In Poland, the retirement age is currently 65 for men and 60 for women. How is it in other countries in Europe and in the rest of the world? And why is the retirement age gradually raised?
Contents:
- Why is the retirement age increasing?
- Retirement age in the European Union
- Retirement age in other European countries
- Retirement age in the world
- Controversy over increasing the retirement age
- Is it worth working longer?
In Poland, attempts have been made to raise the retirement age. It was assumed by the reform of the government of the Civic Platform and the Polish People's Party. The change meant that the retirement age was raised to 67 for both men and women. However, it did not receive a good opinion from the public, and there was no appropriate campaign explaining why it was decided to make such a change. The next row, i.e. Law and Justice, went back to the earlier solution (65/60).
Why is the retirement age increasing?
Increasing the retirement age is in a way a necessity resulting from civilization and social changes. First of all, the point is that the society is aging, and statistically we live longer and longer. As a result, more people receive a pension and fewer pension contributions.
It is also worth explaining here that the money that goes from our salaries to the said contributions is not actually accumulated for our future retirement, but spent on an ongoing basis. Therefore, years later, when there will be much less people on the labor market than today, there may be a problem with maintaining the pension system. Put simply, there is not enough money to pay pensions.
Hence the idea to raise the retirement age - as a result, more people would work and fewer would receive pensions. This would help maintain the efficiency of the pension system.
This is not a pleasant change of course, because it means a longer wait for a well-deserved retirement. However, so far no better solution has been found to save social security and pensions in countries where the population is aging - and this also applies to Poland.
Together with increasing the retirement age, efforts were made to introduce the so-called the reform of six-year-olds. Early school entry (by a year)it would also translate into more active people who would pay their pension contributions. The PiS government also withdrew from this reform - which aroused controversy (meaning "shorter childhood").
Retirement age in the European Union
The retirement age of women in Poland is 60 years, which is the lowest value in the European Union (the same applies to Austria and Romania). The European average for women is 63 years and 9 months. In the case of pensions for men, only in Slovakia the retirement age is lower than in Poland (62 years), and the same is (or will be after planned reforms) in Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Finland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, M alta, Slovenia, Sweden and Hungary.
Who works the longest? Record holders are residents of Great Britain and Ireland, where the retirement age for both sexes is as high as 68. Until the year 67, citizens of both sexes: Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany are working (or will be, in line with the reforms). In the latter country, even raising the retirement age to … 71 years is being considered. And in which European Union countries do you work until the age of 66? Namely in Portugal and Italy.
Retirement age in other European countries
Very often it is the highly developed countries that raise the retirement age the fastest. This is because it is there that citizens live the longest, and at the same time the society is aging. This can be seen well in the example of European countries that do not belong to the EU.
In we althy Norway and Iceland, the retirement age is 67 for both men and women. In Moldova, one of the poorest countries in Europe, men work until the age of 62, and women until the age of 57.
In Ukraine it is 62 and 60, respectively, and in Belarus - 63 and 58.
Interestingly, both in not very we althy Bosnia and Herzegovina and very rich Switzerland (the European record holder in terms of life expectancy!), The retirement age is 65 for both sexes.
Retirement age in the world
In non-European countries, the same trend can be observed as in Europe - in we althier countries the retirement age is constantly rising. It is quite a lot in the United States, as much as 68 years for men and 67 years for women. Canadian citizens of both sexes work until the age of 67, and so is Australia (reform planned).
In Japan - the country where statistically the longest lives in the world - the reform provides for increasing the retirement age to 68 years. A big curiosity is Libya, where the retirement agefor both sexes it is 70 years! And it is definitely not a country from the most developed group.
Controversy over increasing the retirement age
On the one hand, it is difficult to avoid an increase in the retirement age, and on the other hand - the compulsion to work longer, e.g. for the previous generation, may seem very unfair. That is why it is so difficult to convince the public to accept such reforms.
A large role in this is played by education, and above all by politicians who carry out the reform. It is they - also in their own interest (not to lose support) - who should properly justify the meaning of the changes, so that everyone can understand it and express themselves consciously.
Another thing is that you cannot "simply" raise the retirement age. In some professions it is difficult to work, for example, at the age of 65-67. So that longer professional activity does not mean pushing people 60+ out of the labor market, an appropriate system of vocational support should be prepared, allowing for easy retraining - if necessary.
The role of the legislator is also big in this, to ensure that citizens have a decent job until retirement, if they decide to postpone it.
Is it worth working longer?
There is no single answer to this question as much depends on the type of work and lifestyle.
In the case of more difficult professions, in which work is a burden to he alth, certainly longer waiting for retirement would have worse effects.
However, there are also advantages to working longer, which can even extend your life. Especially mental work allows you to stay mentally active, promotes further socialization (we work among people), stimulates action.
Working with people is important because many people become isolated and lonely after retirement, and this often even leads to depression.
About the author
Daniel Works A Polish and American philologist by education, by profession - more like the former. For over a decade, he has been working on texts: writing, editing, and occasional proofreading. He specializes primarily in home & living, but also writes about culture, art, fashion, he alth, tourism and everything that will attract attention and interest. Privately, a fan of series with a plot detached from reality and - possibly in terms of time and other possibilities - a traveler.
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