bbk berlin at the 21st Women's Retirement Security Conference ("Frauen-Alterssicherungskonferenz")

bbk berlin is continuously committed to reducing old-age poverty among artists and was therefore represented by spokesperson Justina Los at the 21st Women's Retirement Security Conference organised by ver.di and the Social Association of Germany (SoVD) on Monday.

The conference addresses the question of how retirement security, working time policy and the economic independence of women are connected – particularly against the backdrop of part-time work, care work, interrupted employment histories and persistently unequal incomes.

Why artists are particularly affected

A central topic of the conference was occupational pension provision (bAV). Since solo self-employed artists have no employer, they typically have no access to a classic occupational pension scheme. Their retirement security relies primarily on the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK), which covers a portion of the contributions to the statutory pension insurance.

The risk of poverty remains high nonetheless: careers in the arts are often characterised by gaps between projects and commissions, unpaid research and low incomes. As a result, the means to save privately beyond the statutory pension are often simply not there.

In response to a question from bbk berlin spokesperson Justina Los about how old-age poverty among solo self-employed and visual artists can be prevented – particularly regarding the eligibility requirements for the basic pension supplement – speakers emphasised the importance of lowering access barriers to the supplement, as well as the long-term goal of developing an all-earners insurance that includes all working people.

An all-earners insurance would gradually open up the statutory pension insurance to all earners, rather than predominantly covering employees as is currently the case. The DGB is also pursuing this approach through its pension commission: it advocates for a broader contribution base by including currently uninsured self-employed workers and gradually developing the pension system into an all-earners insurance – with the aim of relieving all generations through a larger pool of contributors (cf. dgb.de/rentenkommission).

Two key issues bbk berlin is advocating for:

1 Basic pension supplement for KSK-insured artists: The basic pension supplement is intended to support people with long employment histories and low incomes, yet its eligibility requirements effectively exclude KSK-insured artists. Those whose income falls below the minimum threshold find that their contribution years do not count as basic pension qualifying periods – despite the KSK being a mandatory insurance. We are advocating for the basic pension supplement to be granted to all KSK-insured artists.

2 Extending the Aktivrente to self-employed workers: Since 2026, employees of retirement age can earn up to €2,000 per month tax-free. Self-employed workers are excluded. Many artists continue working in old age because they have to, yet do not benefit from this tax relief. Extending it to the self-employed is an important structural measure in the fight against old-age poverty – and was repeatedly called for by respondents in our study "Prekäre Hauptstadt, Kreative Existenzen".

Mobilising against the distribution problem

Germany has a massive distribution problem. How can old-age poverty among women be effectively tackled? What impact do pension and working time reforms have on independent financial security? It is more important than ever to mobilise – as an association and as artists.