New all-time high - More and more pensioners receiving basic income support
More and more seniors in Germany are additionally reliant on social welfare on top of their pension. In the first quarter of 2024, 719,330 pensioners received the so-called basic security in old age. This is according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office at the request of the BSW-Group in the German Parliament, which were obtained by the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung". According to the report, this is a record high and an increase of approximately 35,000 compared to March 2023. Since 2015, there has been an increase of around 40 percent (511,915).
Wagenknecht criticizes increase in basic security recipients
BSW Chair Sahra Wagenknecht told the paper: "The all-time high in elderly poverty is the next poverty certificate for the Traffic Light Coalition." The development shows that "the German pension system is condemning many old people to degrading poverty."
A spokesperson for the German Pension Insurance explained earlier in March that the increase in pensioners with basic security was mainly due to the effects of a benefit rule. This benefit rule was introduced with the basic pension, which began in early 2021. The goal was for people with particularly low wages to receive old-age benefits above the basic security.
The increase in seniors relying on social assistance, such as basic security, highlights the social benefit they now rely on beyond their pension in Germany. This trend, as expressed by BSW Chair Sahra Wagenknecht, serves as a "poverty certificate" for the Traffic Light Coalition, suggesting a degrading poverty situation among the elderly due to the German pension system.
The German government's introduction of a benefit rule with the basic pension in early 2021 is one of the key factors contributing to the record-breaking number of pensioners receiving basic security, as explained by the German Pension Insurance spokesperson.
