Linke on pensions

The Left wants Saxony to join the federal hardship fund for unrecognized East German pension claims and wants the compensation at least doubled. The upward revaluation of eastern German wages in pension calculations is to stay until wages reach western levels.

Some pension claims from East Germany are not recognized today. The federal government has a hardship fund for this. Saxony should join it. Those affected should get at least twice as much money. Eastern wages should keep counting for more in pensions.

According to the platform, thousands of eastern German retirees with claims from the GDR's supplementary and special pension schemes are affected. The party considers the hardship fund an insufficient first step because too few eligible people are recognized. Beyond that, it calls for a justice fund to compensate everyone affected. In general, low wages are to be valued higher in pension calculations, whether earned in the East or the West.

At the federal level, the Left wants to push for a pension level of 53 percent, an earlier retirement age and a minimum pension of 1,200 euros a month. This is to be financed by a pension insurance that civil servants, politicians and the self-employed also pay into.

The Left wants higher pensions across Germany. People should be able to retire at 65. After 40 years of paying in, they could retire at 60. Nobody should get less than 1,200 euros a month. Everyone should pay into the pension fund, including civil servants.

The retirement age is to drop to 65, or to 60 after 40 contribution years; the party regards a higher retirement age as a hidden cut. The contribution assessment ceiling is to rise to 10,000 euros a month. Pension entitlements above twice the average are to be flattened. Double taxation of pensions is to end.