Check subsidies to pension fund
Kretschmann wants “other pension models”
December 22, 2023, 11:52 a.m
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Life expectancy is increasing, people are often healthy – and productive: Green politician Kretschmann is calling for a debate about pension policy. The annual subsidies to the pension insurance accounted for almost a quarter of the federal budget. He also notes that many citizens have an entitlement attitude.
Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann is also calling for new pension models for the republic in view of the austerity constraints. “We need other pension models. We have a longer life expectancy. The majority of those who retire earlier are healthy, earn well – and are actually productive,” said the Green politician in Stuttgart. “It’s not the roofers. During the debate you often think that the nation only consists of roofers.”
Kretschmann had already expressed criticism in the past about early retirement at 63. He told the “Tagesspiegel”: “Every year it costs the state a double-digit billion sum, and overall the federal pension subsidies make up almost a quarter of the budget. These are items that need to be looked at closely.”
Kretschmann also criticized the fact that many citizens were making use of too many state services: “We already noticed with Corona that the sense of entitlement had skyrocketed,” he said. “We have to readjust that again.” Kretschmann also criticized the unions for their demands for fewer working hours with full wage compensation: this was “unrealistic”.
“Pension at 63” means the pension without deductions after 45 years of insurance, because initially people born before 1953 were able to retire at the age of 63 without deductions. Last year, according to the pension insurance, the age limit was 64 years. For those born in 1964, the pension without deductions is available at the earliest at the age of 65.