Low-income households in Germany are already particularly burdened by social security contributions. The financial burden will increase further if the level of contributions continues to rise in order to compensate for the consequences of demographic change. Considering current crises and challenges, such as the recent rise in inflation, this Monitor examines whether it makes sense to introduce an allowance in the social security system.
The results of the model calculations show that the introduction of an allowance could significantly reduce the financial burden on households. An allowance of 750 euros per month would reduce the financial burden on employees subject to social security contributions by an average of 48 to 142 euros per month, depending on how it is designed.
However, many questions remain unanswered regarding the exact design of the allowance, such as the specific amount of an allowance or the definition of the target group. It is also unclear how an allowance would affect employees in the long run if fewer contributions are paid into the statutory pension scheme over the course of a lifetime. A corresponding reform of the social security system would also entail very high costs for the financing of public budgets, which could not be offset by raising the contribution assessment ceiling. The results therefore suggest that the introduction of an allowance would firstly make an (already complicated) financing system even more complicated and secondly would be too expensive.