A financially secure retirement is not a matter of course in this country. This is shown, among other things, by two media reports from the past few days, which continue to attract attention. It was about the attitude towards life of citizens after the end of their employment in this country - and about real economic hardships of this age group.
The results of a survey were published over the weekend, according to which many senior citizens are at odds with their economic situation and believe that politicians are not paying enough attention to them. On Tuesday, a press report on debt counseling showed that concerns often do not stop there: many older people are now turning to such organizations.
The "Bild am Sonntag" (Bams) had asked pensioners about their situation through the opinion research institute Insa. The result was that 78 percent were of the opinion that politicians took too little account of their concerns.
Four out of ten older people surveyed aged at least 65 years are economically dissatisfied. According to the "Bams", they stated that their current income is not enough for a good life. In the 65 to 74 year olds it was 43 percent. Politicians are focusing on the wrong issues - this was the opinion of half of the older people. A third don't think so. Three quarters of those surveyed also believe that society does not have enough respect for the elderly.
"Many poor pensioners no longer have enough money for the necessities of life by the middle of the month," said Verena Bentele, President of the social association VdK, the "Bams". The price increases hit them particularly hard because they are often too old or too ill to earn anything extra. The pensions rose with the wage development, but not one to one.
Most recently, inflation was 6.9 percent. A study by the German Economic Institute recently showed that pensioner households had suffered particularly badly from the rise in electricity and heating costs in the past year.
A report on debt counseling in Germany also showed that the situation of some senior citizens is precarious. They reported on Tuesday "exploding demand" for their services overall. "Money shortages and even debts have arrived in the middle of society," explained Maike Cohrs from the debt counseling service at Diakonie in Cologne. Many working people and young adults were also among the people who sought advice about debt. More and more pensioners are also coming for advice.
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