Old-age poverty in Germany

Klah Sur

7/2/2024

Transcript

00:00One in five people in Germany is at risk of poverty.

00:05Pensioners are especially affected.

00:09Old age poverty is still a taboo subject in Germany.

00:13It's tolerated as long as no one talks about it.

00:16The tiny pension is not enough to live on.

00:21Please open your eyes. I can't bear it anymore.

00:25I'm not the only one.

00:27Millions of pensioners feel the same way.

00:45We're in Munich.

00:47Inga, who doesn't want to give a full name, is on her way to a free lunch

00:51organised by the association Lichtblick, meaning Ray of Hope.

00:55The 11-year-old only receives a small pension and lives below Germany's poverty line.

01:00I am very careful what I buy when I'm food shopping.

01:04And I generally eat very little.

01:06You forget how to eat when you no longer have the money.

01:09You don't dream about things like, oh, I'll have goose today, for example.

01:14That's just gone from your mind as an option. It's deleted.

01:20One in five German pensioners are in a similar position.

01:24They face the risk of poverty in old age.

01:27In Germany, it is referred to as relative poverty.

01:30In other words, they have less than 60 percent of the average German income.

01:40Enjoy your food.

01:43Inga doesn't meet many new people.

01:46She'd be happy today to make a new friend.

01:49But she is still a little sceptical.

01:54I eat organic and no meat, never.

01:57And what's that? Oh, potatoes.

02:00Beans, potato salad and fried potatoes.

02:05Filling too, isn't it?

02:09There was plenty food and it was good.

02:12But unfortunately, I can't eat that much.

02:15I would have eaten more, but I just can't.

02:18But I did get to know Maria and was able to talk to her a bit.

02:21And gosh, it's a huge place.

02:24I think I'd like to stay here for a week and just read.

02:32Inga never thought she would need help from a charitable organization set up for poor pensioners.

02:38She worked as a nursery school teacher all her life.

02:41But a road accident changed everything.

02:44She got seriously injured through no fault of her own.

02:47Afterwards, she was unable to work and eventually fell into poverty.

02:52I didn't fall into it because I didn't work hard enough.

02:56I fell into it because of a situation that wasn't my fault.

03:00And that's what changed my entire life.

03:03Working, surviving, fighting. I don't know anything else.

03:10Her 800-euro pension is just enough to cover her rent and regular bills.

03:15To buy food, she works as a private child carer for families.

03:19She barely makes ends meet.

03:23Why are you still living this damn life?

03:26And then I tell myself, the children need you.

03:29The children need you.

03:31That's what keeps me going.

03:33Otherwise I think my life would already be over.

03:36I want to say this quite openly to the camera.

03:39There's no more pleasure in life if you can't take part in it.

03:46Ulli also has to make do with very little.

03:49After deducting fixed costs, the pensioner is left with around 300 euros a month.

03:54To take his mind off his financial worries, the 72-year-old likes to cycle through nature.

04:04I meditate a lot in the moor because I have peace and quiet here.

04:08When I meditate, I mentally put my financial worries into little bubbles.

04:13And the wind then carries these little bubbles away with it.

04:20Ulli lives in a small one-bedroom flat near Munich.

04:23His bed is in the living room.

04:25That's all he can afford, but things used to be quite different.

04:29Ulli was a pioneer of digital video transmission and had his own company.

04:37In the good times, I brought home up to 10,000 German marks a month.

04:41I lived in houses that had 180 square meters of living space.

04:45It was a comfortable life.

04:48But soon companies abroad started producing the parts cheaper and smaller.

04:52The globalized market made him go bankrupt.

04:55He lost everything.

05:00I have one little necklace left.

05:02Here, this golden one.

05:04Everything else got confiscated.

05:07And sure, it's justified. It was my mistake.

05:10I didn't put much to the side.

05:12I just thought, we're going to enjoy our lives now.

05:19If you are self-employed in Germany, you don't have to pay into the public pension fund.

05:24Retirement schemes are voluntary and private.

05:27That's why many people end up like Ulli.

05:30They pay too little or nothing at all into the pension fund and end up in old age.

05:35Ulli has developed a method to make ends meet with the little he's got.

05:39An envelope for every week.

05:41The money inside will have to do.

05:47Because I organize myself so systematically, I know where my limits are.

05:52Now, for example, there's only 20 euros left because I had to buy cleaning products this week.

05:59In Gisela's case, neither self-employment nor an accident were the reason for her money problems.

06:05Today, she lives in poverty because she cared for her father for 11 years.

06:12He was always there for his family.

06:15He was always there for his family.

06:18He was always there for his family.

06:21He was always there for his family.

06:24He was always there for his family.

06:27He was always there for his family.

06:29He did everything.

06:31You don't forget that.

06:33That's why I considered it a given to be there for my parents too.

06:39I never gave it a second thought.

06:47It's not just Gisela who suffers the consequences of her own selflessness in old age.

06:52In Germany, one in five people who care for a relative is at risk of falling into poverty.

06:57For female carers, it's even one in four.

07:00They use their time for caring, reduce their working hours, earn less and therefore receive a smaller pension.

07:07The small pension you get is not enough to live on later in life,

07:11which ultimately leads to old age poverty for carers.

07:16But caring for a relative saves the health insurance, the state and everyone involved a lot of money.

07:23It's just so wrong to then not compensate these people enough financially.

07:29Today, the 75-year-old lives in a council flat in Bonn in West Germany,

07:34together with her two cats, her most loyal companions.

07:38She has 600 euros to live on after rent and bills.

07:42That's the minimum you need to live on here.

07:46At the end of the month, there is nothing left.

07:50At least I have my cats, they're like a therapist.

07:54First I use my money to take care of them, that's more important.

07:58I don't need to have much.

08:02When Gisela goes grocery shopping, her money problems become apparent.

08:06She doesn't go to the supermarket much, because there, groceries are often sold in big quantities, which she can't afford.

08:12At the farm shop, though, she can buy smaller amounts.

08:19That's it for you?

08:21Yes.

08:24I bought some apples, a small cucumber, which is enough for me for two days, and the carrots.

08:30You can make salad and soup out of that.

08:36Gisela expresses her frustration about the growing poverty in Germany in poems.

08:42People, especially women who are much engaged, can build on poverty in old age.

08:49I think you have to draw attention to it again and again.

08:53Not with force, but with this.

08:55You have to call a spade a spade, hoping that it will bring change.

09:00At Uli's favorite coffee place, this change has already come about.

09:04At Café Elementar, there are no fixed prices for cakes and cappuccinos.

09:09You donate what you can give.

09:11For Uli, it's a place where he really feels at home.

09:15Here, he met Rainer and Lore, and found something that money can't buy.

09:23You can come in here and be a guest.

09:26Not as a beggar.

09:29A human being.

09:35As a valued human being.

09:39Exactly. Whether you're sad, whether you're happy or angry.

09:44It's not your wallet that counts here, but mutual support.

09:48This has built me up so much, I could cry right now.

09:54It was so beautiful.

09:56And that's fine. What we have here is not felt here, but here.

10:01As you said earlier, Rainer, the food you eat disappears, the clothes go,

10:05but your experiences, your feelings, they stay forever.

10:09What the café is to Uli, the Bible is for Inga.

10:13She reads it every day.

10:15It helps her to overcome the fear of what might happen

10:18should she one day not be able to get up and work anymore.

10:23But sometimes, she loses her courage.

10:27It's not easy.

10:29It's not easy.

10:32It's not easy.

10:34But sometimes, she loses her courage.

10:38I don't want to go on anymore.

10:41And I want to tell everyone out there,

10:43us Germans, we don't have it good either.

10:47Please open your eyes.

10:51The reason I'm speaking so openly is because I can't do it anymore.

10:57And I'm not the only one.

11:00Millions of pensioners feel the same way.

11:05Inga finds new strength in nature.

11:07Because deep inside, she's a fighter with a clear message.

11:16Go out and fight.

11:18Raise your voice to say, we can't go on like this.

11:23Encourage everyone to help their parents.

11:25Don't let them down.

11:27And don't leave them alone.

11:29Stand up for this injustice.

11:31Uli also hopes for change.

11:33He's learned to make do with little.

11:35But instead, he would prefer politicians

11:38to distribute Germany's wealth more fairly.

11:42What I hope for from politics is justice.

11:45Even handed justice.

11:47I want to hear, people, you've worked hard.

11:50You've created the foundations for us.

11:52Now you can rest.

11:55I don't see that.

11:57On the contrary, the gap between rich and poor

12:00is actually getting wider and wider.

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