In Germany, more and more people over the age of 67 are earning something on top of their retirement. The left sees this as a sign that the retirement benefits are not sufficient. The responsible ministry points out that there are also many who simply want to work longer.
The number of employed persons over the age of 67 in Germany has risen to over one million. At the end of March this year, around 1.067 million workers were aged 67 or older, according to a government response to a query from the left. Of these, 406,000 employees were over 70 and around 138,500 even over 75 years old.
As reported by the RND newspapers, compared to last year, the number of employees of retirement age increased by 15,000; compared to 2015, there were 200,000 more employees over the age of 67.
According to the government response, a total of 38.531 million people in Germany were in dependent employment as of March 31 of this year. The 1,066,895 over 67-year-olds among them worked primarily in offices, as drivers on the road, in cleaning, warehousing, at the post office, in deliveries or in building services engineering. According to this, 446 of the more than 13,000 employees who were 85 years and older worked as drivers in road traffic.
For many, this is not a voluntary decision, “but necessary because there is still a lot of month left at the end of the pension,” said Dietmar Bartsch, leader of the left-wing parliamentary group. “Poverty in old age and small pensions are driving people back into the world of work.” Bartsch called for “attractive jobs for people over 60” and a “protective shield” against poverty in old age. With record inflation, a major pension reform is becoming more and more urgent. An increase in the pension level to 53 percent and a minimum pension of 1,200 euros are also necessary. “We need a pension fund into which all citizens with an income from work pay – including members of parliament, civil servants, the self-employed and ARD bosses,” said the left-wing politician.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Ministry of Labor spoke of “two sides of the same coin”. It is also a positive development that more older people still want to work and can organize their work flexibly according to their personal wishes. On the other hand, it is of course important to combat poverty in old age, said the spokeswoman and referred to the introduction of the basic pension.
