PRESS STATEMENT Pension proposals out of touch with reality

“This debate and the proposals from the so-called ‘Economic Wise Men’ are out of touch with the realities of life and work. Calculations are no substitute for the realities faced by workers. A retirement age of 68 cannot and must not be automatic. So-called life expectancy forecasts have always changed. And even today, the reality of work in companies is such that workers can barely hold out until the current retirement age. Anyone who wants to bring about improvements here has our full support. Anyone who wants to force people into early retirement—and into pension cuts through reductions—will provoke our resistance.

Imposing more private risk on people through obscure stock-based models and term pensions is not a solution to the challenges facing the statutory pension system. The pension system must not be a financial shuffling ground; rather, it deserves to be strengthened on a solid and solidarity-based foundation with adequate retirement benefits. That is why we finally need to transform the statutory pension system into an employment insurance system into which everyone contributes. No one can avoid a solid and fairly financed contribution rate. And the demographic challenge is a task for society as a whole, which must be cushioned through tax revenues.”

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