Berlin - The approximately 20 million retirees remain in the future, even in economically bad times spared from cuts in pensions.
This was decided by the federal cabinet. Work Minis ter Olaf Scholz (SPD): "Pensions are not reduced. Then you can rely on. "
The warranty's not there for nothing: Pensioners need them later when funding increases capped improve the situation by itself, so the decision. If the pension guarantee claimed, the costs are compensated for in 2011 by halving the pension increases again.
Half pension increases? It is possible that not even the inside. For the pensioners have to adjust to the fact that in the next few years, there are no increases in their salaries. SPD leader Franz Muentefering has warned time: zero rounds are possible. Pensions expert Bernd Raffelhüschen goes further. He says: "By 2020, threatens to zero rounds."
And still has a negative consequence of the Government decision - and makes all workers: The expected reduction in the pension contribution rate from 19.9 to 19.2 percent in 2012 is likely to be. Raffelhüschen even assumes that the rates increase to 21% within five years.
Critics see in the pension guarantee a dummy package that aims to propitiate 20 million potential voters. Here, the government parties can see clearly a need for action: For since the beginning of the decade, retirees have lost 8.5 percent of its purchasing power - through clear rounds, mini-retirement increases, increased health and Pflegekos States, price increases.
With the guarantee may have been the first cut pensions prevented since the introduction of the dynamic pensions 1957th At that time, the pension increases were linked to the increase in average wages. And because that never fell, there was no pension reductions. That could be this year due to massive short-time work for the first time different.
