The number of pensioners receiving housing benefit in Germany more than doubled between 2020 and 2024. While just over 300,000 pensioners were receiving the housing cost subsidy in 2020, that figure had risen to nearly 700,000 four years later. The figures come from a response by the federal government to a parliamentary inquiry by the AfD, which was made available to news agency AFP on Friday.
According to the response from the Federal Ministry of Housing to AfD MP René Springer, 500,000 pensioners in western Germany and around 200,000 in eastern Germany received housing benefit in 2024, compared to around 223,000 and 77,000 respectively in 2020. The share of pensioners receiving housing benefit as a proportion of the total pensioner population stood at 2.86 percent across Germany in 2024, compared to 1.25 percent four years earlier.
In western Germany, 2.58 percent of pensioners received housing benefit in 2024, up from 1.16 percent in 2020. In eastern Germany, the figure was 4.02 percent, compared to 1.61 percent in 2020.
Monthly expenditure on housing benefit quadrupled from 35.2 million euros in 2020, 27.4 million euros in western Germany and 7.9 million euros in eastern Germany, to 143.5 million euros in 2024, with 108.4 million euros in western Germany and 35.2 million euros in eastern Germany.
The sharp increase is also linked to the housing benefit reform that came into force on 1 January 2023 under the then coalition government, under which the average monthly housing benefit for existing recipient households doubled by around 190 euros to approximately 370 euros per month.
Housing benefit is a subsidy toward housing costs for households above the subsistence level, designed to ensure eligible households are able to meet their rent payments. It is intended for households with their own earned income, people receiving unemployment benefit II or social assistance are not entitled to it.
The share of housing benefit expenditure going to pensioners increased from 33.5 percent in 2020 to 41.1 percent in 2024. In eastern Germany, housing benefit payments to pensioners account for more than half of all housing benefit expenditure at 57.4 percent, up from 46.2 percent in 2020. In western Germany, the share stands at 37.6 percent, compared to 31 percent in 2020.
AfD MP René Springer commented: "The sharply rising number of pensioners who are dependent on housing benefit shows how dramatically old-age poverty is developing in Germany." Those who had worked their whole lives should not end up dependent on state support in old age, "just because pensions are no longer enough to cover the cost of living and housing."
The AfD was therefore calling for a pension policy "that once again rewards lifelong contribution and ensures that pensioners can live on their pension, rather than increasingly depending on state subsidies."
From breaking news to thought-provoking opinion pieces, our newsletter keeps you informed & engaged.
