Elderly individuals increasingly choose to remain employed alongside their retirement benefits
In a recent interview with Ippen-Media, Sarah Vollath, a member of the Bundestag and spokesperson for pension and old-age security policy for the Left party, expressed her concerns about a growing trend in Germany - the increasing number of employed pensioners.
According to data provided by the German Pension Insurance, in 2023, approximately 1.46 million pensioners were employed in Germany. This represents a clear increase from the previous year, with around 1.3 million in 2022.
Of these employed pensioners, over 1.18 million were over the regular retirement age of 65 to 67 years. Another 278,000 pensioners worked beyond the regular retirement age limit. The majority of the employed pensioners, particularly those over the retirement age, were engaged in mini-jobs.
Sarah Vollath noted the simultaneous rise in old-age poverty as a worrying development. More than a quarter of a million people received a pension before reaching the regular retirement age and still pursued employment.
The Left Party in the Bundestag demands measures for a real pension reform that oppose prolonging working life and increasing contribution years. Instead, they advocate for social justice in retirement benefits to prevent poverty and insecurity among pensioners. This includes stronger state responsibility for securing sustainable pensions and better inclusion of self-employed and precarious workers into the pension system.
Vollath stated that no one should be forced to continue working in old age due to insufficient pension. She considered many of the proposed pension reform measures as insufficient and demanded that the federal government initiate a real pension reform.
The data indicates a significant number of pensioners are continuing to work past the regular retirement age in Germany. Vollath's concerns revolve around this increasing number of employed pensioners and the issue of old-age poverty. The Left party is advocating for a significant pension reform in Germany to address these issues.
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