Employees now bear a larger share of social security contributions than they did in the past, while the relative burden on employers has fallen.
A special analysis by the Federal Statistical Office, commissioned by the office of Left party group leader Heidi Reichinek, shows the total sum of all payroll payments for every year since 1991, together with the separate contributions made by employers and by employees.
The statistics count not only the classic social insurance contributions but also wage continuation in case of illness and employer pension obligations.
Between 1999 and 2024 the share of employer contributions in the total payroll fell by 1.5 percentage points-from 19.2 % to 17.7 %.
During the same period the share of employee contributions rose by the same amount, from 12.3 % to 13.8 %.
Using this data, Reichinek criticises the Union sharply. She accuses the CDU and CSU of presenting a misleading picture in the dispute over social pension cuts. “The ongoing grumbling about an allegedly too high contribution burden is pure farce and has no basis” she said. She dismisses the employers’ complaint as a “bold attempt to squeeze wage costs in order to protect their profits”.
