A 65-year-old German teacher, about to retire, revealed that he should receive a gross monthly pension of around 2,600 euros. Despite recognizing that this is a relatively high amount, he considers the situation to be unfair when compared to colleagues who perform similar functions and who receive significantly higher amounts.
The case was reported by the professor himself in a testimony published by the German magazine Stern. The teacher works at a school in the North Rhine-Westphalia region and is currently at the end of his professional career.
According to the same publication, the teacher belongs to the group of teachers hired as salaried workers and not to the group of teachers with civil servant status, which has a direct impact on the calculation of the future pension.
A high pension, but lower than that of other colleagues
According to Stern, the professor estimates he will receive around 2,600 euros gross per month after retirement. In net terms, the amount could be around 2,100 euros per month, although it depends on the tax situation and discounts for health and long-term care insurance, according to the rules of the Deutsche Rentenversicherung (Germany’s public pension insurance system).
Despite admitting that this is a comfortable value, the professor considers that there is inequality in the system. He himself explained that he only reached this amount because he held a management position for more than 15 years throughout his career.
According to the same publication, the difference results from the coexistence of two regimes: that of teachers with civil servant status, who are outside the legal pension regime, and that of contract teachers, who deduct contributions from public pension insurance, as is the case with most workers in Germany, according to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung.
Two different systems within the same profession
In the case of contract teachers, as with the aforementioned teacher, contributions are made to public pension insurance and there is normally a supplementary pension in the public sector, awarded by the VBL. According to the VBL and the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, this supplementary pension is in addition to the statutory pension, but does not necessarily eliminate the difference compared to colleagues with civil servant status. This difference in employment status has a direct impact on the final pension.
How teachers’ pensions are calculated in Germany
This is where it is important to distinguish the two regimes. In the case of contract teachers, such as the aforementioned teacher, the legal pension is calculated by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung based on the pension points accumulated throughout their career, depending on the declared salaries and the years of deductions.
For teachers with civil servant status, according to German federal law on civil service pensions, the calculation is based on the relevant length of service, with a rate of 1.79375% per year up to a limit of 71.75% of pensionable remuneration.
Many teachers with civil servant status end their careers in salary group A13. In North Rhine-Westphalia, the official salary table sets, for example, a basic monthly salary of 6,174.04 euros for A13 in step 12, which helps to explain how, in some cases, the pension can exceed 4,000 euros gross per month.
Significant differences between employees and contractors
In practice, teachers with civil servant status can achieve a substantially higher pension than their contracted colleagues, even when performing similar functions.
It was this difference that the professor cited by Stern said he considered unfair. According to the teacher, teachers who do the same work in the classroom can end up receiving very different pensions.
Even so, in the case of contract workers, the existence of a supplementary pension helps to partially reduce the gap. According to VBL, this supplement is calculated using its own points system and does not replicate the model applied to public employees.
An old debate in the German education system
The teacher considers that this difference is part of a structural problem that is unlikely to be resolved in the short term. From a financial point of view, the issue is sensitive. The Länder does not pay contributions to the statutory pension scheme for civil servants, but then bears this burden through the budget; In some cases, such as North Rhine-Westphalia, there are also funds and reserve mechanisms earmarked for these future expenses.
A sensitive topic in political debate
The issue remains present in the German political debate. In 2025, Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas publicly argued that in the future more professional groups, including civil servants, should contribute to public pension insurance.
For the professor, however, it is a debate that has existed for years, but which rarely produces fundamental changes. Despite recognizing that the value of his pension will be relatively comfortable, he continues to consider that the system creates significant inequalities between professionals who essentially perform the same work.
And in Portugal?
In the Portuguese case, the pension system works differently from the German model described. In Portugal, old-age pensions are granted mainly by Social Security and, in the convergent regime, by Caixa Geral de Aposentações for subscribers covered by that regime, as a rule registered until December 31, 2005.
According to Decree-Law No. 187/2007, which regulates the general Social Security pension regime, the retirement value is the result of a formula that takes into account the contributory career and registered remuneration. In 2026, the normal age for accessing the old-age pension in Portugal is 66 years and 9 months, according to Social Security. Generally speaking, the greater the number of years of contribution and the greater the declared earnings, the greater the value of the pension granted at retirement age tends to be.
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