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Thursday, September 03, 2020
On behalf of the left, the Bundestag Scientific Service compares the pension systems of Germany and Austria. The conclusion of the leader of the parliamentary group Bartsch: “When it comes to pensions, we can learn a lot from Austria.”
Germans work longer, but receive a lower pension than Austrians. This was the result of an analysis carried out by the Scientific Service of the Bundestag on behalf of the Left Group. According to this, the “regular retirement age” in Austria is 65 for men and 60 for women, even if it is increased for those born after 1968.
In Germany, the retirement age will be gradually increased to 67 years by 2029. The actual retirement age is currently 64 years for men and 64.1 years for women. In Austria it is 63.2 years for men and 60.4 years for women.
Comparing the amount of the pension is more difficult. In Austria, the average income after 45 years of contributions from the age of 65 results in an annual gross old-age pension of 26,576.80 euros, writes the Scientific Service in its document, which is available for ntv. “The gross standard pension after 45 years of insurance, which is only comparable to a limited extent, was € 17,026 in Germany in 2018.” The average Austrian pensioner receives 800 euros more per month. However, the contribution rate is also higher in Austria. This has been stable at 22.8 percent since 1990. In Germany, the pension contribution varies more. It is currently 18.6 percent.
The main difference between the German and Austrian pension systems is the group of people who contribute to pension insurance. Although civil servants and most self-employed persons, as well as members of parliament, do not contribute to pension funds, Austria’s old-age insurance covers almost all employed persons, including the self-employed, civil servants and politicians.
“When it comes to pensions, we can learn a lot from Austria,” says the leader of the left-wing parliamentary group Dietmar Bartsch ntv. “In Germany too we need a pension fund in which everyone pays, including parliamentarians, the self-employed and civil servants.”
Bartsch criticizes that the German pension system relies heavily on private benefit and that the retirement age has been raised. “The nonsense about Riester and the pension only from 67 years old was not done in Austria,” he says. “It cannot be that in the economically strongest country in Europe pensions are 800 euros lower than in Austria. The citizens of this country can no longer accept that. We need a readjustment of pension policy in Germany.”
