Poverty among the elderly in Germany skyrockets

German media reported on Saturday that some 5.6 million residents over 55 were living in poverty or affected by social marginalization. This is a stark increase - nearly 25 percent - from a decade ago, when the number stood at 4.5 million.

The newspaper "Passauer Neue Presse" published the numbers, collected by the EU statistics agency Eurostat. In the statistics, people are considered as living in poverty or being "socially marginalized" if they earn under 60 percent of the average income in their respective country.

At 20.7 percent, the rate of poverty among the elderly in Germany is just under the EU average of 20.9 percent. But it is far above that in neighboring Netherlands, which has just 11.9 percent of its elderly population in dire financial straits.

"Poverty is spreading all over Germany," said Sabine Zimmerman, a member of parliament with the opposition Left party who analyzed the statistics. "Fighting poverty requires an all-encompassing plan that the current government doesn't appear to be concerned about."

She called for a federal minimum wage of 12 euros ($13.50) and more support for older citizens who are unemployed.

es/tj (AFP, KNA)