Caritas President Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa Supports Debate on Future of Pensions
Caritas President Eva Maria Welskop-Deffaa has voiced her support for the pension debate initiated by Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD). Welskop-Deffaa stated in an interview with the Funke-Mediengruppe newspapers that she welcomes the fact that the Minister has taken up the mega-topic of pensions right after her appointment. She emphasized that the statutory pension insurance must be urgently further developed to ensure that people are protected against poverty in old age.
Bas had previously told the Funke newspapers that more people should contribute to the financing of the pension system. She called for civil servants, members of parliament and self-employed individuals to also make contributions to the pension insurance. In their coalition agreement, the Union and SPD had announced their intention to include self-employed individuals in the pension system. However, there has been opposition from the Union to Bas’ proposal to extend this to civil servants.
Welskop-Deffaa explained that the coalition parties had already agreed to include self-employed individuals in the pension system in their coalition agreement. She finds it “unbelievable” that there is now a dispute over this consensus just a week after the agreement was signed. She emphasized that pensions are a sensitive issue and that trust from contributors in the pension system is necessary. She also highlighted the importance of trust from citizens in the reliability of the coalition.