Social insurance in Germany

Recently we have raised the issue of taxes in Germany and came to the conclusion that it is necessary to disassemble social insurance separately. After all, it is not a tax, but everyone must pay it.
By definition, social insurance is protection from the state in case of illness, loss of job, old age or any other misfortune.

Historical fact: the state social insurance for the first time was legally established in Germany. It was done by Otto von Bismarck back in 1883.

When you find a job, you are obliged to provide health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung) at one of the state health insurance offices. The insurance policy of your choice includes sickness and old age care insurance (gesetzliche Pflegepflichtversicherung). We have already listed two of these.

The third is the Arbeitslosenversicherung (Arbeitslosenversicherung). It must also be taken out by the state medical insurance company. After losing your job, regardless of whether you quit your job or were fired, you must register with the labour exchange (Agentur für Arbeit) and then it begins to pay you insurance for all types of social security. But you can’t stand on the job exchange without a job or trying to find one forever.

This is followed by pension insurance (geseztliche Renteversicherung). You make contributions when you reach retirement age or if you become disabled, you begin to receive a pension for the rest of your life. Full-time private entrepreneurs are exempt from this type of insurance.

The last one is accident insurance for work-related accidents.
All insurance premiums are paid 50/50 by the employer and the employee. Only the insurance against accidents at work is paid in full by the employer.

The amount of contributions for all these services depends on salary and is calculated as a percentage. But it may not exceed a certain amount of money. Health insurance, depending on the cash register will cost about 7% of your s/p, pension insurance 9.35%, 1.275-1.525% insurance against the need for outside care, 1.5% insurance against loss of employment. Exactly the same amount (+1.6% of work accident insurance) is paid by the employer.

There is also a wonderful thing that all students are happy to use – Minijob. Minijob is any job where you get 450 euros a month or less. In that case, you pay absolutely nothing, and the employer pays for you. The job search websites even have a special section (jobs up to 450 euros).

If you have not read our article about taxes in Germany and tax classes, we recommend it very much.
Have a nice day, everyone.