CDU on pensions

The CDU regards the pay-as-you-go statutory pension as the most important pillar of retirement security and wants to develop it further in light of demographic change. Occupational and private retirement provision are to be strengthened alongside it. The party plans to bring its own initiatives to the federal level.

The CDU wants to keep the public pension and adapt it. People who worked for a long time should get more than others. More workers should have a company pension. Private saving for old age should also get easier.

Low earners with long working lives are to receive a higher pension than people who did not work. Voluntary contributions to the statutory pension system are to be made easier, and the self-employed, including those without employees, are to be better covered. The CDU backs a standard product for private retirement savings and calls for more transparency there. Models such as the Flexi-Rente (flexible retirement) are to let retirees earn additional income.

The CDU wants to push at the federal level for caring for relatives at home to count more toward pensions. People who have provided care for a long time should not end up poor in old age. The platform notes that women in particular provide care and that their careers suffer as a result.

Many people care for relatives at home. Often these are women. They work less and later get a smaller pension. The CDU wants to change that. Care at home should count more for the pension.

The platform states that the large amount of time women spend caring for relatives often harms their employment histories. Long years of caregiving should not lead to old-age poverty. Because pension law is a federal matter, the CDU announces it will press the federal government on this.