Survey Shows Public Concerns and Expectations on Key Policy Areas Under New Government
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Majority Express Apprehensions Regarding Potential Housing and Pension Issues under New Administration - Majority Express Apprehension over Potential Housing and Pension Decline under New Administration (Based on Survey Results)
A significant portion of respondents anticipate potential setbacks in areas of pensions, housing, and poverty reduction under the black-red coalition. Forty percent each for pensions and housing, and even 43 percent for the topic of housing expect some form of regression. However, concerning climate protection, 19 percent are optimistic, while 33 percent are pessimistic. Regarding specialists' waiting times, pessimism prevails at 38 percent - 18 percent believe in a positive development.
On the flip side, a majority of respondents expect progress in policy fields such as defense, economy, and migration. Fifty-three percent assume the deployability of the Bundeswehr will improve, with 17 percent expecting the opposite. Twenty-four percent estimate the situation in the Bundeswehr will remain largely unchanged.
Migration and the economy are seen as strengths of the black-red coalition. Forty-five percent of respondents believe that the new government will bring improvements in migration and asylum control. Forty-two percent expect a strengthening of the German economic location. However, 26 percent for migration and 28 percent for the economy also expect deteriorations in these areas during the next legislative period.
The survey conducted by Ipsos polled 1000 eligible voters aged 18 to 75 between May 30 and June 1, with the data being deemed representative.
A Closer Look
- While young adults in Germany are surprisingly open to higher contributions or taxes to fund state pensions (between 68% and 72%), only 11% believe their own retirement will be secure due to deep-seated concerns about the sustainability of the pension system. Nevertheless, the public expects credible reforms, not regression, in pension policy.
- Rising prices and high loan costs are major concerns regarding housing. Many Germans, especially young adults, worry about affording homes. Young people want the state to create conditions for affordable housing and equal access to education rather than accepting a retreat from these areas.
- There is no substantial evidence from recent polls that the public anticipates a backward slide in these or other policy areas, including defense policy or the role of the Bundeswehr.
In Brief
| Policy Area | Public Expectation/Concern | Evidence of Regress? ||----------------|-------------------------------------------|---------------------------|| Pensions | Support for higher contributions/taxes, desire for reform, low confidence in personal security | No evidence of expected regress; expectation of reform and fairness || Housing | Concern about affordability and access, but not policy rollback expected | No evidence of expected regress; demand for improvement || Bundeswehr | No significant poll data available | No evidence of expected regress |
- Despite anticipating potential setbacks in specific policy areas such as pensions and housing under the new government, a majority of respondents have expressed optimism about progress in defense, economy, and migration.
- On personal-finance matters like retirement, the public expects credible reforms rather than regression, and young adults in Germany are surprisingly open to higher contributions for state pensions, deeply concerned about the sustainability of the pension system.
- Policy areas like defense, economy, and migration are seen as strengths of the new government by the majority of respondents, but concerns about rising prices and high loan costs regarding housing persist, particularly among young adults who desire the state to create conditions for affordable housing.