2023-12-13 18:15:20
While the average retirement age in 2022 in the OECD area was 64.4 years for men and 63.6 years for women, in Austria men retired at 61.6 years and women at 60.9 years. Only in France and Belgium is the gap between the legal and effective retirement age for men larger than in this country, where the difference is 3.4 years, according to another result of the OECD study “Pensions at a Glance” published on Wednesday (“ “Pensions at a Glance”).
In parallel with earlier retirement, life expectancy following leaving the labor market in Austria is 21.6 years for men and 25.5 years for women, noticeably higher than the OECD average, where men are expected to be 18.6 years and women 22.8 years live in the pension.
debate
How important is later retirement?
Ranked fourth in terms of costs
Accordingly, government spending in Austria is comparatively high compared to the group of industrialized countries. The highest government spending on pensions in 2019 was in Italy and Greece, each accounting for around 16 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). France (13.4) and Austria followed with 13 percent of GDP. In general, these countries spend between a quarter and a third of total public spending on pensions. At the other end of the spectrum are Chile, Iceland, Ireland, Korea and Mexico, where less than four percent of GDP is spent on public pensions.
In 23 of the 38 OECD countries, an inflation adjustment of the regular retirement age is planned, which will increase the average retirement age of today’s young professionals to 66.3 years for men and 65.8 years for women.
Graphics: APA/ORF; Quelle: OECD
OECD: More prevention and training
The OECD recommends promoting the employment and employability of older workers given the increasing proportion of the population aged 65 and over.
According to the OECD, health prevention and further training are particularly important so that workers can switch to less stressful work before their health suffers.
NEOS: This bill cannot be paid off
NEOS, the Industrial Association (IV) and the economically liberal think tank Agenda Austria, among others, saw their calls for reforms in the pension system confirmed by the OECD study on Wednesday. “Anyone who paid attention to mathematics at school will quickly come to the conclusion that this calculation cannot be done,” criticized NEOS social spokesman Gerald Loacker in a broadcast. If the ailing pension system is not fundamentally reformed soon, the young people will no longer receive a decent pension in 30 or 40 years, he warned.
Agenda Austria criticized the fact that in more than half of the OECD countries the statutory retirement age will be further increased in the future, but in Austria this problem has been ignored by politicians for years. The Industrial Association also once once more called for suitable incentives for older people to stay in working life for longer.
For automatic adjustment to life expectancy
The Generation Justice Association also joined the chorus and demanded that the OECD study be the start of a pension reform in Austria. Specifically, the corridor pension should start at 63 instead of 62, the statutory retirement age should be automatically adjusted to life expectancy, health care should be expanded and disability pensions should be reduced through preventive measures, according to the demands.
Incentives for longer working hours decided
On Wednesday in the National Council, the ÖVP and the Greens decided on measures that would reward people for working longer hours. Anyone who works beyond the standard retirement age will receive a higher pension supplement in the future. The federal government also covers part of the pension contributions due. To this end, a tolerance limit on permitted additional earnings will be introduced for all those who receive a corridor or heavy-work pension.
The Old Age Security Commission appointed by the government came to the conclusion in November in current assessments that spending on pensions will rise sharply from the current 28.3 to 39.3 billion by 2028. According to the long-term report, pensions are secured until 2070, according to the Ministry of Social Affairs. However, the ministry also emphasized that the system is only affordable if people retire later, i.e. the actual retirement age is adjusted to the legal retirement age.
The Chamber of Labor and the Pensioners’ Association calmed down following the commission’s studies became known. There is no pension hole. The increase in the coming years results from the retirement of the baby boomers and is already factored into the long-term forecasts. Of course, the business associations saw it differently.
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