FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr has drawn criticism with comments about working at the age of 72. He referred to Sweden, where the retirement age is flexible and the old-age pension can only be applied for from the month in which you turn 63 at the earliest.
This provoked criticism from SPD leader Saskia Esken and the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) Esken also brought up a possible expansion of the basic pension introduced three years ago to provide greater support for poorer pensioners. In total, there are around 21 million pensioners in Germany, with around 6.3 million in the “taxpayers with pension income category’ DGB board member Anja Piel accused DÜRR of “ghost debates” that had little to do with the work and life reality of the majority of employees. The German Pension Insurance has noted: “Many insured people assume they will have to retire when they reach their standard retirement age at the latest. But that's not true!”