Criticism of the bailout package Has the coalition forgotten about pensioners?
03/25/2022, 17:18
With the planned aid package, the traffic light coalition wants to help people in times of high energy prices. The measures go far, but the retirees are surprisingly saving.
While many people in the country quickly figured out on Thursday how much the planned aid package from the traffic light coalition would bring them, quite a few had to watch: retirees. There is no specific aid for them in the package of measures. Have you been forgotten?
This has been criticized by several community organizations: The VdK said the traffic light coalition had missed the opportunity: they are not doing anything for retirees. People with low pensions are particularly dependent on money. The VdK has proposed a subsidy to the pension which is paid directly. It would also be “better to lower the VAT tax on drugs than on fuel,” the association said. The Social Society Germany and the Paritätische Gesamtverband also opposed this.
The leader of the left-wing parliamentary faction in the Bundestag, Dietmar Bartsch, spoke in the newspapers of the German editorial network (RND) about “insolence” and demanded a quick correction. A protest against the plans of the traffic light coalition also came from the Seniors’ Union. We will put pressure on pensioners to also receive EUR 300 in the form of money for energy, the left-wing politician announced. Berlin “It cannot be that the traffic light coalition deprives pensioners of the energy lump sum,” he argued.
The SPD refers to the pension increase
Of course, the SPD sees things differently. At the request of ntv.de, a spokeswoman for the board pointed out that pensioners will already receive more money – due to the increase in pensions on 1 July this year. They should increase by 5.35 percent. in western Germany and 6.12 percent. on the east. Anyone who receives a monthly pension of € 1,000 today will receive € 321 (west) or € 367 (east) gross this year. “The statutory pension is reliable and stable, especially in difficult conditions such as rising prices or an international crisis,” told the SPD to ntv.de.
In addition, pensioners also benefited from the abolition of the green electricity fee, which was postponed to six months, as well as from lower gasoline and diesel prices, and cheaper monthly bus and train tickets. They also received planned one-off payments of € 100 and a heating subsidy if they received basic safety and Housing Allowance. So it is not true that pensioners get nothing at all. But many would like a few more drops from the watering can.