Overview
- Government figures confirm roughly 9.2 million social-security full-time employees earn too little to reach a pension above the €1,378 net poverty line, with Die Linke’s benchmark at about €3,300 gross per month over 45 contribution years.
- Deutsche Rentenversicherung reports contribution receipts up 5.2% through August 2025 and projects a pension level near 47% even without new reforms, tempering immediate solvency concerns.
- Experts highlight a critical coverage gap as more than one-third of employees lack any occupational or private supplementary provision, leaving living standards in retirement exposed.
- The Merz government’s package proposes strengthening workplace pensions and, from 2026, a child ‘Frühstart-Rente’ of €10 per month into private accounts, but consumer advocates like Finanztip call these steps insufficient.
- Women face markedly lower entitlements on average (down 31.4% versus men) and eastern states show much lower wages, while recent guidance notes available safety nets and a BSG ruling that removes lifetime deductions when early pension payouts were reimbursed by a liability insurer.