Digging into the contribution fund is – or so it seems – the solution to many problems for the traffic light coalition. This is now evident again in the case of pensions. In order to make it more attractive for people of retirement age to continue working, the federal government’s plans are for them to soon receive their employer’s contribution to pension insurance. The pension fund is expected to lose one billion euros a year as a result. As a result, contributions are likely to rise more quickly. This means an additional burden, especially for people with less money – and it is not the only one.
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Further examples: The second pension package to secure the level of pensions is causing the contribution rate to rise. The coalition is also burdening the contributors with the problem of the ailing hospital landscape. The hospital reform is being financed in part from contributions from health insurance companies. What’s more, the holes in health and nursing care insurance are also to be plugged with higher contributions. And the further training of people on the citizen’s allowance is now being financed from the unemployment insurance fund. Because the traffic light coalition wants to save money in the federal budget.
Rising social security contributions particularly affect low earners
That cannot go well for long. After all, rising social security contributions primarily affect people who do not earn much. The contribution assessment ceiling, on the other hand, ensures that employees who have a very high salary are not burdened accordingly. And the traffic light coalition, especially the Greens and SPD, dismiss this as insignificant.
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However, the federal government should be careful not to keep dipping into the contribution pot to meet the challenges of our time – from pensions to the health system to unemployment among young people. This sends a fatal signal to the working society – and especially to future generations.
