Germany's baby boomers are retiring. Those born between 1955 and 1969, when the birth rate was at an all-time high, are also living longer. The workforce is not growing at the same rate. So who will pay the elderly's pensions? A considerable chunk of the federal budget goes into propping up the statuary pension system and the new Labor Minister, Bärbel Bas from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), has reiterated an idea of how to partially fix that.

The pension system in Germany, established in 1889, is based on a public retirement insurance scheme in which the pensions of current retirees are paid using insurance contributions from the currently employed — a system known as the "intergenerational contract."

The self-employed are not obliged to contribute; they can pay into the state pension system voluntarily or opt for a private pension.

The public pension scheme, also referred to as statutory pension insurance, is mandatory only for employees. The self-employed may pay into the state system or rely entirely on private insurance schemes. Civil servants have their own pension system. These two groups make up around 12% of the working population.

Many left-leaning politicians insist the only way to save the state-run system is by forcing all members of these well-paid groups of people to pay into the state retirement fund.

The new Minister of Labor and Social........

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