Referendum about raising the pension age to 67
Comments from Michael Schlecht, Member of Parliament, chief economist of the group of DIE LINKE and union policy spokesman in the party executive of DIE LINKE.
The raising of the retirement age to 67 means further cuts to pensions. However, even today, many do not make it to 65. Healthwise, they are simply finished. And for those older people who can and want to continue working there are hardly any decent jobs available. Among 60 to 65 year olds, only 22 percent have a job which is subject to social insurance contributions. Among 64 year olds, this figure falls to 10 percent. Labour minister von der Leyen however, has announced cheerful propaganda numbers. Today approximately 40 percent of the over 60s are in work. But not insured. Many older workers are forced to take so called “minijobs”, work part time or in jobs without social insurance, for low hourly wages, or be pseudo self-emloyed.
Those retiring at 63 will already have reduced their pension by 7.2 percent. At 67 this threatens to become to a lifelong pension reduction of 14.4 percent.
Because of this trend in the labour market which negatively affects older workers, the SDP wants to postpone the start of gradual extensions to the working lifetime until 2014. By then, the working conditions of older people will be reviewed again. Not until 50 percent of 60 to 64 year olds are employed in state insured jobs, will the pension age gradually be raised to 67. This is unlikely though. According to the pension developments that have taken place between 2000 and now, this will not be achieved until 2030. This would mean that the raising of the pension age to 67 will begin promptly one year after the planned date. The SDP are refusing to let go of retirement at 67
The Greens do not want the gradual increase in retirement age to begin until 2012, and only after 2030 would people have to work to their 67th birthday. “We greens think that retirement at 67 is the right idea” says pensions spokesman Strengmann-Kuhn. “If people work longer, the state contributions are lower”.
The question is then, will emplyees in 2029 accept that for equal funding they have to contribute 0.25 percent more, or would they rather work two years longer and suffer 7.2 percent pension reductions? DIE LINKE is against retirement at 67! But why shouldn’t the people be allowed to decide this?