Pensions are expected to rise by more than four percent next year

The numbers are still preliminary. The first estimate last fall for this increase was 3.7 percent. The data for the pension adjustment next summer should be available in March 2027. With an increase of 4.1 percent, a monthly pension of 1,000 euros would increase by 41 euros. Pensions had already risen by 4.24 percent last July.

The assumptions regarding wage development are decisive for the calculation. According to the report, the estimated pension adjustment next year is likely to be lower than the 4.4 percent assumed in the summer.

Fixing the so-called holding line for pension levels will have an increasing effect. The coalition decided on this at the end of last year with its first pension reform. Until 2031, the pension level must not fall below 48 percent. This value describes the level of pension security in relation to income.

“We are not the customers of a Lieferando state”: Georg Cremer was general secretary of the German Caritas Association for 17 years and a member of the pension commission. Here he explains what is going wrong in the German welfare state and why the call for more justice is dividing the country.