Overview

• A BMAS reply shows more than a quarter of people with at least 45 contribution years receive under €1,300 a month, with averages of €1,729 in the West and €1,527 in the East.
• Former SPD leader Franz Müntefering urges his party to consider a higher retirement age, diverging from Minister Bärbel Bas, who rejects an increase for now.
• The coalition’s Aktivrente faces a threshold dispute: a finance draft targets €2,000 a month tax‑free from 2026, while CDU figures push for €3,000, as IW Köln warns of sizable cost and ‘mitnahme’ risks.
• Unions leader Jens Spahn calls for full benefit cuts for job‑refusers and tighter housing‑cost rules, even as the Federal Employment Agency reports 293 new internal procedures and 151 criminal complaints over organized Bürgergeld fraud through August.
• Recent targeted supports draw scrutiny on design and uptake, with Wohngeld‑Plus adding heating and climate components and an annual €1,800 disability deduction, while the €131 monthly care ‘Entlastungsbetrag’ remains widely underused.