The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is entering the German federal election campaign with a “pension policy immediate demand”. “We need an additional monthly increase of 120 euros in pension as an immediate inflation adjustment,” said party co-founder Sahra Wagenknecht to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (Sunday editions).
“This is the minimum after the past three years, in which pensioners have significantly lost the purchasing power and become even poorer in real terms. We want to offset the losses with a blanket increase that, from a pension technology perspective, corresponds to three pay points,” Wagenknecht added.
The blanket pension increase for all would be particularly effective for low-income groups, Wagenknecht said to RND: “Renters with lower and medium incomes – particularly women – would disproportionately benefit from such an increase. The annual adjustments have not only been too low, but also those who have too little with a narrow pension.”
Wagenknecht did not mention the financing of the immediate blanket pension increase. “To finance pensions sustainably, we need a pension insurance model as in Austria,” she added. “Since in Austria all working individuals pay in, our neighbors can also pay out significantly higher pensions.” The pensions increased by 4.57% as of July 1, 2024, and a 3.5% increase is expected for the coming year.