Frankfurt am Main – Employees in Germany would like to contribute more to the statutory pension fund. They would even be willing to pay higher contributions for a more adequate retirement income. This was determined by the polling firm Verian (formerly Kantar Public) in a representative survey commissioned by the IG Metall union.
More Money for Higher Pension Levels and Extra Payments into the Statutory Pension System
Only one in ten respondents (11 percent) considers the current pension level sufficient. With regard to pension contributions—a frequent topic of discussion—only 9 percent of respondents call for a lower contribution rate to keep it stable in the long term. Two-thirds (67%), on the other hand, call for a higher pension level, even if that might mean slightly higher pension contributions. The federal government’s planned “Pension Package II” aims to stabilize the pension level at 48 percent of average income.
Employees are even willing to make voluntary additional contributions to the statutory pension insurance system through extra payments. The option—which already exists in some cases—to make voluntary additional contributions to offset pension reductions would be, for 70 percent of those surveyed, a viable way to personally secure higher pension entitlements: 41 percent of all employees would make voluntary additional contributions to the pension fund contingent on equal matching contributions from the employer. 29 percent support the idea unconditionally.
Hans-Jürgen Urban, IG Metall board member responsible for social policy: “Despite all the attacks and doomsday predictions: Employees want to see the statutory pension system strengthened. The statutory pension insurance pillar is the most important and reliable thing people have in their old age.”
Employees want and need to retire earlier
Voters reject calls for cuts to pensions after 45 years of work. More than nine in ten respondents (93 percent) support allowing employees to retire without reductions after 45 years of work.
Urban: “Pension policy scenarios that rely on declining pensions and rising retirement ages are out of touch with the realities of life and people’s wishes. Such policies fuel fears of social decline, anger, and reservations about the political system. The political beneficiaries of such a development are well known.”
Thus, the wishes and working realities of employees are diametrically opposed to the discussions in the political arena: When asked about their desired retirement age, 11 percent want to retire before age 60, 51 percent between ages 60 and 63, and 27 percent between ages 64 and 67. Only 3 percent want to continue working at age 68 or older.
Under their current working conditions, 53 percent of the working population consider the statutory retirement age of 67 to be unrealistic. The lower the level of education—and thus the level of professional development—the more unattainable retirement at age 67 is seen to be. Only 23 percent can imagine working beyond the age of 67; 75 percent of those surveyed view working longer as unrealistic.
Urban: “People are rejecting the debate over ever-higher retirement ages. Raising the retirement age effectively only increases pension reductions for workers. Instead, we need retirement ages that reflect the realities of people’s work and lives. And we need employers who will finally create age-appropriate jobs.”
Survey “Attitudes Toward Retirement 2024”:
Representative online survey (CAWI) of 1,063 respondents (voting-age population aged 18 and older in Germany), conducted by Verian Deutschland, Berlin (formerly Kantar Public); quota sample from an access panel, weighted by sociodemographic characteristics; survey period May 22–27, 2024
You can find the full study here
