ZDH: "Pension package postpones overdue structural reforms"

After the Bundestag passed the pension package with an absolute majority, the skilled trades sector continues to push for structural reforms to make the pension system future-proof.

The german Bundestag The pension package was passed with the desired "Chancellor's majority." "This is not the end of our pension policy, but only the beginning," promised Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU). The package is a first step in the right direction. The measures adopted are intended to ensure that the pension level remains stable at 48 percent. "Without the pension package, the pension level would be decoupled from wage growth from 2026 onwards and is expected to fall by around one percentage point to 47 percent by 2031," he said. Federal government. 

Alongside stabilizing pension levels, the childcare contributions of mothers and fathers during the first three years of each child's life are to be recognized. To this end, the government is introducing early retirement pensions, active pensions, and strengthening company pension schemes. The skilled trades sector, however, does not see this as a decisive step toward putting the pension system on a sound footing: "The adoption of the pension package in the German Bundestag merely masks the deep structural problems of our pension system with short-term measures, instead of finally tackling the long-overdue fundamental reforms," ​​says Jörg Dittrich. 

Stabilize the pension system in the long term

The President of the Central Association of German Crafts calls for "bold and sustainable decisions." The package is not a step towards a pension system that is fair to all generations and future-proof. "Benefit expansions such as fixing the pension level until 2031 or the mothers' pension further exacerbate the already strained financial situation." At the same time, necessary reforms are once again being postponed, because commissioning studies does not replace reform.

"The fact is that fewer and fewer young people have to pay for more and more elderly people. This package is therefore neither fair to all generations nor sustainable and particularly affects the labor-intensive skilled trades. The skilled trades are committed to stable and fair social security systems for all generations. This requires a reliable and sustainable long-term reform strategy that can withstand demographic realities. I appeal to the governing coalition to promptly initiate the necessary reform steps that will stabilize the pension system in the long term and balance it fairly between the generations."

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