Olli Dürr Society Germany – Increasing child and pensioner poverty

Germany – Increasing child and pensioner poverty

17. July 2023 | Olli Dürr | 0 Comment | 11:21

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Society

In one of the wealthiest countries on earth, poverty is spreading rapidly at both ends of the age bracket. In addition to increasing child poverty, Germany has a rapidly increasing number of impoverished pensioners.

Inhalt / Content

1 Widespread increase in poverty
2 Around a fifth of children/youth live in poverty
3 More and more impoverished pensioners
4 Rapid increase in poverty pensioners
5 pensioners are particularly affected
6 Left-wing politician demands controls
7 measures are completely inadequate
8 Demands for basic child security
9 stinginess in caring for children
10 Impoverishment looks premeditated

Widespread increase in poverty

The impoverishment of people in Germany is progressing. More and more people can no longer keep up financially with the rising costs. The nominal wage increases can no longer compensate for the persistent inflation and the pension adjustments are also hopelessly chasing after the inflation.

Around a fifth of children/youth live in poverty

Poverty is rampant among the youngest in society

So-called child poverty in Germany affected around 2.9 million children and young people in 2019. Around 1.55 million people aged between 18 and 25 were affected by poverty. These figures were published by the Bertelsmann Foundation in January 2023. However, when child poverty is mentioned, the fact that the parents or father or mother are also affected by poverty always pushes into the background. Hard to imagine that these are wealthy parents raising their children in poverty. With these figures, in one of the “richest countries” on earth, around one child in five is affected by poverty. In a classroom of 30 students, 6 are already below the poverty line. The trend of poverty spread continues to rise.

More and more impoverished pensioners

The upper end looks similar to the lower end of the age scale. In addition to the growing number of impoverished children, the financial shortage of people who have completed their life’s work and added value is also increasing. More and more people of retirement age have to go to the social welfare office because their income is no longer sufficient to cope with everyday costs. At the end of March 2023, the number of pensioners with basic security in old age was 684,000 people, according to figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) available to the Evangelischen Pressedienst (edp).

Rapid increase in poverty pensioners

As with the impoverishment of the youngest people in society, the impoverishment of the retirees is progressing. Between the end of December 2022 and the end of March 2023 alone, the number of pensioners in need of basic security rose by around 25,000. Compared to the previous year, the number in March 2023 was 90,000 more in need.

pensioners are particularly affected

Retirees are not productive and are treated as ‘discarded’

Women are particularly badly affected by poverty in old age. At the end of March, the proportion of needy pensioners was around 60 percent.
The requirement limit for entitlement to basic security is currently 924 euros per month. This applies to all people who work in Germany and make their contributions to the social security funds, as well as to pensioners who have fled from the Ukraine. Since 2022, Ukrainian pensioners have been able to apply for basic security in Germany.

Left-wing politician demands controls

Dietmar Bartsch, the chairman of the left-wing parliamentary group in the German Bundestag, called for a “consistent anti-inflation policy in Germany” in view of the “alarming” figures. This must be combined with price reductions and complete price controls, especially for food and energy. In addition, the pension would have to be increased once by 10 percent to compensate for inflation. Bartsch also called for a minimum pension of 1,200 euros and a pension level of 53 percent of the last net income during employment.

measures are completely inadequate

Also due to the increasing child poverty in Germany, the demands for countermeasures are getting louder. In the Children’s Report 2023 published by the German Children’s Fund in Berlin, a large majority of Germans believed that far too little was being done to combat increasing poverty. Only five percent of children and young people and seven percent of adults are satisfied with the current measures. 61 percent of young people and 72 percent of adults believe that measures to eliminate child poverty are insufficient.

Demands for basic child security

There are increasing calls from the political camp for basic child security. Federal Family Minister Lisa Paus from the Greens calls for an “effective financial safety net”. She sees insufficient income as the main reason for child poverty. This basic child security is currently planned for introduction in 2025. 2 billion euros per year are currently calculated for basic child security.

stinginess in caring for children

Everything has priority – special funds for weapons easily available

Two billion euros for basic child security. Sounds like a lot, is a lot. But a no brainer compared to the three-digit billion amounts that the federal government simply conjures up like a rabbit out of a cylinder as a “special fund” in order to satisfy the greed of the pharmaceutical companies and the weapons lobby.

Impoverishment looks premeditated

The impoverishment of the people is not only now very visible, but in view of the developments to date and the character of the planned “aid measures”, the resolution is very close. Impoverishment and planned countermeasures make people incredibly dependent. The “middle class age” between children or young people and pensioners is employable and employed. They produce, create value and pay into tax and social security funds. Children are just as unproductive as pensioners. Therefore, the working age, which has been fleeced just as severely by inflation and taxes, should still be given some grace.

With Dietmar Bartsch’s demands to lower and control prices, the left-wing politician is in the element of a socialist. State control according to the planned economy in the spirit of Marx and Engels.
But with that he is also completely in line with the Catholic Social Doctrine. The Church of Rome simply expresses it as “social justice” and “fraternity”. A Christian decorated label for Communism.

It stands to reason that talks about a universal basic income will soon pick up speed again and will eke out a parallel existence with the political debates about climate and the like. The “paymasters” of this future income for all “socially responsible” residents are in the process of positioning themselves within the “Councils for Inclusive Capitalism“.