GERMANY - A planned increase in the statutory retirement age should be postponed to prevent "pension cuts", the opposition party SPD has demanded.

In 2006 the then German government coalition between social democratic SPD and conservative CDU decided to hike the retirement age from 65 to 67 as of 2012, exempting only those people who have paid into state pension insurance for 45 years.

But raising the statutory pension age without increasing the employment quota of over 60-year olds is "tantamount to a pension cut", now said Sigmar Gabriel, head of the SPD.

He pointed out that when the law was passed it allowed for a review of the measure based on current job market statistics.

Recent market data revealed that the average retirement age is 58.8 for men and 60.1 for women in Germany, and official figures report the labour force participation rate of over 60-year-olds at 35%.

However, Gabriel pointed out that this number also includes old-age part-time workers who may only work for an hour a day during their early retirement.

"Taking these out we get figures of 23% of men and 14% of women above age 60 working," said Gabriel.

He demanded more flexibility for retirees to "fade-out" of their working life.



 

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