Demography
The baby boomer problem-millions say goodbye to the retirement
The baby boomers retire – and leave a huge gap. By 2039, almost a third of today’s workers will be lost to the labor market.
The generation of baby boomers says goodbye to retirement and presents Germany with a huge demographic problem. Because the particularly birth -strong vintages are not only missing on the job market. Their pensions must also be generated by the subsequent – weaker – vintages.
Current figures from the Federal Statistical Office show how big the gap will be. According to this, around 13.4 million employment persons will exceed the statutory retirement age of 67 years by 2039. The consequence: Within 15 years, the labor market loses almost a third (31 percent) of all today’s workers, as the statisticians record.
All employment and unemployed are considered to be the employment persons from the age of 15, who are actively trying to do a job. Non-commercials are everyone who cannot or do not want to work-among other things, housewives and housekeepers, students, students or pensioners are included.
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Among the 60- to 64-year-olds alone, some of whom have already left working life behind, there are currently 4.4 million workers. The 55- to 59-year-olds even represent 5.6 million workers- and are therefore the strongest age group on the labor market in general.
The official statisticians emphasize that the younger years could not compensate for the departure of the baby boomers. All subsequent five-year age groups come to less than five million workers (see graphic). The Federal Statistical Office determined the figures on the basis of the 2024 microcensus.
Pension device under massive pressure
In order to relieve the stricter shortage of workers, politics strives to keep older workers longer in their jobs or even reactivate. The official figures show that this is already trendy: In the past ten years, the employment rate of older people has increased significantly. The current government wants to inspire people of retirement age for work for longer.
The bad news from the perspective of the pension fund: Nevertheless, people move into a longer pension. Because they live longer than before. And because they retire prematurely. The pension policy of the current government even favors both: retire earlier and still work tax -privileged to improve the pension can be a worthwhile model.
The reasons for early retirement are diverse, writes the Federal Statistical Office. They ranged “from health restrictions to special features such as long -term contribution payments or early retirement offers from companies to more free time“. The employer -related institute of the German economy (IW) recently presented a study, according to which almost every second baby boomer retired prematurely.
Source: Stern
