Two in Five German Workers Doubt They Can Work Until Retirement, Union Study Finds

DGB survey: over 40% of workers doubt reaching retirement age; pension reform debate escalates over retirement age, employer contributions, and a €40 billion funding gap.

More than 40 percent of employees do not believe they will be able to remain in the workforce until reaching the statutory retirement age, according to a DGB survey of 28,000 workers conducted between 2022 and 2026. That marks a one-point increase from the previous year, when 39 percent expressed the same doubts. The scepticism spikes sharply among those exposed to physically demanding labour (72 percent), constant noise (61 percent) or intense time pressure (59 percent).

The findings have intensified pressure on Berlin as the governing coalition aims to pass a pension reform by the end of 2026. DGB chairwoman Yasmin Fahimi seized on the numbers to argue that the current reform trajectory shifts too much of the retirement-savings burden onto individuals. She is demanding that employers be legally obliged to pay two percent of each worker’s gross wage into a company pension scheme.

Fahimi rejected proposals from the government’s scientific advisory council to link the retirement age to life expectancy — a move that could push the standard retirement threshold to 73 by 2060. CSU leader Markus Söder has also called for scrapping the "Rente mit 63" early-retirement option for those with 45 contribution years. Resistance is already mounting inside the SPD, where leading figures including Armin Willingmann and Manuela Schwesig oppose any cut to the penalty-free pension after 45 years. Willingmann pointed to declining life expectancy in parts of eastern Germany, notably Saxony-Anhalt.

Unions Attack "Vague" Reform Roadmap

Fahimi criticised the recommendations of the government’s pension commission as too non-committal. A target net replacement rate of 70 percent, she said, lacks concrete enforcement. Verdi chief Frank Werneke joined the attack, warning that a shift toward capital-funded occupational pensions from 2040 — with a mandatory two-percent employee contribution — would undermine the reliability of company pensions. The commission had urged social partners to develop their own solutions.

The German Economic Experts (the "Wirtschaftsweisen") have a different prescription: they propose linking pension adjustments more strongly to inflation rather than wage growth. A comparison with Austria shows that country’s contribution rate to pension insurance stands at 22.8 percent, versus Germany’s 18.6 percent.

€40 Billion Gap and Civil Service Reform

The pension commission also drew attention to a structural funding hole. In 2023, non-contributory benefits totalled €124 billion, while federal subsidies reached only €84 billion — leaving a €40 billion gap. The commission is now calling for all such benefits to be fully financed from tax revenue.

On civil service pensions, the panel recommends extending the mandatory waiting period after a final promotion from two years to between five and ten years. The average civil-service pension currently stands at €3,416 per month, compared with €1,289 for a standard statutory pension. Fully integrating civil servants into the general pension system is widely viewed as constitutionally problematic. The Greens, meanwhile, continue to push for a "citizens’ insurance" that would levy contributions on all types of income.