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The SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken calls for a higher minimum wage and better pay for service and social professions.
At the same time, the rich should be financially more burdened, she told the newspapers of the Essen Funke media group.
The corona crisis should "not deepen the social divide".
People with low incomes suffered “massive losses in income and social security,” said Esken.
In the same time, the great fortunes grew explosively.
In Germany there are 120 billionaires whose total assets rose from 500 to 600 billion euros in the crisis year.
"That shows: The strong shoulders can and must also bear more responsibility in Germany," emphasized the SPD leader.
"Whether that takes the form of a wealth tax or a one-off property tax - you can discuss that."
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For employees in care, in the supermarket, in logistics, in kindergartens or with the police, Esken called for more appreciation "that also arrives in the wallet".
To this end, the collective bargaining agreement must play a greater role again.
In nursing and medical care too much has been left to the private market, which has abandoned the collective bargaining agreement more and more, criticized the party leader.
Decent pay should be a matter of course in Germany.
Esken thinks the minimum wage is too low
Esken believes the minimum wage, which will be increased from 9.35 euros to 9.50 euros per hour at the turn of the year, is too low.
"It is not possible to feed a family with the minimum wage - unless you top it up through the job center." But it is not the task of the welfare state to supplement low wages with tax revenues.
The SPD chairman called for a minimum wage of more than twelve euros.
"This is absolutely necessary to guarantee poverty-proof income and generate poverty-proof pensions from it."