A 77-year-old retiree claims she hasn’t showered in a year because her small apartment doesn’t meet her mobility needs.
Marie H., a 77-year-old pensioner from the Scottish port city of Glasgow, says she hasn’t showered for a year. Her apartment is too small. Due to her heart problems and knee prostheses, she is unable to get into the bath. This was reported by the Glasgow Times. Marie expressed her wish that her housing association would install a wet room or that she could move into a larger apartment.
She told the Glasgow Times: “My knee implants prevent me from getting in the bath to shower, so I just have to wipe myself down – it’s not fair.”
The pensioner also criticizes the size of her house. Her bedroom is more like a closet in which she cannot fit the special electric bed that she needs for her health. “I feel neglected because the housing management does not want to help me and my family doctor says he is too busy to write me a letter and a referral. I need help.”
More than half of the statutory pensions in Germany are below the poverty line. According to the “Frankfurter Rundschau”, millions of Germans receive less than 1,100 euros in statutory pension per month.
According to Sahra Wagenknecht, the second pension package does not provide the necessary relief, as the “Welt” newspaper reports. “The second pension package reinforces the trend towards growing poverty in old age instead of stopping it,” said the politician. According to a study by the OECD, the average pension level in the EU is significantly higher than in Germany, but with large differences between just under 30 and around 90 percent. Germany is at 48 percent.
Health has also become a problem for another pensioner. Christine Gloria Fox, an 87-year-old pensioner from the UK, lives in financial hardship in Thailand with a monthly state pension of just £300 (approx. €352). Despite her precarious financial situation, a return to the UK is unfortunately not possible due to her poor health.
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