Overview

• Marcel Fratzscher argues Baby Boomers shifted crisis burdens to younger generations and proposes a compulsory service year for retirees to boost solidarity.
• He and the DIW also back a Boomer‑Soli, a surcharge on higher age‑related incomes targeting roughly the top 20 percent to fund top‑ups for low pensions.
• The Sozialverband Deutschland and the DGB reject a retiree service year as disrespectful and warn against setting generations against each other.
• The Economics Ministry’s Scientific Advisory Board recommends substantial pension savings, including linking the retirement age to life expectancy and limiting increases to inflation.
• Background reporting notes Germany’s pay‑as‑you‑go system is strained by demographics, with the contributor‑to‑pensioner ratio having fallen from about six to roughly two, and commentary questions the political appetite to adopt punitive measures on older voters.