Germany’s poor pensioners | DW Documentary

[Music] yes when you collect bottles it always looks like you're out making or like you're poor then poor or a levy on this it's hard work but habit couldn't get by without the deposit bottles he collects he scours Hamburg's reeperbahn entertainment strip at night Herbert worked hard all his life but hasn't enough to live on many German retirees take low-paying part-time jobs or like habit collect bottles for 25 cents I wouldn't have seen it I would because you get a knife for them 2:30 a.m. on Hamburg's reeperbahn people are out til the wee hours in the night light district nothing in their habits looking for deposit bottles he can get a few cents back at the store what'll that one get you eight cents it's not much it adds up first it was hard to collect bottles of the people it's only flashing Susannah the angle or did you have table but I'm alright with it now at yet skates that's how I pretty much go against to it now it's no big deal then had safe house right yeah that's right but ten bottles is 80 cents see nothin get a coffee for that he's 65 years old and habit isn't his real name he'd rather we didn't say it collecting bottles is no fun for him it means picking through garbage and poking around corners he'd rather not poke around Bharti can make a lot of money when the weather's nice saw after festivals in four days over 200 euros you bet swipe on that all going out every night you can do it for four days and before you know it you've got quite a bit walk talk you know and you have to transport them it's a bit easier with a car my oldest address like there heathered can barely afford it but he can't do without his old car he uses it to store the bottles at night when the supermarkets are closed how much so far whew all euros it's limited Herbert has to watch every cent but he doesn't fret over it anymore he does get annoyed when millions are spent on prestige buildings that's just not and for just the little glass with a few holes in the side oh well hamburg's got the cash he means the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg's new and rather expensive concert hall now one of the city's prime landmarks and a symbol of German prosperity Oh 2 euros 20 their own money this month that's the rest for this month I get my next payment on Friday and I'll spread it out so I can make ends meet nothing in the bank me no leaks Mia maybe 65 cents less she said she like no it's not worth thinking about definitely but I'll get some more on Friday oh and I can get by till Friday hood he used to go out to sea on big trips to America Asia and Australia he trained as a welder at Hamburg famous Blohm & Voss shipyard bonk who got job for the job and well-paid as a trainee you didn't get very much but you were working with and learning and that was worth something or des law I need you serviette what did you imagine your old age would be like wow I didn't I wasn't even thinking about old age at that time now Hobart lives in a small flat in Hamburg Styles hop quarter a social hotspot poverty has become a serious problem for Germany's elderly about 1 million more senior citizens are close to poverty now than 10 years ago Howard has to wait outside straights rules easy ones once a week a trip to the food bank helped avert get by that's a vegan dish no vegan no no thanks no no thanks I don't eat vegan begone people in need can take as many groceries as they require for just 2 euros it's mostly donated by supermarkets sponge off the state we hear that again and again as the reason older people don't take advantage of the food banks what's your first visit they seemed I was quite shy I was scared to be honest why I felt like I was begging so now I've got used to it it's about dignity yeah yes you get used to it okay now I've got used to it see I got one could you give me one of those system what is that yeah that's fine hebard worked all his life he has a cheap apartment at the edge of town but still can't make ends meet on his pension just look he won't do anything did you come out I know you're lying under the couch come on out here his pension comes to around 900 euros a month nearly half of it goes on rent do you ever think you won't make it lunch muffled and sometimes that's why you can't start to despair and think oh hell was it all but then I always tell myself no there are always those who are worse off than I am off living here and there really are keep this your vehicle Asia habit is separated from his wife his daughter can't help him out she's struggling with poverty herself what I'd like to do is travel to Sydney Australia that so I think the city's so fascinating I'll I need just that looking opera house there it's been there for many many decades already that would be the city and the country I'd like to see one more time over but I couldn't afford that so yeah it's way beyond my financial means in every way but that's my wish other deaths feel as though my dwarf habit was born in this building in central Hamburg yeah yeah fine yeah you went in here sorry this was the entrance his father died young but his mother always had enough to get by even in her later years Herbert sees the current situation as unfair do you be holy what kind of pension can the young people expect who are in their 20s and finishing their studying today just think about it a new da there's hardly anything at all that's is so jolly Saturday morning just before 5:00 Herbert is on the streets a Findus head I think it's gorgeous here by the harbor I really like it he ever would his pension is in his account but Hobart has to keep collecting bottles the cost of living in Hamburg his beloved hometown is high oh yeah oh boy without Hamburg I could hardly live I was born here and then to move elsewhere no no chance kinda stuck if it's cheaper yes ya know even then I need the city bottle collectors work alone they rarely encounter one another and rarely as peacefully as on this occasion South African sailors are still out from the night before yeah it sure is in Hamburg beautiful it's very beautiful very beautiful yeah yeah yeah I like Hamburg Hamburg is very beautiful we've been out for nice really beautiful and like but when two bottle collectors meet they often prefer not to exchange words the thing is make you tired you're yes it does really wear you out the dragging and walking right there's another up there I want to grab it he's on his feet all night for just a few euros I'd say I make seven or eight euros at most that's how I live actually I get by fairly well I can't let some bottles is pretty hard one drink but we have to do it I can't change that ahaha would listen to hope man they're coming in so late

Channel: DW Documentary

Views: 977,915

Keywords: Poverty in old age, pension, elderly, demography, social change, Germany, Hamburg, Deutsche Welle, DW, deutsche welle, documentary, poverty documentary, pensioners documentary, pensioner

Id: lDveK6oWN5w

Length: 12min 1sec (721 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 22 2018

Reddit Comments

[u/Gretchen_Modermoese]

Also bisher sind alle Rentner die ich in solchen Dokus gesehen habe, aus bestimmten Betätigungsfeldern. Da sind die ehemaligen Selbstständigen und Handelsvertreter, die zwar immer gut verdient haben, aber selbstständig keine Rentenrücklagen gebildet haben, was man nun mal tun muss, wenn man kein Angestellter ist. Dann hat man eben so Leute wie den Typen hier, Seefahrer, wahrscheinlich auch selten eingezahlt in die Kasse. Dann halt noch die Leute, die lange Arbeitslos waren, oder Omas die eben nie gearbeitet haben weil ihr Mann die Kohle nach Hause gebracht hat, der mittlerweile aber schon in der Kiste liegt. Ich hab noch nie gesehen, dass dort ein Angestellter vor der Kamera steht, der 40-45 Jahre gearbeitet und jetzt so wenig Rente bekommt, dass er Flaschen sammeln muss. So fies es klingt, gerade bei den Leuten aus Selbstständigkeiten, freien Berufen usw. habe ich kein Mitleid. Die haben dann meistens nicht genug eingezahlt und die Kohle für die Vorsorge lieber direkt ausgeben. Das was ein Angestellter nämlich nicht kann, weil er das Geld nie sieht welches direkt vom Arbeitgeber an die Rentenkasse geht.

Das man sein ganzen Leben lang gearbeitet hat, heißt eben nicht, dass man sein ganzes Leben auch in die Rentenkasse gezahlt hat.

[u/YoungSwaeLee]

Falls er nicht selber stopft, kostet eine Fluppe soviel wieviel eine Pfandflasche bringt... Bzw. teilweise mehr. Irgendwie ein Verlustgeschäft