Pensions: BAS wants to use pension insurance officials

In the future, the new Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Bärbel BAS also wants to incorporate officials to secure the statutory pension insurance. “We have to participate more people in financing pension insurance,” said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe. “Civil servants, MPs and the self -employed should also pay in pension insurance. We have to improve the income.”

Clear rejection of the German Civil Service Association

The left-wing chair Ines Schwerdtner expressly praised the advance. This corresponds to a claim from her party. “The proposal is a first step towards a pension system for everyone,” said Schwerdtner of the German Press Agency. This can increase the statutory pension level from 48 to 53 percent today. “This is necessary so that all people in old age can live in dignity,” said Schwerdter.

However, experts see it as a challenge to keep the current pension level at all without heavily lifting the contribution rates. And there is great resistance to the expansion of the groups that are supposed to deposit.

The German Official Association (DBB) immediately rejected Minister BAS. “We will give a clear cancellation of a forced unit insurance,” said DBB federal chairman Ulrich Silberbach of the dpa.

Inclusion of the civil servants would mean that the employees had to carry the employer share for pension insurance. At the same time, the civil servants’ gross references would have to be raised with regard to an obligation to contribute, explained Silberbach. “Thus, a system change overall would be associated with enormous costs. Where the money should come from, Ms. Bas does not say.”

Pension for employees and pension for civil servants

The age protection of employees and civil servants consists of two independent systems. Employees are covered by statutory pension insurance. This is initially financed by contributions from employees and employers. However, since these are not enough, billions of grants from the federal budget are added.

In contrast, civil servants, judges, professional soldiers and other public service employees receive a pension after leaving the service that is fully financed by the state. The state also bears the age allowance of MPs, since no contributions are paid to the statutory pension insurance for them during their time in parliament.

Statutory pension insurance under pressure

The statutory pension insurance is in a kind of demography trap. Due to the persistently low birth rate, there are fewer and fewer contributors. At the same time, the number of pension recipients increases because the birth -strong vintages gradually exit from professional life.

Black-red coalition has agreed pension commission

Union and SPD have agreed to use a pension commission. In her coalition agreement it says: “We will put old -fashioned protection on reliable feet for all generations. That is why we will secure the pension level at 48 percent by law by 2031. We compensate for the additional expenses that result from this.”

However, this is increasingly burdening the federal budget. In 2022, the federal government shot 109 billion euros into the pension fund. In 2023 it was already 112.5 billion euros – around a quarter of the entire budget. Tendency: continued to rise.

BAS wants to set up the reform committee quickly

In the interview of the Funke newspapers, BAS said that a good economic and labor market policy was necessary. “The more people are subject to social security contributions, the more money you have for the pension fund. On the other hand, we quickly want to start a pension commission that should make reform proposals.”

BAS also assumes increasing loads for the contributors: “In the coming years, the pension contributions will increase slightly due to demographics. But then the proposals from the pension commission should also apply.”