(Do we have to raise the retirement age ?)
Better life conditions we live longer
Belgium : in order to claim an old age pension must have reached a certain age (65)
21st century :
Our country, as a developed country, is suffering from the so called « aging- population »
Increase of the life-expectancy
PRO
1. Double-effect on funding : * people will contribute longer (2y) to the pension fund pension fund will increase they help to pay for the people already in retirement * while they work, they don’t receive any money from the fund => these 2 effects combined (helping (higher contribution) and not receiving (less costs) ) result in a 4-year effect on the retirement funding
2. We live longer : 1940 : life expectancy was only 63 ( in average people died before retirement) Now : life expectancy is 78 If the retirement age doesn’t get raised, the economic efficiency of our country will decrease, because the government funds will go to pensions and not to research, innovation, education, …
3. Physically, people CAN work longer : * better eating and exercise habits * heavy-industry (mines) replaced by a service economy with less physical activity people stay longer in good health
CON
1. Already a lot of unemployment (55-65) Increase move the need for contribution from pension to unemployment James Galbraith, economist at the University of Texas : “Extending the retirement age just means a longer job search, a futile waste of time and effort.”
2. It will hurt low-income workers haven’t got the chance to build up their capital <-> people with a good income have had the chance and the money
3. some people say the fast-moving 21st century needs much more young workers with the latest job skills to be able to use new technologies
4. 2 possibilities of reforms of the retirement age : * fixed duration (45years) * fixed retirement age (65)
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