Maternal pension

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The term mother's pension is a political catchphrase from the 2013 Bundestag election campaign. It stands for the introduction of pension law recognition of an additional year as child-rearing time for mothers or fathers born before 1992. This is intended to reduce the difference to parents of children born after 1992.

The topic of “mother's pension” was a central election campaign topic of the CDU / CSU and was included in the coalition agreement between the CDU / CSU and the SPD . The legal implementation was decided on May 23, 2014 by the German Bundestag as part of the so-called "pension package" and came into force on July 1, 2014. It also applies to parents who are already drawing a pension.

The recognition of child-rearing periods in addition to the statutory pension is generally regulated in Section 56, Book Six of the Social Code, for children born before January 1, 1992 in Section 249, Book Six of the Social Code, and for pensions existing on June 30, 2014, Section 307d SGB ​​VI applies .

History of origin

  • Unequal treatment:
The initiative for a higher “mother's pension” was based on the regulation in the statutory pension insurance system in Germany until June 2014 , according to which the child-rearing period for children born after January 1, 1992 is three years, but only one year for children born before January 1, 1992 .
  • Constitutional Compliance:
A central argument for the introduction of the “mother's pension” is to eliminate or attenuate the unequal treatment given by the reference date regulation. The worse position associated with the cut-off date regulation was, however, already considered constitutional by the Federal Constitutional Court in 1996 .
  • Campaign theme 2013:
In the election campaign for the 2013 federal election , the CDU and CSU used the initiative (originally introduced by the CSU) to promote the “mother's pension”. Together with their new coalition partner, the SPD, this was decided in the coalition agreement. Among other things, it says there: “The upbringing of children is a basic requirement for the intergenerational contract of the pension insurance. While child-rearing periods have been comprehensively recognized under pension law since 1992, this was not the case for earlier cohorts. We will close this justice gap. ”On the other hand, it was pointed out during the election campaign that this measure would burden the federal budget because of the contribution from tax revenues.
  • Legal resolution / effectiveness:
The inclusion of an additional year of parenting for the upbringing of children born before 1992 was decided by the German Bundestag on May 23, 2014, the Bundesrat approved the entire pension package of the grand coalition (with the maternal pension as a partial aspect) on June 13, 2014 . The law came into force on July 1, 2014.

Previous and new regulations

Regulation until June 30, 2014

According to the legal situation in force until June 30, 2014, children born before January 1, 1992 could be credited with one year of child-rearing time. This could lead to a monthly pension of 28.14 euros in the west and 25.74 euros in the east (as of June 30, 2014). These values ​​correspond to an additional personal earnings point .

For children born after 1991, on the other hand, up to three years of upbringing could be recognized - which can bring three personal earnings points, thus a pension increase of 84.42 euros per month in the west and 77.22 euros in the east.

Regulation from July 1, 2014

In order to alleviate this unequal distribution and to honor the lifetime achievement of parents with children born before 1992, mothers or fathers can count on 2 years of child-rearing periods per child for their children born before 1992 from 1 July 2014 instead of 1 year. This means: For every child born before 1992, mothers or fathers can receive a further 28.61 euros per month in the west and a further 26.39 euros more in the east for their parenting benefits (value of one earnings point from July 1, 2014). The credit for children born after 1992 (with three earnings points) remains unchanged.

For reasons of simplification, the pension will not be recalculated for pensioners who were already entitled to the pension on June 30, 2014 before the new regulation was introduced. Rather, the pension insurance pays according to § 307d SGB ​​VI for the additional child-rearing period a surcharge to the monthly pension in the value of a personal earnings point. This surcharge is paid as a whole to the parent whose pension includes child-rearing time for the twelfth calendar month after the month of birth. The surcharge does not have to be requested separately.

In the case of parents who are not yet receiving a pension, a binding decision has often already been made as to which parent the child-rearing period for the first 12 months is to be allocated to for children born before 1992. The allocation of the new additional child-rearing periods is also based on this.

If the parents have previously made a joint declaration regarding the assignment, which concerned the 12th month of child-rearing time or the periods of consideration from the 13th month onwards, this declaration cannot be revoked. It therefore determines the assignment of the new times. It is no longer possible to submit a joint declaration for the first time regarding the parenting periods for children born before 1992.

If a binding decision has not yet been made on the child-rearing times, the recognition of the additional child-rearing times and their allocation to a parent is based on the unchanged general rules. There are no special requirements for the additional child-rearing periods. Mothers and fathers can apply to the pension insurance company to determine the child-rearing periods.

A higher pension resulting from the new maternal pension scheme will be offset against the respective top-up amount for people who receive basic security - as with every increase in the pension.

financing

The federal government wants to finance the pension reform initially from the pension fund. From 2018 onwards (to the current federal share for child-rearing periods) tax funds will then be used for the pension reform. According to calculations by the German Institute for Economic Research, 40% of the maternal pension is financed by pensioners (renouncing pension increases), 48% by DRV contributors (employers and employees) and 12% by increasing the tax-financed federal subsidy.

The German pension insurance advocates the full financing of maternal pensions by federal funds, since it is a task for society as a whole and there is no reason "why the contributors should also finance maternal pensions for those who have never paid into the pension insurance themselves (e.g. B. Self-employed, doctors, lawyers, pharmacists, architects) ”, but still have claims.

According to the Social Advisory Council, “pensions from the parenting periods of children born before January 1, 1992 [...] are the responsibility of the federal government.” He advocates that “the planned expansion of the recognition of child parenting periods by providing the additional funds required for this from the federal budget is financed. This is also necessary in order not to endanger the financial sustainability of the statutory pension insurance. "

Votes of the parties on the Bundestag resolution

On May 23, 2014, the German Bundestag approved the federal government's pension package in a final reading (with 460 approvals, 64 rejections, 60 abstentions). One of the priorities in this package is "better recognition of child-rearing periods (maternal pension) for children born before 1992". Voices from the parties (excerpts):

  • Andrea Nahles (SPD): The pension package is a signal that those who have created it will also benefit from the prosperity.
  • Karl Schiewerling (Union parliamentary group): The package offers more justice for millions of mothers. Without the educational achievement of millions of women, today's prosperity would be inconceivable.
  • Matthias W. Birkwald ( Die Linke ): The request 18/765 by Die Linke to make all child-rearing periods completely equal was rejected in the Bundestag. On the overall package: "A lot remains bad."
  • Markus Kurth ( Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen ): There is no sustainable funding for the reform in any way. We will still remember the decision made today when the pension insurance reserves were used up in 2018.

Public response

The mother's pension is rejected by the Advisory Council for the Assessment of Overall Economic Development , the Central Association of German Crafts , the BDA or the Association of Family Businesses as economically damaging and not appropriate for the generations, as it overburdens the pension funds.

Several organizations, such as the German pension insurance , Caritas , the social advisory board or the German trade union federation , do not reject the mother's pension as such, but only its financing from the pension system: It leads to contribution increases or the failure to implement possible contribution reductions. They demand that the societal task of “crediting children in the pension” must also be borne by society as a whole, that is, financed from tax revenue and must not be made from pension contributions.

According to a survey conducted by the Allensbach Institute for Demoscopy in February 2014 with over 1,500 interviews, 59% of the population are in favor of the mother's pension; according to another - here on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs - the agreement is even 79%.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Law on performance improvements in statutory pension insurance (RV Performance Improvement Act) of 23 June 2014, text and synopsis of the changes ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 787 )
  2. ↑ No acceptance decision of March 29, 1996, Az .: 1 BvR 1238/95
  3. ↑ ZEIT ONLINE Union comes to an agreement in the pension dispute
  4. ↑ Bundespreesseportal Mütterrente from 1.7.2014
  5. ↑ cf. For example ZDFcheck: Volker Kauder (CDU): Mothers' pensions will not burden the federal budget - not true ( memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), July 16, 2013
  6. ↑ René Braun, Julian Brode: The so-called mother's pension. German Bundestag, accessed on March 10, 2014 .
  7. ↑ Bundestag printed matter 18/909, page 25
  8. ↑ German Pension Insurance ( Memento from June 24, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  9. ↑ SPIEGEL Online Nahles needs more tax money for their pension package
  10. ↑ Süddeutsche Zeitung of July 11, 2018 Pensioners help finance maternal pensions
  11. ↑ Mothers' pension: Full federal funding required. German Pension Insurance, February 13, 2014, accessed on March 10, 2014 .
  12. ^ Pension fund of the State Medical Association of Hesse, mothers' pension for members of professional pension institutions
  13. ↑ Opinion of the Social Advisory Council on the 2013 Pension Insurance Report. Accessed on March 10, 2014 .
  14. ^ German Bundestag text archive
  15. ^ Die Zeit : Wirtschaftweise warn against minimum wage and childcare allowance , from November 13, 2013
  16. ↑ tz: running the gauntlet for the federal government. Experts tear apart Nahles' pension plans , May 6, 2014
  17. ↑ German Association Forum Press release on maternal pensions : [1] , from May 6, 2014
  18. ^ Süddeutsche Zeitung : Social Advisory Board warns against reaching into the pension fund , from December 1, 2013
  19. ↑ Die Welt: DGB urges tax financing , from January 15, 2014
  20. ^ WDR : New Debate on Pension Justice ( Memento from June 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), from March 9, 2014
  21. ^ Initiative New Social Market Economy : Response to the government plans for the pension system and the labor market ( Memento of July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on June 11, 2014
  22. ↑ BMAS This is how Germany thinks