Berlin, 16 November (IANS). A new report has come out regarding the elderly in Germany. Eurostat data showed that some 3.2 million elderly people over the age of 65 in Germany are at risk of poverty.
The poverty rate of senior citizens in Germany has remained stable in recent years, Xinhua news agency quoted German news agency DPA as saying. 3.245 million senior citizens are affected in the year 2023 and 3.157 million in 2022.
However, this figure is a far cry from 2013, when just 2.4 million elderly people in Germany were at risk of poverty.
In fact, at-risk of poverty is defined as when a person’s income after social benefits is less than 60 percent.
The elderly population in Germany has increased in the last several years. In the year 1991, the population of elderly was 12 million, which will increase to 18.7 million in the year 2022.
According to the Federal Statistical Office, this demographic shift means that the elderly population has become a larger share of the country’s population.
Meanwhile, the debate on the issue of poverty of the elderly has intensified in the country regarding pension reforms. There is considerable disagreement among German political parties over possible solutions. According to DPA, major changes are unlikely to happen before the new government is formed.
–IANS
FM/ABM
