Old-age poverty in Germany | DW Documentary

Gisela, Inga and Ulrich are pensioners – and poor. They’re constantly short on cash, even though they worked as hard as they could.

One out of five pensioners in Germany is considered to be at risk of poverty. Among women, the figure is even higher. The reasons vary widely. Gisela had decided to take care of her elderly father – meaning she couldn’t make enough payments into the pension fund. She’s feeling the consequences now, as she has to count every penny. Inga is in a similar situation. She had an accident that stopped her from working full time. Now she’s trying to save money wherever possible – especially on groceries. Ulrich was self-employed and earned well. But then his business went bust, and his savings are long gone. Three different life stories, one problem: With retirement came poverty. A film by Tessa Clara Walther and Melina Grundmann.

00:00 Intro
00:54 Out and about with Inga in Munich
02:36 How Inga slipped into poverty
04:27 Ulli used to earn a lot
06:18 Gisela cared for her father
10:26 Hope

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One in five people in Germany is at risk of poverty. Pensioners are especially affected. Old-age poverty is still a taboo subject in Germany. It’s tolerated as long as no one talks about it. The tiny pension is not enough to live on. Please open your eyes. I can’t bare it anymore. I’m not the only one. Millions of pensioners feel the same way. We’re in Munich. Inga, who doesn’t want to give her full name, is on her way to a free lunch organized by the association “Lichtblick” – meaning ray of hope. The 67-year-old only receives a small pension and lives below Germany’s poverty line. I am very careful what I buy when I’m food shopping. And I generally eat very little. You forget how to eat when you no longer have the money. You don’t dream about things like: ‘Oh, I’ll have goose today’, for example. That’s just gone from your mind as an option, it’s deleted. One in five German pensioners are in a similar position. They are at risk of poverty in old age. In Germany, it is referred to as relative poverty. In other words, they have less than 60% of the average German income. Enjoy your food. Inga doesn’t meet many new people. She’d be happy today to make a new friend. But she is still a little sceptical. I eat organic, and no meat, never. And what’s that? Oh potatoes. Beans, potato salad and fried potatoes. Filling too, isn’t it? There was plenty food- and it was good. But unfortunately, I can’t eat that much. I would have eaten more, but I just can’t. But I did get to know Maria and was able to talk to her a bit. And gosh, it’s a huge place. I think I’d like to stay here for a week and just read. Inga never thought she would need help from a charitable organization set up for poor pensioners. She worked as a nursery schoolteacher all her life. But a road accident changed everything- she got seriously injured through no fault of her own. Afterwards, she was unable to work. And eventually fell into poverty. I didn’t fall into it because I didn’t work hard enough, I fell into it because of a situation that wasn’t my fault. And that’s what changed my entire life. Working, surviving, fighting. I don’t know anything else. Her 800-euro pension is just enough to cover her rent and regular bills. To buy food, she works as a private child-carer for families. She barely makes ends meet. Why are you still living this damn life? And then I tell myself: the children need you, the children need you. That’s what keeps me going. Otherwise, I think my life would already be over. I want to say this quite openly to the camera. There’s no more pleasure in life if you can’t take part in it. Ulli also has to make do with very little. After deducting fixed costs, the pensioner is left with around 300 euros a month. To take his mind off his financial worries, the 72-year-old likes to cycle through nature. I meditate a lot in the moor because I have peace and quiet here. When I meditate, I mentally put my financial worries into little bubbles. And the wind then carries these little bubbles away with it. Ulli lives in a small one-bedroom flat near Munich. His bed is in the living room. That’s all he can afford, but things used to be quite different. Ulli was a pioneer of digital video transmission and had his own company. In the good times, I brought home up to 10,000 German marks a month. I lived in houses that had 180 square meters of living space. It was a comfortable life. But soon companies abroad started producing the parts cheaper and smaller – the globalized market made him go bankrupt. He lost everything. I have one little necklace left. Here, this golden one. Everything else got confiscated. And sure, it’s justified, it was my mistake. I didn’t put much to the side. I just thought: we’re going to enjoy our lives now. If you are self-employed in Germany, you don’t have to pay into the public pension fund. Retirement schemes are voluntary and private. That’s why many people end up like Ulli – they pay too little or nothing at all into a pension fund and end up in old-age poverty. Ulli has developed a method to make ends meet with the little he’s got: An envelope for every week – the money inside will have to do. Because I organize myself so systematically, I know where my limits are. Now, for example, there’s only 20 euros left because I had to buy cleaning products this week. In Gisela’s case, neither self-employment nor an accident were the reason for her money problems. Today, she lives in poverty because she cared for her father for eleven years. He was always there for his family, he did everything. You don’t forget that. That’s why I considered it a given to be there for my parents, too. I never gave it a second thought. It’s not just Gisela who suffers the consequences of her own selflessness in old age. In Germany, one in five people who care for a relative is at risk of falling into poverty. For female carers, it is even one in four. They use their time for caring, reduce their working hours, earn less and therefore receive a smaller pension. The small pension you get is not enough to live on later in life, which ultimately leads to old-age poverty for carers. But caring for a relative saves the health insurance, the state and everyone involved a lot of money. It’s just so wrong to then not compensate these people enough financially. Today, the 75-year-old lives in a council flat in Bonn in West Germany, together with her two cats, her most loyal companions. She has 600 euros to live on after rent and bills. That’s the minimum you need to live on here. At the end of the month, there is nothing left. At least I have my cats, they’re like a therapist. First, I use my money to take care of them. That’s more important. I don’t need to have much. When Gisela goes grocery shopping, her money problems become apparent. She doesn’t go to the supermarket much, because there, groceries are often sold in big quantities, which she can’t afford. At the farm shop though, she can buy smaller amounts. That’s it for you? Yes. I bought some apples, a small cucumber, which is enough for me for two days, and the carrots. You can make salad and soup out of that. Gisela expresses her frustration about the growing poverty in Germany in poems. People, especially women who are much engaged, can build on poverty in old age. I think you have to draw attention to it again and again. Not with force, but with this . You have to call a spade a spade, hoping that it will bring change. At Ulli’s favorite coffee place, this change has already come about. At “Café Elementar”, there are no fixed prices for cakes and cappuccinos, you donate what you can give. For Ulli, it’s a place where he really feels at home. Here he met Rainer and Lore – and found something that money can’t buy. You can come in here and be a guest. Not as a beggar. A human being. As a valued human being. Exactly. Whether you’re sad, whether you’re happy, or angry. It’s not your wallet that counts here, but mutual support. This has built me up so much, I could cry right now. It was so beautiful. And that’s fine. What we have here is not felt here, but here. As you said earlier Rainer, the food you eat disappears, the clothes go, but your experiences, your feelings, they stay forever. What the café is to Ulli, the Bible is for Inga. She reads it every day. It helps her to overcome the fear of what might happen should she one day not be able to get up and work anymore. But sometimes she loses her courage. I don’t want to go on anymore. And I want to tell everyone out there: us Germans, we don’t have it good either. Please, open your eyes! The reason I’m speaking so openly is because I can’t do it anymore. And I’m not the only one. Millions of pensioners feel the same way. Inga finds new strength in nature. Because deep inside, she is a fighter – with a clear message. Go out and fight. Raise your voice to say: we can’t go on like this. Encourage everyone to help their parents. Don’t let them down and don’t leave them alone. Stand up for this injustice. Ulli also hopes for change. He’s learned to make do with little. But instead, he would prefer politicians to distribute Germany’s wealth more fairly. What I hope for from politics is justice, even-handed justice. I want to hear: people, you’ve worked hard, you’ve created the foundations for us. Now you can rest. I don’t see that. On the contrary, the gap between rich and poor is actually getting wider and wider.