For the study “Youth, Retirement Planning, Finances”, the pension provider MetallRente GmbH surveyed 2,700 people between the ages of 17 and 27 about retirement provision.
Results:
→ Three out of four respondents are afraid of being poor in old age – women more than men.
→ Most are aware that they should start thinking about retirement planning early.
→ More than half are already saving for old age.
→ But only a third say they are well informed about retirement security.
The latter applies especially to the state pension, says study author Carmela Aprea. The lack of knowledge is a problem for society as a whole. “People somehow know that the younger generation finances the older one, but they don’t know exactly how the mechanism works.”
The pay-as-you-go pension system faces enormous challenges in the coming years: when the baby boomers, the largest contributor generation, retire and themselves become an “expenditure item”, according to the Mediengruppe Offenbach-Post.
“But it’s worth looking beyond this period. When Gen Z retires in 40 to 45 years, the baby boomers will long since have passed away. What the age ratio of the population will look like then cannot yet be answered reliably. But there are trends: Where soon a few working people will have to support many retirees, in 40 years—due to declining birth rates—it may be the case that a few young people will only have to support a few elderly. The pay-as-you-go system would then be more stable again.”
Accordingly, study author Christian Traxler considers the pessimism about pensions exaggerated. Fears must be taken seriously, he says, but not stoked further. What is needed is “a basis for discussion on how we can prepare the state pension financially for demographic change in the next ten to twenty years and put it on a new footing.”
Kerstin Schminke, managing director of MetallRente, also warns against talking everything down, as has been done for far too long. Instead, solutions should be offered, as well as education and information on the topics of economics, finance, and retirement provision from an early age. This is also what 40% of study participants say they want.
We are contributing to this: retirement provision is an important topic at the herCAREER Expo! We are delighted that a renowned expert like Ute Klammer will be there – as Table Captain at herCAREER@Night and at these events:
▶️ Generational Dialogue: Will the state support me, or do I have to save myself? Young people’s fears about the future and their consequences
▶️ Pension Knowledge in a Nutshell: What you need to know as a woman and mother about pensions
▶️ Talking. Listening. Acting – Generations in conversation about the welfare state of tomorrow
Ute Klammer in a pre-event interview: “We live in a time and society in which people have to take on a great deal of personal responsibility. We are poorly prepared for this, and that must change.”
Posted by Natascha Hoffner, Founder & CEO of herCAREER | Recipient of the FTAfelicitas Award from Femtec.Alumnae e.V. | LinkedIn Top Voice 2020 | Editor of the “Women of the Year” books published by Callwey Verlag
published on LinkedIn on 22.08.2025
