The trade union IG Bau has issued a stark warning regarding a brewing crisis of housing poverty among Germany’s retirees.
According to Robert Feiger, head of IG Bau, approximately 5.1 million Baby Boomers are projected to receive less than €800 per month from statutory pensions. Feiger stated to the “Rheinische Post” that these retirees represent about 40% of the large generational cohorts expected to enter retirement across the country between now and 2036. He explained that, eventually, the heavy burden of rent is set to push a significant majority of Baby Boomers into housing poverty.
Feiger’s concerns were based on a calculation conducted by the Pestel Institute for IG Bau. The study focused specifically on the large cohorts expected to retire between 2026 and 2036. Essentially, housing poverty occurs when an individual has insufficient remaining income to cover basic living expenses after paying housing costs.
The Pestel Institute indicates that North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, would be the hardest hit, with well over one million Baby Boomers potentially facing housing insecurity over the next decade. Current figures from the institute reveal that nationally, over 760,000 people are already living on basic welfare support. This group accounts for roughly 4.3 percent of all retirees, a significant increase from 2.5 percent in 2010.
Against this backdrop of financial strain, Feiger labeled affordable living as “social question number one” and strongly advocated for an immediate increase in new construction. He argued that stimulating the economy hinges on this housing development. “If economic growth is the decisive issue for the ruling coalition, then the very survival of the coalition depends on the new construction of apartments” he asserted.
