What does working less really cost you?

Part-time means more than a smaller paycheck. Two concrete examples show how cutting your hours plays out across take-home pay, pension rights, and savings.

Most people know what part-time means: fewer hours, less money at the end of the month. What most people don't know: the same decision can play out completely differently for two people in very similar situations. Not because some law says so, but because their lives are built differently.

The figures below are model calculations. They show what the Miravel model works out for specific inputs. No two households are the same. Your numbers will differ.

The same decision, two different outcomes

Picture two people. Both earn €52,000 gross a year today. Both cut down to 60 percent. Both stay part-time for ten years. Both live in a big German city.

The difference: one lives in München, is married, and has a child. The other lives alone in Berlin and is training for a new career on the side.

Simone, München. Part-time as a parent.

Simone earns €52,000 gross. Her partner earns €55,000. She cuts down to 60 percent, so to €31,200 gross a year. She's taxed under tax class III (Steuerklasse III). That means: on her payslip it looks like little tax, because tax class III only shifts the monthly wage tax between the partners. The household's actual yearly tax doesn't change, it's settled at the end with the joint tax return.

What the Miravel model works out (10 years part-time):

• Less take-home pay each month: around €960, the same amount as Karim. On the payslip it looks like less month after month, because tax class III (Steuerklasse III) shifts the wage-tax deduction over to her partner. By the end of the year the result is identical.
• Fewer Entgeltpunkte (pension points) per year: the same amount as Karim. Contributions are based on your gross salary, not your tax class.
• From that: around €170 less statutory pension a month, after 10 years part-time
• Gap in accumulated wealth after 20 years: around €38,000

Simone's gap in wealth is still smaller than Karim's. Why? Because Simone's household has two incomes. The apartment, the groceries, the fixed costs: all shared. So the same drop in take-home pay weighs less. Part of it would never have made it into savings anyway.

Karim, Berlin. Switching tracks and retraining.

Karim also earns €52,000 gross. He cuts down to the same 60 percent, so €31,200. He's single and taxed under class I (Steuerklasse I). No tax breaks from a partner.

What the Miravel model works out (10 years part-time):

• Less take-home pay each month: around €960
• Fewer Entgeltpunkte (pension points) per year: exactly the same as Simone
• From that: also around €170 less statutory pension a month
• Gap in accumulated wealth after 20 years: around €67,000

The pension gap is the same for both. That was to be expected: pension points are based on your gross salary. Earn less, collect fewer points. Tax class, marital status, where you live: none of it changes that.

Still, Karim's wealth gap is noticeably bigger, around €67,000 against around €38,000 for Simone. The reason isn't the take-home pay, which drops by around €960 for both of them. It's the fixed costs. Karim carries the rent, the insurance, and the groceries alone. For him the drop comes almost entirely out of savings. For Simone, the second income absorbs part of it.

On paper Simone takes the same hit, but her household absorbs part of it. The couple saves less together, just not as much less as a straight income comparison suggests.

How does part-time affect your pension?

The statutory pension is calculated through Entgeltpunkte (pension points). Each year you collect as many points as your salary represents relative to the German average wage. Earn exactly the average, and you get one point a year. Earn less, and you get less.

At 60 percent part-time over 10 years, you end up with roughly 4 to 5 fewer pension points than on full-time. At the 2026 pension value, that works out to around €170 to €200 less gross pension a month. What it means for you specifically depends on your salary and how long your part-time phase lasts.

What happens to my savings if I work less?

Money you don't earn doesn't get invested either. If part-time means you can invest €300 less a month, what's missing after 20 years isn't just the money you didn't put in. The growth on top of it is missing too.

At an assumed return of 5 percent a year (a model assumption, not a guarantee), the difference in your final wealth after 20 years can land at around €60,000 to €80,000. The exact figure depends on your savings rate and the investment you choose.

Why isn't a simple salary calculator enough for this?

A gross-to-net calculator shows you one thing: how much take-home pay you have each month. A pension calculator shows you another: how many pension points you've collected so far. Miravel connects the two and shows you how your decision plays out across your monthly budget, your pension rights, and your wealth over the years ahead. Together, for your household, with your numbers. Locally in your browser, no account.

What these numbers don't capture yet

Career progression: the model assumes your salary stays flat. In reality, part-time can affect promotions, raises, and the shape of your career. That's individual and hard to predict.

Parental leave and pension credit: if you raise a child, you're credited with pension points for the child's first years. That cushions part of the gap. So Simone's situation may look better in reality than the model shows.

Frequently asked questions

I'm only cutting back for a year or two. Is it still worth running the numbers? Yes. Even two years of lower contributions mean fewer pension points. The direction is the same, whatever your income level.

Does Elterngeld (parental allowance) count as income for the pension? No. Elterngeld is a state benefit and doesn't count as income subject to social insurance contributions. But child-raising time does come with its own pension credit.

Can I make up the pension gap with voluntary contributions? You can pay extra voluntary contributions into the statutory pension scheme to buy back pension points. It's possible, but expensive. There are also private alternatives, like an ETF savings plan.

I moved here from abroad. Do my earlier working years count toward the German pension? That depends on where you're from. Germany has agreements with many countries to recognize contribution periods on both sides. But the size of your German pension is based only on what you've paid in within Germany.

Part-time isn't one uniform decision. It hits every household differently, depending on how it's built, who belongs to it, and what the rest of life absorbs or doesn't.