When it comes to the labor force participation of 60 to 65 year olds, “we currently have increasing numbers”. In addition, the labor market is benefiting from higher immigration, and women’s employment is also increasing. “From the current perspective, it can be assumed that this will remain a permanent development,” said the President of the German Pension Insurance Association.
Roßbach refers to the long-term processes when it comes to pensions. The statutory retirement age will gradually increase to 67 by 2031. “The age for the pension for particularly long-term insured persons, known as the pension at 63, will rise to 65 by then.” The average age at which people actually retire was 64.4 years last year, Roßbach said.
It is now a matter of “analyzing the developments in the next few years and seeing how life expectancy and the actual retirement age are developing”. Roßbach pointed out that the decision to retire at the age of 67 was made in 2007, five years before it came into force.
It is also not yet foreseeable how people will make use of the new opportunity to earn unlimited additional income if they retire early. As of January 1, the additional earnings limit for early retirement pensions was no longer applicable. The new regulation offers the possibility of drawing an old-age pension and continuing to work indefinitely.
“We are very optimistic that the insured will use this,” said Roßbach. Contributions will then continue to be paid into the pension fund via the additional earnings, which means that the insured acquire additional entitlements.
The question of a higher retirement age will certainly continue to be discussed in politics, said Roßbach. However, it should not be “seen in isolation, but as part of an overall package”.
Most recently, CDU social politicians proposed in a working paper to link the retirement age directly to life expectancy from 2031. For every year of life gained, the standard retirement age is to be increased by four months.
The demographic challenge that Germany will face in the next 20 years is not new. “We already had a similar development from 1990 to 2010,” said the pension president. “We have mastered this challenge well through numerous pension reforms and are very confident that we will continue to do so in the future.”
