The recent call for abolishing the so‑called “Retirement at 63” still enjoys very little support among the public. A Forsa poll conducted for RTL and ntv found that only 18 % of respondents said they would welcome the ability to retire early-after 45 years of contributions-without any reductions. A decisive 78 % opposed the idea. The public stance has barely shifted since the last Forsa survey in May 2024, where 17 % were in favour and 81 % opposed.
Rejections differ little between East and West Germany. In the new federal states 79 % say the abolition should stay, compared with 78 % in the old ones. Among those still in the workforce, 82 % condemn a move away from the “Retirement at 63” model, while 72 % of pensioners do the same. The opposition also cuts across party lines. Backers of the Left party register the highest dissent with 85 % against the proposal, followed closely by those who support the AfD at 84 %. Even among followers of the CDU/CSU, 69 % would oppose the scrapping, though 27 % are in favour.
A farther-reaching social‑policy idea draws even stronger resistance. The suggestion that dentists’ services should no longer be covered by statutory health insurance, but instead be paid entirely out of pocket, garners virtually no backing. Only five percent of German citizens see this as acceptable, while 92 % reject it. In the western states 93 % are against the proposal, compared with 88 % in the east. Across all political camps, rejection is dominant: 100 % of supporters of the Left reject it, 98 % of SPD voters, 97 % of Greens, 90 % of CDU/CSU supporters and 93 % of AfD voters all oppose it.
The data were collected between 6 and 9 February 2026, from a sample of 1,009 respondents.