Poverty in old age: Low pensions despite many years of contributions
Nationwide, more than every second woman is affected by low pensions, despite having been insured for many years. East and West do not make a big difference here, but it is different for men.
More than every fifth pensioner and every second female pensioner with a particularly long insurance period was not able to exceed the poverty risk threshold with statutory pension alone. According to the Federal Statistical Office, this threshold was 1,446 euros per month in 2025. The Left in the Bundestag had asked, among other things, for the number of pensioners with at least 45 years of insurance period and a correspondingly low net pension.
The government response, available to the German Press Agency, shows: Nationwide, 23 percent of men with 45 years of insurance received a pension of less than 1,446 euros in the past year. In Baden-Württemberg, it was around 16 percent of these men. With values of around 36 and 41 percent, all eastern German states have significantly higher proportions of men with low pensions.
Read also: Almost three quarters of pension benefits were subject to income tax in 2025 Women nationwide have low pensions at a rate of 50 percent The difference is much smaller among women. In most states, more than every second woman ends up below the poverty risk threshold even after such a long insurance period. Nationwide, it was 52 percent, in the affluent southwestern region, but also in structurally weak Saxony-Anhalt, for example, around 54 percent of women with such long insurance periods and correspondingly low pensions.
Translated by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's report; automated translation may contain errors. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
