The average pension rate for civil servants in Germany is 65.6 percent – well above the pension level of 48 percent.
But why do civil servants receive a much higher pension than pensioners? Pension expert Bert Rürup explains the differences in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
A statutory pension is therefore based on the principle of equivalence. The pension on the alimony principle. It should therefore also include company pension schemes.
Retired civil servants generally receive a higher pension than retirees. The big differences between pension and retirement are the envy of a large part of the population. But why do civil servants get a higher pension and is the pension alone enough?
One thing is certain: pension insurance was introduced in 1957 and is therefore younger than civil servant pensions, which are based on a different principle: “namely the alimony principle”, as pension expert Bert Rürup explained in an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” explained.
This means: “The standard of living used in the last few years of service should also be guaranteed in old age through the pension scheme for civil servants.” This also includes the company pension scheme for statutory insured persons for civil servants.
Instead, pension insurance follows the equivalence principle, as Rürup says. The pension entitlements result from the wage-related contribution payments. “The contributions that are deducted from the training allowance have the same importance for the amount of the pension as the contributions to higher incomes in later years of employment,” says the orphan.
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Rürup can partly understand that pensioners find the differences between the systems unfair: “The benefits of both systems are indeed very different.” However, the problem is not purely German. There are officials all over the world. And they are expected to be “particularly loyal to the state”, the 79-year-old told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”.
“Pension actually quite low in international comparison”
Loyalty to the state – this also has an impact on pensions. “On average, a pensioner in Germany gets 1,230 euros and a pensioner around 800 euros,” says Rürup. “The minimum federal pension is currently around 1,860 euros,” it continues.
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In retirement, civil servants can receive up to 71.5 percent of the gross salary from the last two years of employment. Meanwhile, pensioners get on average less than half of their last salaries, as reported by the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. “Measured against this gross replacement rate, the level of benefits from our statutory pension is actually quite low in an international comparison,” states Rürup. In Austria and France it is around 75 percent.
According to Rürup, the standard of living of the last years of employment cannot be secured by the statutory pension, as is the case with the pension. “That’s why there are two other pillars: occupational and private old-age provision,” he explains. But not everyone can take out adequate private insurance while working. And company pension schemes are not offered in every company. Many have a justified fear of poverty in old age. A problem that cannot be tackled with pensions alone. The envy debate about the retirement of civil servants will continue to occupy us in the future.
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