Latest news with #BärbelBas
Local Germany
29-05-2025
- Business
- Local Germany
Concerns about Germany's job market grow as unemployment falls only slightly
The unemployment rate fell by 0.1 percentage points month on month to 6.2 percent in May, the latest data from Germany's Employment Agency (Bundesagentur für Arbeit, BA) in Nuremberg showed on Wednesday. The number of unemployed people in Germany fell by 12,000 to 2.919 million in May from the previous month, But numbers are up when compared to May 2024: there were around 197,000 more unemployed people in May 2025 than a year earlier. "The labour market is not getting the tailwind it needs to reverse the trend. Therefore, we expect unemployment figures to continue to rise during the summer," BA head Andrea Nahles said on Wednesday. Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Bärbel Bas (SPD) also expressed concern: "The tense economic situation is particularly evident in industry. Jobs are currently at risk in many companies," she said, adding that Germany urgently needed "economic policy stimulus." The number of so-called underemployed people, which includes not only the unemployed but also participants in labour market policy measures and those on short-term sick leave, stood at 3.602 million in May, the Bundesagentur für Arbeit said. This was approximately 58,000 more than in May 2024. READ ALSO: How many German companies are planning to cut jobs in 2025? Analyst Martin Müller of the KfW banking group thinks a turnaround this year is unlikely. "The labour market continues to suffer from the German economy's sales and cost problems," he said, explaining that due to a long period of stagnation, many companies are hesitant to hire new staff. Advertisement However, there is "the prospect" that the investment packages announced by the government will trigger a "noticeable economic stimulus" in the coming years, he said. Bas also pointed to the measures announced by the black-red coalition. The labour market figures "also show how important the new government's economic stimulus and investment programme is," the minister said. Among other things, the government is planning a €500 billion special fund for investments in infrastructure and climate protection. Businesses, meanwhile, called for lower social security contributions and criticised government plans to raise the minimum wage. A "government-led and thus misguided wage policy" would "nip any emerging easing in the labour market in the bud," said Rainer Dulger, President of the Confederation of German Employers' Associations. Lower social spending is "the better path to a healthy labour market," he added. And the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) board member Anja Piel said continuing education was "the safest means to secure jobs" in uncertain times, adding that it was the right time for a "qualification offensive" by the Bundesagentur für Arbeit and job centres.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Half of employed women in Germany work part-time, only 12% among men
Around half of employed women in Germany work part-time, official figures showed on Monday. The Federal Statistical Office said new data reveals 49% of women and 12% of men in employment do not work full-time. According to the Wiesbaden-based agency, 29% of German employees work part-time, more than ever before. Overall, 77% of people between the ages of 15 and 66 are in some form of employment. The figure includes 74% of women, a major increase from the 59% recorded in 2005. The proportion of men in employment has also risen from 71% to 81% over the same period. The data also reveals major insights on gender inequality in parenthood and childcare in Germany. The part-time rate for mothers of underage children is 68%, rising to 73% for those with children under the age of 3 years old. Fathers, on the other hand, are much less likely to work part-time, with the figure falling to 8% among employed men. Top trade union official wants incentives for fair care work Labour Minister Bärbel Bas told the Sunday edition of the Bild newspaper that better working conditions must be created for women to increase employment levels. "Employers must organize the world of work in such a way that more mothers can work full-time," Bas said. In response, a leading trade union official said that the German government must offer incentives for parents to ensure care work is more fairly distributed between women and men. Yasmin Fahimi, head of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), praised Bas' suggestion but warned that women still carry out a far higher proportion of unpaid care work. "Ultimately, it remains the case that the organization of working hours is a highly individual decision, and that more incentives are needed for a better division between the sexes," said Fahimi. She told the Tagesspiegel newspaper in comments released on Monday that fathers in Germany should receive more paid parental leave, including 10 days off following the birth of a child. In Germany, two partners can in total receive up to 14 months of parental allowance while taking parental leave. One partner can receive the parental allowance for up to 12 months. If the other partner also takes time off work for childcare, this only extends the total amount of time that parents can receive the allowance by two months - often referred to in Germany as the "father months."
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Germany struggles to fix its pension system
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, right, and German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (AP) Germany's baby boomers are retiring. Those born between 1955 and 1969, when the birth rate was at an all-time high, are also living longer. The workforce is not growing at the same rate. So who will pay the elderly's pensions? A considerable chunk of the federal budget goes into propping up the statuary pension system and the new Labor Minister, Bärbel Bas from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), has reiterated an idea of how to partially fix that. The pension system in Germany, established in 1889, is based on a public retirement insurance scheme in which the pensions of current retirees are paid using insurance contributions from the currently employed, a system known as the "intergenerational contract." The self-employed are not obliged to contribute; they can pay into the state pension system voluntarily or opt for a private pension. The public pension scheme, also referred to as statutory pension insurance , is mandatory only for employees. The self-employed may pay into the state system or rely entirely on private insurance schemes. Civil servants have their own pension system. These two groups make up around 12% of the working population. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like GOCH 5% Zinsen sichern bevor Banken den Geldhahn zudrehen Attraktive Bankzinsen Undo Many left-leaning politicians insist the only way to save the state-run system is by forcing all members of these well-paid groups of people to pay into the state retirement fund. Bärbel Bas floats an old idea The new Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Bärbel Bas, of the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) has again floated this idea. "We need to involve more people in the financing of the pension insurance," Bas told the newspapers of the Funke Mediengruppe at the weekend. "Civil servants, members of parliament and self-employed people should also pay into the pension insurance scheme," she said. Her proposal ruffled feathers with the SPD's coalition partners, the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), who dismissed it as unsuitable as a short-term solution. Germany's new coalition government has vowed not to cut old-age pensions , or increase pension contributions or raise the age of retirement beyond the planned increase to 67 by 2029. Pensioners constitute a considerable and growing voter base, especially for the SPD, CDU and CSU. But the outlook is grim: At the beginning of the 1960s, there were still six actively insured workers for every old-age pensioner. Now that ratio is 2:1, and sinking further. Germany's statutory pension system, explained A contribution of 18.6% of an employee's gross monthly salary goes into the state retirement fund, with the employee and the employer each paying half. The monthly contribution cannot exceed €1,404.30. The government expects the contribution rate to rise to 20% from 2028, going up to 22.3% by 2035, where it expects it to remain until 2045. The current "pension level" — the amount paid to retirees each month — is 48% of the average monthly salary in Germany, a percentage the federal government wants to guarantee in law until 2040 with the "level protection clause." In 2023, the average old age monthly pension in Germany was €1,550, according to the German Pension Insurance. What if the state pension isn't enough? Current figures from German Pension Insurance show that 61% of pensioners receive less than €1,200 net per month from their statutory state pension. One in three pensioners receive less than €750 net. Many women in Germany receive much lower pensions, or none at all. That's because they worked in low-paid jobs, and many also spent years at home as a stay-at-home wife, often not returning to work long after having children. Reentering the labor market after many years isn't easy, and for many a pension isn't enough to make ends meet. They either work to supplement their pensions or receive state welfare benefits. In addition to the government-run statutory pension insurance system, there are also private company plans and several options for private individual retirement investment plans. As well as periods in contributory employment, time spent raising children, in education, unemployment or illness also count toward pensions. Foreigners who worked and paid contributions in Germany for more than 60 months are entitled to receive a German pension after reaching the official German pensionable age Awaiting new proposals The new government has agreed to have a pension commission to be set up and make reform proposals. This would now happen swiftly, according to Bas. The previous Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) had suggested that the government should take out a loan of initially €12 billion annually and invest it in the stock market. By the mid-2030s, Lindner said the stocks should be worth at least €200 billion to help support the statutory pension scheme. At the time, the SPD was lukewarm on the idea, the CDU/CSU which was then in opposition, dismissed the proposal as insignificant.
