Changing German pensions. They want to link retirement age to life expectancy

Analysts from the prestigious Ifo Research Institute in Munich expressed their support for the idea of ​​a legal link between retirement age and life expectancy – as the newspaper “Deutsche Welle” wrote.

Joachim Rajnitz, a retirement expert from the Ifo Institute, points out that this solution still exists It has already been introduced in the Netherlands, Sweden and Finland – Refers to the service. According to regulations in the Netherlands, if life expectancy increases by three years, citizens of this country will have to work two years longer.

Thanks to this, the ratio between the number of retirees and workers will remain stable at about 40%. These conclusions were presented by the institute's economists in their report, which was discussed by Deutsche Welle.

Experts also suggest linking the amount of pensions to the inflation rate and not – as is currently the case – to wage increases. According to them, such a move could slow the growth of pension spending.

Ifo researchers also recommend that self-employed workers and public employees should not be included in the compulsory public pension system. Self-employed people such as businessmen, lawyers, and doctors usually use private insurance. However, pensions for public employees in Germany are paid directly from the state budget.

Although the inclusion of these groups in the social security system in the short term could generate additional income from contributions to the German Social Insurance Institution, scientists from the Ifo Institute warn that payments to these groups in the long term It would be much higher, partly due to the longer life expectancy of these groups.

In the 1990s in Germany there were 20 pensioners for every 100 people of working age. Future projections indicate that after 2030, there will be 40 pensioners for every 100 people of working age, and in the mid-60s this number will rise to more than 45 – according to calculations by the Federal Statistical Office.