2024-02-01 15:13:40
Labor Minister Heil has announced that the planned pension reform will be presented in the next few weeks. He rejected calls for a higher retirement age. The SPD minister also defended citizens’ money.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to launch his plans to secure pension levels shortly. The federal government will present the so-called pension package II in February, Heil said in the Bundestag. The goal must be that “all generations can rely on the old-age security system in Germany.”
If no action is taken, “the pension level will drop,” said Heil when discussing his budget in the deliberations on the 2024 budget. The traffic light government will prevent this. The minister said he was “for flexible transitions into retirement.” “But with this federal government there will be no increase in the statutory retirement age, which the Union would like. That would be the wrong approach.”
Government wants to maintain pension levels
Heil had already announced in January that the coalition wanted to keep the minimum pension level at 48 percent of average wages until the end of the 2030s. “The legislature guarantees a level of at least 48 percent by 2025,” he told the “Augsburger Allgemeine”. “We will stabilize pension levels at this level permanently – even with generational capital.”
At the request of Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP), generation capital is intended to create a further pillar for financing the pension system. To this end, a capital stock should be built up from public funds from which investments can be made in stocks and investments. The proceeds will then be used to stabilize pension contributions from the mid-2030s.
9.45 billion more for social welfare
Heil also defended the state’s billions in social spending and especially citizens’ money once morest criticism. Since the introduction of the minimum wage in 2015, around two million people have been able to move up from the low-wage sector, said Heil. Since then, the minimum wage has increased by 46 percent, and basic security has only increased by 41 percent. “The introduction of citizens’ money has not changed the wage gap,” stated Heil.
The CSU MP Peter Aumer, on the other hand, quoted Union parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) with the criticism that performance would only be adequately rewarded if there was a sufficiently large gap between income from work and social benefits.
The labor and social budget is by far the largest budget in the budget and includes expenditure of 175.7 billion euros. That is 9.45 billion more than in the previous year. The federal government has to spend more on many things in the social sector. His contribution to accommodation and heating costs for citizens’ benefit increases by around 1.4 to 11.1 billion euros. The reason is the deteriorating economic development and rising unemployment figures.
Vera Wolfskämpf, ARD Berlin, tagesschau, February 1st, 2024 5:52 p.m
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