At the age of 63, not only did roofers retire, but also many healthy and urgently needed specialists, criticizes Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Kretschmann. This cannot continue like this.
People are getting older and older and at the same time the shortage of skilled workers is becoming increasingly severe: for Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann, this is a reason to discuss the future of pensions. “We have to deal with retirement age in a goal-oriented manner. Anyone who has worked hard physically must be treated differently than someone who is still physically and mentally fit,” said the Green politician to the German Press Agency. More and more people were doing knowledge work and not hard physical work. “We have to better adapt our pension system to this.”
Kretschmann believes that early retirement at 63 is a problem. You can no longer deal with this as before. “We cannot afford for mainly healthy and well-earning people to retire at 63,” said Kretschmann. Retirement at 63 is not intended for these people.
Pension at 63 for physically hard workers
Kretschmann referred to the scientific advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Economics. He stated that the majority of those who retired early were well educated, earned above average wages and were healthy. “It is a false assumption that is floating around that it is mainly roofers or other physically or mentally hard workers who take advantage of this offer,” said Kretschmann. The offer was originally intended for people who could no longer work. “The majority of those who use it don’t have to do it for health reasons,” criticizes Kretschmann.
In addition, people are getting older and staying healthy for longer and longer. “This has to have an impact on the pension system, because otherwise the federal budget will have to spend more and more on pensions – and that is also a question of intergenerational fairness,” said Kretschmann.
“Pension at 63” means the pension without deductions after 45 years of insurance, because initially people born before 1953 were able to retire at the age of 63 without deductions. Last year, according to the pension insurance, the age limit was 64 years. For those born in 1964, the pension without deductions is available at the earliest at the age of 65.
The finance minister is also critical of early retirement
A few months ago, Baden-Württemberg’s Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens) described retirement at 63 as a serious mistake. This is not only generationally unfair and bad given the shortage of skilled workers, but also a devastating signal that must be corrected. “Instead of politicians having new debates about pensions every few years, we should finally think seriously about how we can find a fair balance between working hours and retirement as life expectancy increases.” As a possible model, Bayaz mentioned that every additional year of life expectancy gained would be divided into four months of additional work and eight months of additional retirement.
From Bayaz’s point of view, regular retirement at the age of 67 is also not sustainable. “My generation has to prepare for longer working hours in old age – even if we want to maintain our prosperity,” said the Green politician. “I think this is reasonable for many professions, as the world of work will change fundamentally in the coming years; physically demanding work will become less and knowledge work will become more.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
