Pension reform: What would the end of the "pension at 63" mean?

The "pension at 63" without deductions is on the brink, but parts of the coalition want to prevent a fatal blow to this popular type of pension. What would it mean if the deduction-free pension for long-term insured persons were to no longer exist in the future? What about other early pensions? And would the reform plans for stabilizing the statutory pension for the coming decades survive if this type of pension remains? What does the responsible minister say?

Minister of Social Affairs Bärbel Bas (SPD) said in the ZDF summer interview: "The SPD has always advocated for this, and it's also right that people who have been paying in for a very long time, who started early, must have the opportunity to retire." The SPD believes that the Union is responsible for clarifying its stance on the "pension at 63", currently actually at 64.5 years.

Who wants to keep the "pension at 63" - who is in favor of abolition? Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD), who is fighting for her re-election, had already criticized abolition as "unjust" shortly after the presentation of the reform proposals in June. Now, the East CDU Prime Ministers have also defended the deduction-free early pension, including Sven Schulze, who is also fighting against a possible AfD election triumph in Saxony-Anhalt. Saarland's Prime Minister Anke Rehlinger (SPD) is also in favor of keeping it.

For an end to the "pension at 63", CSU leader Markus Söder, parliamentary group leader Thorsten Frei (CDU), and CDU General Secretary Franziska Hoppermann have spoken out. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) is currently on vacation.

How far is the implementation of the proposals of the pension commission? "The BMAS is currently working on the draft law on pensions," a spokeswoman for Bas' Ministry of Social Affairs reports. A date for the government-internal departmental discussion has not yet been set.

To recall: Merz and Bas had announced implementation without changes when receiving the commission's proposals in June. This also applies to recommendation number six: "The commission recommends abolishing the deduction-free pension entry for particularly long-term insured persons."

Why should the "pension at 63" be abolished? Essentially, the 33-point concept of the pension commission from science and coalition wants to achieve one thing: the increasingly strong transition of the baby boomer generation into retirement should not bring the statutory pension out of balance.

The commission writes about deduction-free early retirement that "such regulations mainly benefit those with higher earnings, healthier people, and men, while low earners, people with less stable employment histories, and women cannot (use) them." The deduction-free status leads to higher pensions at the expense of the community.

What else is in store for older employees? According to the commission, an increase in the age limit for early pensions for long-term insured persons after 35 years with deductions - from 63 to 64 years. Almost every third new pension was affected by deductions in 2025, around 18 percent fall under this type of pension.

In the future, the entry age for this will rise in parallel with the planned general increase in the retirement age. The retirement age is to rise to 67.5 years by 2041.

And what if you simply don't feel fit enough? All those who consider early retirement due to their stress limit may be alerted to the following sentence in the pension proposals: "The commission recommends that people in retirement-age groups who, after an individual health examination, can no longer work in their last long-term exercised profession, should receive simplified access to a pension."

Affected individuals should no longer have to retrain for something easier.

What is the "protective pension"? For people who want to switch to the recently improved disability pension, it will be individually examined whether they are restricted in their professional performance.

CDU representative Pascal Reddig is advocating on X for them to be able to switch to a "social protective pension" without deductions. According to the commission, those who can no longer work in their last long-term profession should be able to retire deduction-free two years before the regular retirement age (rising to 67.5 years by 2041) and a further three years before with deductions.

What significance do early pensions have? Shortly after its introduction in 2024, the take-up of the "pension at 63" exceeded all expectations.

In the past year, around 356,000 people retired at the regular age. Around 262,000 took advantage of the pension after 45 years of insurance without deductions, 238,000 after 35 years with deductions.

According to the pension insurance, it cost around 13 billion euros per year that the actually due deductions were waived.

What threatens if the "pension at 63" is retained? According to the President of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the end of the announced rescue mission for pensions.

"Without this element, the pension reform is dead," said Marcel Fratzscher in the "Rheinische Post". He estimated the long-term savings from abolition at around 10 billion euros. It is "financially the most important element" of the reform.