Whether at the fire brigade, in the sports club or at the Tafel – without volunteer helpers, many things in Germany would not work. There will probably not be a subsequent reward for the pension.
The initiative by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to enable long-standing volunteers to retire earlier will probably not be implemented for the time being. The coalition partners from the Greens and the FDP expressly rejected the idea on Wednesday. Hubertus Heil’s (SPD) Ministry of Social Affairs, which is responsible for the pension fund, was also rather cautious.
The evening before, Faeser had suggested rewarding volunteer work with the pension. Anyone who has rendered such a service to the population throughout their life can retire a year earlier without deductions, was the minister’s idea at an event organized by the German editorial network in Potsdam.
However, the traffic light partners signaled rejection. For example, Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) pointed out the shortage of skilled workers. “We lack clever minds and hard-working hands almost everywhere in our country,” he told the television station Welt. That is why Germany must ensure that as many people as possible stay in the workforce. The Green pension expert Markus Kurth also expressed his negative view of the Faeser initiative. “Pension insurance is income insurance and not a reward system for socially desirable behavior and activities,” he told the German Press Agency.
A spokeswoman for the SPD-led Ministry of Social Affairs pointed out, like FDP leader Lindner, that early retirement should not actually be forced: “Our country needs workers.”
At the discussion event in Potsdam, Faeser acknowledged the voluntary commitment of fire brigades and rescue services, but also warned that at some point they might no longer be able to cope with the tasks. That is why the debate about a compulsory social year makes sense. Faeser described the chances of finding a political majority for this as “rather manageable at the moment”. But she emphasized “that we have to keep at it to discuss that too”.
The Minister for Family Affairs, Lisa Paus (Greens), who is responsible for volunteering, had already rejected such a compulsory service two months ago. She told the dpa at the time: “Compulsory social service would mean an encroachment on the individual freedom of every young person.”
Source: Stern
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