Employers demand retirement at 70: "We have to talk about it"

While the discussion about raising the retirement age to 68 is in full swing, Gesamtmetall President Stefan Wolf rushes forward and suddenly speaks of retirement at 70.

Berlin - “We have to be honest with people,” says Stefan Wolf.

The president of the employers' association Gesamtmetall is certain: "We will not be able to keep the retirement age at 67 years." So far, so well known.

But Wolf is not demanding the retirement age of 68, which was last discussed;

Wolf spoke out to the newspapers of the Funke media group in favor of retirement at 70.

"We will have to talk about a retirement age of 69 to 70 years in the next few years," said the Gesamtmetall President, who represents companies in the metal and electrical industry, on Tuesday (August 17th).

Wolf warned of a financing problem with the pension funds in view of the increasing life expectancy and derived the consequence that “people will work longer”.

Pension at 68 or even 70: "The pension system has no future"

Wolf is not alone in making this assessment.

The scientific advisory board at the Federal Ministry of Economics recently called for a higher entry age, which is linked to life expectancy.

At the beginning of August, the employers' association took the same line and pleaded for a longer working life.

The pension system has no future in its current form, said employer president Rainer Dulger of the German press agency.

The Ifo Institute also spoke out in favor of increasing the retirement age.

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"In the next few years we will have to talk about a retirement age of 69 to 70 years," says Gesamtmetall President Stefan Wolf.

© picture alliance / dpa |

Marijan Murat

The background to the pension discussion is the aging of German society.

Because people are living longer and longer, because the baby boomers will retire for the foreseeable future and because too few contributors are paying, the pay-as-you-go pension system in its current form is reaching its limits.

There is currently a gradual increase in the entry age from 65 to 67 years by 2031.

Retire at 68, 69 or even 70?

Labor Minister Hubertus Heil has a different idea

The first point of contact for all pension matters in Germany is Labor Minister Hubertus Heil. He recently disapproved of a later retirement age as "cynical". That would not happen with him, the SPD politician told the Berliner Morgenpost. In order to stabilize the pension fund, he suggested that the self-employed should also be included in the statutory pension insurance.

The social association VdK also strictly rejects an increase in the retirement age to 68, 69 or 70 years and even calls for a deduction-free pension with 63 after 45 years of contributions.

The reason: Those who work in a job with high stress, for example in construction or in the care of the elderly, live significantly shorter on average.

The VdK refers to a current study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW).

It was created on behalf of the association.

"We need a pension insurance in which all employed people pay: workers, employees, self-employed and politicians and civil servants," said VdK President Verena Bentele.

List of rubric lists: Patrick Pleul / dpa 

List of rubric lists: © Patrick Pleul / dpa