Will working until age 69? An old debate again stirred the outlook in Germany – Strategy & Business

By AFP

Raise the retirement age in Germany to 69 years? This old idea came to the fore this week revived by the central bank (Bundesbank), a proposal that has the support of many economists, but shakes politicians in an election year.

“A workman , a saleswoman, a nurse, an auxiliary care will perceive this as a crazy idea and I think the same, “he said with his usual candor Minister of Social Economics, Sigmar Gabriel.

the minister responded and a report of the German Central Bank, Bundesbank, published on Monday.

“the current satisfactory financial situation who hold public pension funds do not have to mask other unavoidable to ensure sustainability adjustments,” estimated the entity that proposes to stabilize the system, the retirement age will gradually be increased from 2030, to reach 69 years in 2060.

life expectancy in Germany is 78 years for men and 83 for women, and follows an upward curve.

Although the Germans are retiring later and later, the legal age starts to vary gradually from 65 to 67 years , the effective age of closure is around 62 years.

so, people spend decades as retirees, generating pressures in a system in which they are funded contributions of those who work, who are less and less due to the aging population

-. A sensitive issue –

the Bundesbank had introduced this proposal of 69 years in 2009. this week said his intention is to “make a contribution to the debate” and encourage policymakers to adopt a planning perspective over the long term, told AFP a spokesman for the institution.

in any case, the bank touched a sensitive issue at a time when political parties warm up the engines for the legislative elections of September 2017.

probably all formations have the issue of pensions as a central issue of their proposals and nobody will go hunting for votes brandishing a plan to work another two years.

the government partners, the Social Democrats (SPD), rejected this proposal and the Christian Democratic Union Angela Chancellor Merkel, which seeks to qualify for a fourth term, the issue does not arise, said its secretary general.

on the side of economists, the idea of ​​the Bundesbank raises adhesions.

for the institute IW based in Cologne, Germans should work until age 73 if they want to maintain the current level of pensions and contributions.

the economist Axel Börsch-Supan, the Max-Planck, proposed by Meanwhile the retirement age be indexed to life expectancy.

the expert Michael Hüther, president of IW, said that in reality the proposal only concerns those born after 1995, ie people who just 20 years old.

This does not prevent, in the network, Internet users express themselves forcefully.

“Working up to 70 years while at the same time others live precariously or are unemployed, “he summed up an Internet forum in a magazine Der Spiegel, which crossed the proposal of” neoliberal vagary “.