18. Ukrainian refugees get pensions earlier than Germans in Germany. Fake or not?
The rumor was circulating on social networks that refugees from Ukraine are more likely to receive a pension in Germany than Germans, although they would never have paid into pension insurance. “According to the decision of the traffic light coalition, refugees from Ukraine are likely to receive a pension ten years earlier than a German without ever having paid in. This instruction went to the responsible employees of the job centers.” was posted Telegram channel “Conspiracy Newsroom” in March 2022.
For days, the claim has been circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook that refugees from Ukraine are likely to retire ten years earlier than Germans, even if they had never paid contributions in Germany. The entry age begins for women at 57 years, for men from 60 years, while for German “single-payers” it is 67 years. Allegedly, this instruction was sent by e-mail to the job centers.
HOW CAN WE VERIFY THIS?
When drawing a German pension, foreigners have the same entry age as German citizens. The German pension insurance confirms this to the German press agency (dpa): “The statutory retirement age varies – depending on the type of old-age pension – between 63 and 67 years.”
Every person who works in Germany that is subject to social security contributions pays into the pension fund. This means that foreigners such as Ukrainian citizens also acquire pension entitlements.
However, access to the German pension system is more difficult for people from Ukraine. They have a general waiting period of five years. This means that they can only draw a pension once they have paid contributions for five years. This waiting period applies to all foreigners who do not come from EU countries or from countries with which Germany has concluded a special social security agreement. A corresponding agreement was negotiated with Ukraine. This has so far been ratified by the German Bundestag, but not yet by the parliament in Kyiv, reports the German pension insurance. So far, aid for refugees from Ukraine has been granted under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.
However, according to information from the Federal Ministry of Labor, this should change in most cases from June 1, 2022. Then people from the Ukraine of retirement age, like German pensioners, can apply for the so-called basic security in old age if they have little or no income.
WHAT ARE OTHER SOURCES SAYING?
Fact-checking portal Correctiv contacted The Federal Employment Agency (BA) that informed on request by e-mail: “The headquarters of the BA has not published an e-mail order for this.” In Germany, it is also not the job centers that are responsible for pension applications, but the German Pension Insurance (DRV). The contributions to the statutory pension insurance are usually withheld from the salary.
They also found out that social security agreement between Ukraine and Germany has not yet been ratified by both sides. A social security agreement between Ukraine and Germany has been in suspense for several years. The German Pension Insurance informed in 2019 in an article about the contents on which the states had agreed in 2018. Currently, the note is on the DRV website: “On the 7th In November 2018, Germany and Ukraine signed an agreement on social security in Kiev. For the final entry into force, the parliamentary bodies of both states still have to agree.”
The Techniker Krankenkasse explains on its website that Germany ratified the agreement in January 2020. It was on the 17th. January 2020 published in the Federal Gazette. But Ukraine’s approval is still pending. This means that the Ukrainian parliament has not yet approved the treaty, so the social security agreement is currently not in force.
FAKE OR NOT?
This is wrong, and fake, and they have to pay for several years before they receive a pension entitlement, as any other foreigner working abroad.
