More and more people are at risk of falling into poverty in old age.
This is the result of an evaluation by the Federal Statistical Office available to the newspapers of the Funke media group in response to a request from the left-wing faction in the Bundestag.
According to this, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for people over the age of 65 rose from 14.7 to 17.4 percent from 2018 to 2021.
Almost every sixth person over 65 in Germany is at risk of poverty, i.e. has less than 60 percent of the average income (median) of the population at their disposal.
According to the analysis, older women in particular are more likely to be at risk of poverty than they were four years ago.
In 2018, the at-risk-of-poverty rate for women over the age of 65 was 16.4 percent, in 2021 it was 19.3 percent.
For men over the age of 65, the rate increased from 12.7 to 15.1 percent over the same period.
Across all age groups, the at-risk-of-poverty rate rose more moderately – from 15.5 percent in 2018 to 16.6 percent in 2021. The evaluation is also available from the German Press Agency.
The risk rate for younger people is higher than for seniors.
In 2021, it was 20.8 percent for under-18s and even 25.5 percent for 18- to 25-year-olds.
However, the odds here have hardly changed compared to 2018.
The left demanded quick help from the federal government in view of the development among older people.
“The chancellor's “stable pensions” are a fairy tale.
Poverty in old age is exploding," said parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch to the Funke newspapers.
In winter, an avalanche of old-age poverty threatens to roll over Germany.
The basic pension is not enough.
Bartsch reiterated his party's demand for a minimum pension of 1,200 euros.
In order to finance it, the left had already demanded in the past that all employees and members of parliament pay into the statutory pension.