Heidi Reichinnek, the chairwoman of the Left Party’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag, called on Monday for the contribution‑assessment ceiling of Germany’s statutory pension scheme to be doubled. Speaking on the NTV program “Blome und Pfeffer” she said the system must be set straight from “head to toe” and should require contributions from everyone in the workforce-including civil servants, self‑employed workers and parliamentarians. “We must double the caps on contributions” she added, pointing out the absurdity of a situation in which a nursing staff member pays contributions on every euro of her wages while a hospital CEO does not.
As of now, the ceiling that determines how much pension income is counted for contributions stands at €8,450 a month (€101,400 a year). The Left’s proposal would raise this limit, thereby increasing the mandatory contributions of high earners.
Reichinnek warned that about one in five German retirees lives near the poverty line. “Even after decades of work, child‑rearing and caregiving, a wealthy country like Germany still can’t guarantee that everyone will enjoy a dignified old age” she said. “More and more people at age 70 are still behind the cash register, scrounging for bottle deposits or forced to the food bank”.
She sharply criticized the government’s emphasis on private savings and equity‑based pension models. Whenever the shift to private preparation is mentioned, Reichinnek noted that at least one in four Germans ends the month with no money left for a costly and risky private pension plan. Instead, she advocates for a robust public pension that provides a decent standard of living for all in their later years.
