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Berlin A concerning statistic has emerged: one in three German full-time employees faces a monthly gross retirement income under €1,300 after 45 years of full-time work. This revelation comes from Funke media group publications, referencing a Federal Ministry of Labor response to a parliamentary inquiry. Factoring in health and long-term care insurance deductions, the net pension amounts to approximately €1,160.

Dietmar Bartsch, the Left party’s parliamentary group leader, voiced strong concerns to the newspapers, stating that such low pensions, only slightly above the Hartz IV threshold after a lifetime of work, erode public trust in the national pension system. Bartsch advocated for a pension level exceeding 50 percent of final salary. The 2021 pension insurance report indicated a replacement rate of 49.4 percent.