In one of the most economically backward territories of western Germany – the state of Saarland – pensioners receive the highest pensions in the country
As "Russkaya Germaniya" notes, the financial difference between east and west has been discussed for a long time, and leveling it out is one of the most important tasks in the field of social policy for every cabinet that has come to power since the reunification of Germany. But even in the old federal states, the amount of pensions differs significantly from each other, as evidenced by the data from the "Pension Atlas 2019" (Rentenatlas 2019) – a statistical collection published annually by the German Pension Fund (Deutsche Rentenversicherung).
The highest pensions in Germany are received by men living in North Rhine-Westphalia who have paid contributions to the pension fund for at least 35 years – 1,467 euros. In Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a peer with the same work experience receives 253 euros less – 1,214. The income of a female pensioner in North Rhine-Westphalia is 1,009 euros, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern – 997 (the difference in pension amounts between women is only 12 euros). The average pension in North Rhine-Westphalia regardless of the recipient's gender is 1,323 euros, which puts this federal state only in second place in the all-German list.
The smallest state of the FRG, not counting the city-states, has surged ahead – Saarland: in the former mining region on the border with France, pensioners receive an average of 1,343 euros per month. It is the historically high earnings of those employed in the mining industry (Saarland and North Rhine-Westphalia were the main areas of its prevalence in West Germany) that primarily explain the relatively high average level of pensions in these states.
Overall, in the pension ranking, all 11 western states outpace the five eastern ones – with one exception: East Berlin, which in pension insurance is singled out, like West Berlin, as a separate category, has overtaken three old federal states – Bremen, Lower Saxony, and Bavaria. In the list of women's pensions, East Berlin even came in first place: the average female pensioner receives more there than anywhere else in united Germany – 1,121 euros.
Only in five other states of the FRG did women's pensions reach four figures – in Hamburg (1,076 euros), West Berlin (1,036 euros), Brandenburg (1,014 euros), Hesse (1,011 euros), and North Rhine-Westphalia (1,009 euros).
The high incomes of women with at least 35 years of work experience in the east of the country – primarily in East Berlin – are explained by the large number of female pensioners entitled to pensions under the special calculation system that existed in the former GDR. In addition, in this part of the country, female employment was the norm, whereas in West Germany, few women worked – the vast majority raised children and managed households, and those who did work usually worked part-time.
But even in the former eastern states of Germany, women's pensions are lower than men's, although the difference is far less pronounced than in the west: in the same Saarland, the difference is 456 euros, in North Rhine-Westphalia – 458 euros.