€6,840 yearly: German lawmakers back monthly state pension contributions for children; families able to add more

Monthly savings for children

The Bundestag approved a scheme that would provide children from age six through 18 with €10 each month for private retirement savings. The legislation must still pass the Bundesrat, Germany’s states’ representative body.

Members of the governing conservatives and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) praised the measure. SPD lawmaker Michael Thews said it could help many people build adequate retirement savings, while CDU/CSU finance spokesperson Fritz Güntzler said it would introduce young people to capital markets.

Concerns over unequal contributions

Parents and grandparents would be able to contribute up to €6,840 a year in addition to the state payment. Opposition lawmakers warned that this could give children from wealthier families a substantial advantage.

Threats reported after protest

Representatives of Germany’s Jewish Student Union (JSUD) say they have received death threats after blocking AfD lawmaker Hans-Thomas Tillschneider from a synagogue commemoration in Halle. The event marked seven years since an antisemitic attack on the synagogue.

JSUD chairman Ron Dekel told the RND media group that the students had faced increased hostility, including death threats. He defended the protest, saying right-wing extremists should not be at a synagogue while survivors and victims’ relatives were mourning.

Dekel criticizes Berlin party

Dekel also accused parts of Berlin’s socialist Left Party of antisemitism. He urged the party’s prospective coalition partners, the SPD and the Greens, to take the accusation into account.