Germans should stay longer in the workforce to protect the pension system and support growth, economist Martin Werding stated, as reported by dpa on Saturday.
Despite the unpopularity of requests to extend the professional life of Germans, people are living longer and the current pension system is unsustainable, Werding said to the Rheinische Post newspaper.
Germany is already in the process of increasing the retirement age from 65 to 67 by 2031, but this increase should continue, according to Werding, a member of the Council of Economic Experts, a body that provides advice to the government.
While in the '60s people enjoyed a pension for an average of ten years, now the duration during which Germans receive a pension has increased to 20 years. As people leave the workforce, there are too few children to support the system, Werding stated.
The economist proposes an approach based on a formula: for every 10 years the life expectancy increases, two-thirds of this time should be spent working and one-third in retirement.
According to this model, the standard retirement age would increase by six months every decade, reaching 68 years in 2050 and 69 years in 2070.
Werding also called for a reassessment of the reduction in early retirement pensions. He argued that the current 3.6% annual reduction for early retirees is too lenient and suggested a decrease between 5 and 7%.
Minister of Labor, Bärbel Bas, a member of the Social Democratic Party, labeled the discussion about extending professional life a "false debate," noting that many people already fail to reach retirement age due to health reasons.
She told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) that for these people, such proposals practically mean a reduction in pension and opposed the idea of abolishing the option of early retirement for those who have contributed to the pension system for a long period of time. Someone who has worked for 45 years should be able to stop at some point, she said.