More than a third (38 per cent) of women in Germany working full time are at risk of retiring with a pension of less than €1,000 a month, even after 40 years of work, according to a freedom of information request.

The request was made to the Federal Ministry of Labour by the Left Party and revealed that around 2.7 million women working full time do not earn enough to have a monthly pension of €1,000 when they reach retirement.

As there are a total of 7.1 million full-time working women, this equates to around 38 per cent.

More than half (53 per cent), or 3.8 million women, face a pension of less than €1,200 a month.

To receive a pension of €1,000 or more, people in Germany need to earn €2,844 a month for 40 years, according to the request response.

Meanwhile, to receive a pension of €1,200, workers would need a monthly salary of €3,413 a month for 40 years.

Left Party leader, Dietmar Bartsch, described the figures as “catastrophic” and said that millions of women are at risk of “a slide into poverty in old age”.

In light of the figures, Bartsch called for “a major update” to the German pension system.

Also commenting on the request response, Verdi head of social policy, Judith Kerschbaumer, said: "The numbers are alarming, but not new.

"As long as the pay in the typical, mostly social women's professions does not change, the pensions of many women will not change either.

"Furthermore, nationwide, preferably employer-financed company pensions for women are important.

"Women still have a lot of catching up to do."

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