The German Green Party has criticized the proposals put forward by Federal Minister of Labour Bärbel Bas (SPD) for stabilizing the pension system, stating that they do not go far enough. In an interview with the newspapers of the Funke-Mediengruppe, Andreas Audretsch, deputy chairman of the Bundestag faction, called for the statutory pension system to be gradually developed into a kind of insurance that also requires politicians to contribute. However, he also emphasized that this alone would not be sufficient to secure financing for a good pension system and urged Bas and the coalition to come up with additional measures.
Audretsch specifically called for improvements to the income side of the pension system, including better wages, increased female participation in the workforce and more immigration. He also proposed rethinking rehabilitation and reduced earnings pensions to allow for more people to work longer. He emphasized the need to maintain the pension level at 48 percent and to introduce a guaranteed pension to protect women in particular from poverty in old age.
The Green Party also advocates for a publicly managed “citizen fund” which would receive state funds and also serve as a reliable investment option for private and occupational pension systems. Audretsch argued that this would allow for the benefits of the capital market to be exploited at very low costs.
The Green Party urged the coalition to stop focusing on entitlements and to quickly come up with proposals on how to fairly distribute the costs of demographic change and ensure a dignified life for all in old age. The CDU, which had rejected Bas’ proposals for a broader basis of contributors, was accused by Audretsch of defending “special privileges” for politicians.