Mother's pension III: cost explosion and technical hurdles are looming!

Mother's pension III: cost explosion and technical hurdles are looming!

The federal government plans to introduce mothers' pension III on January 1, 2027, which represents a significant reform in pension policy. However, the German Pension Insurance (DRV) warns of significant technical hurdles and estimates the annual costs at around five billion euros. This reform is intended to take into account parenting periods for children born before 1992 with three pension points, which could enable many pensioners to increase their pension by around 20 euros a month. However, this increase could be offset against social benefits for those in need. Loud fr.de The DRV has to check around 26 million pensions and make adjustments to over ten million pensions.

Anja Piel, the head of the DRV, emphasizes the need for extensive IT adjustments and quality assurance work. A 10 percent error rate could require manual review of approximately one million accounts. Such complexity has led to criticism in the political debate. CSU politician Klaus Holetschek expressed doubts about the complexity of the task and called for a realistic assessment of its feasibility.

Economic consequences

The Ifo Institute predicts a decline in gross domestic product of 0.1 percentage points next year, which could be due to the lack of relief for pensioners. This reform could affect business and consumer trust in the government. There are already no funds planned for the implementation of mother's pension III in the 2027 budget; Finance Minister Klingbeil is not planning spending until 2028.

However, the coalition committee has decided to provide mother's pension III with an option for later technical implementation and retroactive payment. The DRV has stated that implementation will not be possible until 2028 at the earliest. Over 10 million pensions must be recalculated taking individual employment histories and all legal statuses into account. The recalculation requires extensive adjustments to the IT systems, especially for the child-rearing periods, which often go back decades.

Complications in implementation

It will be particularly challenging to examine the impact on other pension benefits, such as survivors' pensions, which could also be affected. An early start to the mother's pension III would make subsequent payment necessary. It also needs to be clarified whether a separate procedure is required for payment before 2028. The complexity of the procedure is likely to lead to additional work for other social service providers.

Ultimately, the implementation of the mother's pension III requires not only adjustments at a technical level, but also a comprehensive reassessment of existing benefits, such as housing benefit payments and basic security, which may have to be recalculated retroactively. The coalition agreement provides for these non-contributory benefits to be financed from tax revenue, which could further burden the already strained budget situation. For many affected families, mother's pension III remains an issue full of uncertainty.