The numbers of the appraisers make you sit up and take notice.
In the West, you have to look back to the 1980s to find pension increases with a five before the decimal point.
Now, after this year's Corona zero round, the 20 million pensioners in the country can look forward to two years with extraordinary rates of increase between five (west) and six percent (east).
After the employees, the retirees could soon also benefit from the economic and labor market recovery after the pandemic.
Because according to the law, the adjustment of the pensions is mainly based on the wage development of the previous year.
With this mechanism, the German welfare state is fulfilling the great promise of the intergenerational contract to allow people to participate in the increase in prosperity that the younger generation generate after their working lives.
Distorted wage development
However, there are good reasons why the new federal government should not fully follow the estimates.
The wage development is still distorted by the debt-financed state corona aid, including expensive special rules for short-time work benefits.
So it is by no means all that is generated that is supposed to be distributed.
In addition, the grand coalition unilaterally changed the intergenerational contract to the detriment of the younger generation and suspended the “catch-up factor” that should maintain the balance between contributors and the elderly in times of crisis.
That benefited the pensioners in the Corona crisis.
Although wages fell significantly in 2020, pensions remained stable - and the actually necessary reduction can no longer be offset against future rates of increase.
This imbalance has always criticized the FDP in the opposition.
The traffic light negotiations now offer her the opportunity to correct that.
That should also be a concern of the Greens.
Many young voters have hoped for both parties.
Their freedom is not only threatened by climate change.
It is also endangered by a social policy that continues to court the baby boomers instead of seriously trying to distribute the demographic costs fairly.