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Pension crisis: self-employed people still at risk of poverty in old age!
The end of the traffic light coalition leaves self-employed people without pension protection. Experts warn of poverty in old age and call for compulsory insurance.
Pension crisis: self-employed people still at risk of poverty in old age!
The German pension insurance is sounding the alarm! With the abrupt end of the traffic light coalition, crucial pension reforms for the self-employed are at risk. The plans for pension packages II and III, which were initiated by Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, are now on hold. At a press seminar in Würzburg, DRV President Gundula Roßbach expressed her deep disappointment at the failure of these projects, which were aimed at protecting the self-employed from the threat of poverty in old age.
The explosive situation: Self-employed people are often on their own when it comes to pension insurance. While employees only pay half of the pension contributions, self-employed people have to pay the full 18.6 percent of their gross wages. Many people decide against voluntary insurance, which puts them in a precarious position. Current figures show that 11.3 percent of people at risk of poverty in Germany are self-employed. What is alarming is that over a third of these self-employed people have not saved any assets for retirement. Roßbach emphasizes that compulsory insurance for the self-employed is essential in order not to burden taxpayers with basic security in old age.
Compulsory pensions for the self-employed: A step towards justice
The DRV calls for mandatory pension insurance for the self-employed in order to create justice. Employees have no choice, why should self-employed people be privileged? The traffic light coalition had already stipulated in the coalition agreement in 2021 that the self-employed must pay into the pension fund. But now this project is in danger of disappearing into obscurity again. Roßbach appeals to the next federal government not to ignore this important reform and to examine various models in order to introduce compulsory insurance.
There were similar efforts in 2017, but they also failed. The need for compulsory retirement provision for the self-employed is undisputed. “What we know about the self-employed suggests that mandatory old-age insurance is urgently needed,” says Roßbach, summarizing the situation. Time is running out and the future of the self-employed is in jeopardy!