The pension reforms of the years 2000 until 2007 were supposed to attenuate the foreseeable effects of demographic change on the pension system. This is why the retirement age was raised, the pension level was lowered and a so-called sustainability factor ("Nachhaltigkeitsfaktor") was introduced...

With the pension reforms of 2001 and 2004 the objective of stable living standards was abandoned, a gradual reduction of the pension level was envisaged and the funded "Riester Pension" was introduced on a voluntary basis. First analyses of this reform show that the promised effects - higher...