Overview

• Fresh labour ministry figures show more than one quarter of people with at least 45 contribution years receive under €1,300 a month, with an average payout of €1,668 and marked East–West and gender gaps.
• The government is preparing an Aktivrente from 2026 that would let retirees earn €2,000 a month from work tax‑free, while debate continues over whether the basic allowance would effectively lift the tax‑free total to roughly €3,000.
• Former SPD leader Franz Müntefering urges his party to consider a higher retirement age and backs the Aktivrente, as union leader Yasmin Fahimi warns the measure risks mainly producing “mitnahme” effects.
• Leading economic institutes propose reintroducing the Nachhaltigkeitsfaktor and slowing pension increases to stabilize contribution rates, a course social groups say would heighten old‑age poverty.
• CDU parliamentary leader Jens Spahn calls for cutting Bürgergeld entirely for job refusers and reducing housing and heating aid, as the Federal Employment Agency reports 293 new suspected organized fraud procedures and 151 criminal complaints through August.