On March 03, 2023, the German politician Heidi Reichinnek from the Left Party posted a TikTok claiming, that 80% of working women cannot provide for themselves and a child in the long term. This claim turns out to be mostly true.
Reichinneks TikTok contains an excerpt from her speech to the Bundestag, in which she addresses the issue of mini-jobs. In her further remarks, she refers to the problematic income situation of mothers who, despite working, are unable to secure their livelihood independently and develop a dependency on their partner.
Heidi Reichinnek takes the 80% figure from a brochure published by the German Trade Union Federation 2020. The percentage is based on own calculations by defacto – Social science research & consultancy e.U. Based on the continuity of employment, the number of hours worked per week and the hourly wage, it was calculated that 79% of working women (aged 25 to 55) are not able to care for themselves and a child on their current income in the long term.
The necessary minimum
The Federal Ministry for Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Bmfsfj) has defined a minimum subsistence level. It is made up of the basic needs (benefits for food, clothing, personal hygiene, household goods and personal needs of daily life), the costs of accommodation and the basic amounts (insurances, old-age provision and advertising costs).
For example, the average amount for a single person according to this calculation was 873 euros in 2018. It should be noted that the Bmfsfj used the amounts of SGB II recipients to calculate the flat-rate accommodation costs. SGB II, also known as “Unemployment Benefit II” or Hartz IV, is a basic security benefit in Germany aimed at ensuring the subsistence level for individuals capable of working but in need of financial support.
For the many women who do not claim these benefits, a higher amount is therefore to be expected.
Moreover, no children or their maintenance obligations are included in this sum. For single parents with one child, there are therefore additional expenses which, according to the Federal Statistical Office, amount to an average of 710 euros per month.
The necessary gross monthly income for a single parent with one child is 2,881 euros, according to the ESF Cross-Sectoral Agency.
According to the Bmfsfj, around 8% of women and just under 3% of men in Germany work in mini-jobs. The maximum monthly wage is 538 euros. Even with the child allowance of 250 euros, it is not enough to provide for oneself and a child.
The problems of making a living
Leonie Kleinschrot, a researcher at the Federal Institute for Population Research, cannot confirm the percentage quoted by Reichinnek. However, she can confirm the statement that the majority of mothers do not have a secure job.
“This is due to the fact that women’s earnings are lower than men’s, that women are more likely to work part-time and that they are more likely to take longer breaks from work to have children. Ultimately, this is reflected in the high at-risk-of-poverty rate for single-parent families, the higher SGB II rate for single-parent households and the high level of old-age poverty among women.”
According to the Federal Statistical Office, women earn 18% less per hour than men. In addition to this gender pay gap, there is also a gender (working) time gap. Around 48% of women aged 20-64 work part-time and therefore have a lower weekly working hours. This also includes women without children. If we focus only on mothers, 66% of them work part-time. The figure for fathers is only 7%.
As mentioned by Kleinschrot, the increased SGB II rate of single mothers is around 36% in 2024.
The Hamburg Institute of International Economics has also calculated the gender pay gap in relation to old age poverty.According to this, working women have earned on average 50% less than men over the course of their careers.
The extent of the interruption effect is far more significant than the gender effect. Women lose far more income than men through interruptions and part-time work.
The focus of the calculations
The Bfsfj conducted its own study and came to a different conclusion.
According to this study, more than two-thirds of working mothers manage to earn an income with which they can provide for themselves. However, the focus was very much on the current situation and only the basic living costs were calculated (the previously mentioned minimum requirement for material security).
The calculations of the German Confederation of Trade Unions take more factors into account, such as income stability, pension provision and living conditions.
However, it is difficult to make specific calculations here. As Kleinschrot also mentions, it is not clear in which life situation or partnership the women in question are, what kind of income they have, and what exactly is meant by “providing for themselves and a child”. In the above, the focus was mainly on single parents with one child, but many factors are still missing.
Conclusion
Due to the variability of definitions and data sources, it is not possible to make a valid and usable extrapolation. However, Reichinek’s statement is supported by statistics which show that women are significantly more likely to be employed in part-time or mini-jobs, receive lower hourly wages and are more likely to be affected by old-age poverty. This underlines the general problem, even if the specific percentage (80%) cannot be precisely established. Therefore, EUfactcheck qualifies Heidi Reichinneks claim to be mostly true.
RESEARCH | ARTICLE | Vera Landes, Hochschule der Medien Stuttgart, Germany
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