More than 60 percent of women retirees in Germany received statutory old-age pensions below the poverty line in 2025. This is according to a response from the federal government to an inquiry from the Left Party parliamentary group, which was seen by the news agency AFP in Berlin on Wednesday. Among women, the figure stood at 60.9 percent, compared with 27.8 percent among men.
According to the government's response, even a long period of paying into the statutory pension system protects only partially against old-age poverty. Among women retirees who had at least 45 years of insurance contributions, 52.4 percent still received statutory pension payments below the poverty line, compared with 23.6 percent of men. The poverty line was set at €1,446, corresponding to 60 percent of the median net equivalised income of the overall population.
The actual risk of poverty among those affected is nevertheless lower, since many retirees have additional sources of income, and combined household income must also be taken into account. According to the Federal Ministry of Labour, a total of 19.5 percent of all people in Germany aged 65 and older were considered at risk of poverty in 2025. Among women, the figure was 21.3 percent, and among men, 17.3 percent.
The average monthly pension payment from the statutory old-age pension last year stood at €1,415 for men who had newly retired, compared with just €1,039 for women. When all retirees are included, also those who retired earlier, the figures were somewhat higher for men, at an average of €1,531, but slightly lower for women, at €1,025. In eastern Germany, however, the figures for women are notably higher in each case than in western Germany.
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"Old-age poverty has long since stopped being a marginal phenomenon. Pensions have been far too low for years," said Left Party social policy spokesperson Sarah Vollath, commenting on the data provided by the government. This was "a real scandal," she said, particularly in as wealthy a country as Germany.
Vollath fears the situation could worsen further if the recommendations of the government-appointed Pension Commission are implemented. The Left Party politician pointed in particular to the planned abolition of the deduction-free pension after 45 years of insurance contributions.
This would affect "exactly the people who already have to get by on far too low pensions," she said. If they soon had to accept deductions as well, their pensions would fall even further. "This means the government will soon be sending even more people into old-age poverty, and doing so with its eyes wide open," Vollath warned.
The Left Party politician pointed out that a growing number of retirees are additionally dependent on social benefits such as basic income support (Grundsicherung) or housing benefit (Wohngeld). Yet these benefits are also set to be cut. Vollath instead pointed to the Left Party's demand for a "solidarity-based minimum pension that effectively protects retirees from old-age poverty."
This would also recognize the life's work of everyone "who received far too low wages for their hard work for decades, or who took on unpaid but socially indispensable tasks, such as caring for relatives and raising children," she said.
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