“Hardly any money for groceries”
Inflation premium for pensioners demanded
06/30/2023, 10:19 am
If you draw a small pension, you will quickly reach your limits with the current price increases. According to plans by the federal government, former civil servants whose pensions are already higher are to be compensated for inflation. The social association also demands such a payment for pensioners.
The social association VdK calls for an inflation premium for pensioners – just as it is intended for retired civil servants. “Anyone who only lives on a small pension considers an inflation premium for federal pensioners to be absolutely inappropriate,” said association president Verena Bentele as a reason. This is an “unspeakable signal” for the association.
This year’s pension increase as of July 1 comes to 4.39 percent in the west and 5.86 percent in the east. “But with inflation in excess of six percent, pensioners de facto have less and less in their shopping baskets,” said Bentele, who is also the Bavarian VdK state chairwoman. “For those with small pensions and no other sources of income, there is hardly enough money for food, energy and co-payments for medicines.”
The Berlin coalition wants to adopt the collective bargaining result for the federal and state public services for civil servants, and the cabinet is to deal with the draft law on July 12. It also provides for the inflation premium for active and retired civil servants. Bentele pointed out that statutory pensions are lower than civil service pensions anyway.
According to the draft law, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his 16 ministers should also receive a tax-free inflation premium of 3,000 euros. “To mitigate the consequences of the increased consumer prices, members of the federal government will be granted a one-time special payment of 1,240 euros for June and a special payment of 220 euros per month for the months of July 2023 to February 2024,” quoted the “Bild am Sonntag” in early June.