CSU initially wanted to condition the raising of the pension to the total patrimony of the pensioners, which the Social Democrats refused. In the end, the two camps agreed that it would depend only on the income level of the people concerned.
The boost will be paid in full to retirees who have contributed at least 33 years and who receive a pension not exceeding 1,250 euros, the ceiling amounting to 1,950 euros for a couple. The idea for the reform was born from the observation that some poor retirees in Germany ended up, despite a lifetime of work, with a pension less than or equal to social assistance. Trade unions and charities welcomed the gesture but deemed it insufficient.
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- Angela Merkel
- Old age
- World
- Retirement
- Germany
- allowances