The economist Martin Werding calls for a gradual increase in the retirement age to 69 years.
According to Martin Werding, the retirement age must be raised to 69 in the coming years. “We need a long-term plan for the statutory pension. The discussion about reforming the system is inevitable and must not be postponed any longer,” he told the “Bild” newspaper (Thursday edition). Otherwise, the false expectation would be raised that the entry age of 67 could always remain.
The economist, who has been a member of the Federal Government’s Advisory Council on the assessment of overall economic development since August, is in favor of linking the standard retirement age to life expectancy from 2030. “According to the current statistical data, this would mean that retirement age would be postponed by one month each year. From around 2055 we would then be at an age of 69 years.” However, there must be hardship rules for people with health problems.
Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) had recently rejected calls for a further increase in the retirement age to over 67 years. Such a step would be “wrong and unfair,” Heil told the “Rheinische Post” in mid-December. This would mean “a real cut in pensions for many people who just can’t work that long”.
