According to a survey, the opportunities and enjoyment of working alongside retirement vary greatly. A social association warns of poverty in old age as the downside of ever new ideas.
The social association VdK sees unequal opportunities for additional income in retirement as a significant risk of dividing the older generation. “Almost every day, new ideas are being produced about how to encourage pensioners to work longer. But those who cannot work longer are being forgotten,” criticized VdK President Verena Bentele.
The organization also refers to the results of a representative survey commissioned by the opinion research institute Civey. According to the survey, almost every second person over the age of 50 can imagine working alongside their pension. However, almost a third (30.5 percent) of them cite the fact that they do not have enough money in retirement as the reason.
Survey shows clear differences
More than 62 percent of respondents said that their motivation was that they enjoyed working. Almost 47 percent also mentioned the opportunity to earn extra money. The fact that the pension is not high enough was the third most common reason given.
Financial difficulties due to low pensions are cited primarily by workers (50.4 percent), divorcees (46.7 percent) and people with children in the household (40.7 percent). This reason is mentioned noticeably rarely by civil servants (10.2 percent), employees (30.5 percent) and people with a high level of education (27.1 percent), according to the social association.
According to the survey, enjoyment of work is the main motivation for continuing to work in retirement, especially among academics (70.8 percent), the self-employed (70.8 percent) and civil servants (64.4 percent). And overall, more people in the eastern German states than in the west say they have to work in retirement because of insufficient pensions.
Social association: Poverty in old age must not become one’s own failure
Bentele explained that the figures confirmed the VdK’s assumption that the opportunities to work alongside retirement are unequally distributed. On the one hand, there are those who have a high level of education and a job that is well paid and involves less physical strain. On the other hand, there are people who do not have well-paid jobs and are dependent on continuing to work. Those who are unable to do so due to illness, caring for relatives or physically demanding work are at a disadvantage.
The VdK is calling for a reformed basic pension, a higher disability pension and more pension for family carers. Bentele: “The government must ensure that everyone has a good and secure pension after reaching retirement age. Only those who really want to should continue to work. Poverty in old age must not become a personal failure.”
Source: Stern
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