In view of growing financial problems with pensions and health care, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder is in favor of an extension of working life in Germany. The CSU chairman considers it inevitable that the working population achieves more in the future - both over the week and over the entire working life.

While the federal government has set up a commission of experts to present proposals to stabilize the pension system by the middle of the year, Söder makes it clear in the Bild am Sonntag: Without more work, the financing of the social security systems is not sustainable in the long term.

More work in response to demographic change?

Söder justifies his demand with demographic development: More and more older people are faced with fewer and fewer people in employment. In his opinion, this imbalance can only be compensated for by extending the working life. This would require structural changes and legal adjustments.

At the same time, this argumentation raises a central question: Why should those who already work and finance the system work even longer – while at the same time more and more people from all over the world are coming to Germany without being directly integrated into the labour market, but are initially living on citizen's money and social benefits?

Lifetime working time accounts based on the Swiss model

Söder mentions so-called lifetime working time accounts as a possible approach. Those who work more per week, for example, can retire earlier elsewhere. He refers to Switzerland, where longer working hours are more socially accepted.

However, the fact is that both in Germany and across the EU, the average weekly working time has fallen in recent years – even though the number of people in employment has risen overall. Whether this model alone is sufficient to shoulder the growing burdens remains open.

Criticism of sick leave - waiting days under discussion

Söder also sees potential for savings in the health care system. In his opinion, sick leave is too fast and too frequent in Germany. He therefore brings so-called waiting days into play, where the continued payment of wages no longer takes effect from the first day of illness. An earlier obligation to take sick leave or partial sick leave according to the Scandinavian model is also conceivable.

But here, too, the question of proportionality arises: Should top performers continue to be put under pressure while others remain permanently outside the labour market – or would a more consistent labour market integration and review of social benefits be the fairer approach?

A debate with imbalance

Söder's initiative triggers a necessary debate, but leaves out central aspects. The question of how long people should work is closely linked to the question of who works at all – and who doesn't. Without an honest discussion about migration, social benefits and the principle of meritocracy, the burden threatens to be distributed unilaterally again.

Whether longer working hours are actually the right answer or merely conceal symptoms remains open. What is clear, however, is that the system is under pressure – and there are no simple solutions.

Could it not be precisely because the German social and pension system is coming under increasing pressure? Immigration into an already overburdened social system, which can hardly remain without consequences on this scale in purely mathematical terms?

The fact is that between 2016 and the end of 2025, Germany experienced one of the strongest immigration phases in its history. More than 15 million people moved gross from abroad during this period. This development was driven primarily by refugee migration – especially from Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine – by internal EU migration and by extensive family reunification.

This is not an ideological evaluation, but a mathematical reality:
If millions of additional people enter a system that is predominantly pay-as-you-go, then in the end it is not morality that decides, but the quota of contributors to benefit recipients.

And this is exactly where the problem begins.

While politicians and the government are discussing whether the working population has to work longer, be sick less often and perform more, another question is conspicuously rarely asked:
How many of the immigrants actually pay into this system permanently and substantially?

At the same time, billions of euros are flowing into international programs, development aid, special funds and global projects – while in Germany itself infrastructure is falling into disrepair, municipalities are overwhelmed, there is a shortage of housing, schools are becoming dilapidated and the health system is groaning. For many citizens, this feels as if the outside is being distributed, while savings are being made inside.

The result is a growing imbalance:
- Those who work are supposed to do even more.
- Those who do not work often remain in receipt of benefits for years.
- And politics is evading the core question.

The editors say:
As long as immigration is not consistently linked to labour market integration, qualification and personal responsibility, it will exacerbate the problems it is supposed to solve. Anyone who talks about longer working lives must also talk honestly about who supports this system – and who burdens it.