Martin Werding becomes a member of the newly appointed Pension Commission

Prof. Dr. Martin Werding, member of the Humanities and Social Sciences Class of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, is part of the new Pension Commission. This commission was established by the federal government on December 17 and is expected to present its proposals for reforms in old-age provision by the middle of next year.

The commission will be chaired by the former chairman of the Federal Employment Agency, Frank-Jürgen Weise, and Professor of Social Law and Administrative Science Constanze Janda. In addition to the two chairpersons, there will also be three deputies from the German Bundestag: Pascal Reddig (CDU), Florian Dorn (CSU), and Annika Klose (SPD).

There will also be eight scientific members proposed by the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups:

• Prof. Dr. Peter Bofinger
• Prof. Dr. Tabea Bucher-Koenen
• Prof. Dr. Georg Cremer
• Prof. Dr. Camille Logeay
• Dr. Monika Queisser
• Prof. Jörg Rocholl
• Prof. Dr. Silke Übelmesser
• Prof. Dr. Martin Werding

Demographic changes pose major challenges for the pension system. The new commission is therefore tasked with designing a fundamental reform of the pension system. To this end, the commission will examine all three pillars – statutory, occupational, and private pension provision. It is to develop a new benchmark for an overall pension level and draw up proposals on retirement age, pension development, and contributions. The commission will work independently and without government instructions. It will present its findings by the middle of next year.

Prof. Dr. Martin Werding has been Professor of Social Policy and Public Finance at Ruhr University Bochum since 2008. He has been a member of the German Council of Economic Experts since 2022. From 2000 to 2008, he headed the Social Policy and Labor Markets Research Department at the ifo Institute in Munich, where he remained as a research professor until 2019. In 2013, Werding was accepted as a full member of the Academy of Sciences and Literature in Mainz.