East beats West: women's pensions are 357 euros higher!

East beats West: women's pensions are 357 euros higher!

A look at the pension landscape in Germany reveals a striking difference between East and West. Women in western German states have to make do with an average pension of less than 1,000 euros per month, while their counterparts in the east will receive an average of 1,218 euros in 2023. That's a whopping 357 euros more, as radioenneperuhr.de reports. The highest pension for women can be found in Potsdam with an impressive 1,314 euros, while in the Eifel district of Bitburg-Prüm, Rhineland-Palatinate, pensioners have to get by on just 668 euros.

How do these noticeable differences come about? A central factor is labor market participation. In the old federal states, many women were housewives for family reasons and often only worked part-time. This has a long-term negative impact on your pension. Men in the old federal states, on the other hand, receive a pension that is on average two-thirds higher than that of women. While men in the West can expect a pension of 1,430 euros, the figure in the East is only slightly lower at 1,416 euros.

Regional differences and explanations

The differences in pension levels are also regional. In Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia, for example, men have a particularly high pension, which is on average over 2,000 euros. At the same time, pensions for women here are shockingly low. In the Ruhr area, especially in the Bottrop district, men's pensions even reach 1,686 euros, while the lowest men's pension in the Waldshut district in the southern Black Forest is 1,201 euros, below the level of many women in eastern Germany.

The data makes it clear that the pension level in Germany depends not only on the amount of contributions paid, but also on social structures and people's lifestyles. In the East, women have managed to achieve high, long-term participation in the workforce, which has a positive impact on pension entitlements. In contrast, the West has long upheld the single-earner model, which has led to long breaks in employment for women. It also becomes clear that the current statistics do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about poverty in old age, as personal provision is often not included in the calculation, as demografie-portal.de notes.

30 years after reunification

The development of the pension situation in Germany is also part of a larger social change. Studies by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of German reunification show that East and West Germany have come closer in many areas. For example, the employment rates of West German mothers have improved compared to East German mothers. The difference used to be 22 percentage points, but now it is only 4 percentage points, which shows that the compatibility of work and family is increasingly being taken seriously in the West. Nevertheless, full-time employment remains higher among East German mothers, which continues to have a major influence on the pension situation, as diw.de explains.

In summary, it should be noted that the pension landscape in Germany is much more than just numbers - it reflects social structures and changes that have had a formative effect over generations. The differences between regions force reflection on future strategies to improve pension provision for all.