You can imagine you’ve worked your whole life chasing the brass ring. And then the government goes, “lol, just kidding!”, and moves the goal posts 50 meters. And this affects millions of people who are very pissed off and vocal about it.
> And this affects millions of people who are very pissed off and vocal about it.
I wonder how pissed these people would be if the government continued to pretend that everything is fine, did nothing, and in a few years the pension system simply crashes, due to being no longer feasible.
The current system in many european country relies on assumptions that were true in the 60s and 70s, when many of these systems basics were designed: Continuous population growth generating net positives in the pension funds, a certain life expectancy, and taxable incomes rising with economic power.
None of these assumptions hold true any more: Population growth has stalled or even reversed, people live a lot longer, and incomes stagnate despite decades of economic growth.
So the systems can either be adjusted, or they will stop functioning at some point. Even if the budgets are balanced at the moment, the factors listed above are not going to change in the other direction. Sooner or later, adjustments need to take into account the new reality.
If the reason stated above is true, it's quite the dick move to do so.
My parents worked a few years into retirement, but that was only because my country's pension budget is far from balanced, so they needed the extra income.
Yes, as we should be.
This is infuriating, other options available ( reduce pensions, remove tax breaks… ) have barely been discussed.
Adding 24 months is the only presented option.
I’ve discuss with people ready to strike for a while, since they are gonna have to work 2 more years otherwise.
And that’s on top of the fact that the budget it’s kinda fine. Needs attention, sure, but the entity governing it says it’s fine. ( independent from the gov )
No, it's because we live longer, have fewer children to support us and increase the population size that doesn't contribute net positive to the welfare state. It's pure economics.
