German lawmaker proposes raising retirement age to 70
Pascal Riedig, who heads the youth group of the CDU/CSU parliamentary bloc in the Bundestag, has called for a reform that would gradually increase Germany’s retirement age to 70, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Germany currently sets the retirement age at 67, with early retirement available from 63 for those with at least 35 years of service. Riedig argued that the existing model unfairly burdens younger generations.
"It will not be possible to continue achieving significant increases in pensions as in the past unless we are willing to risk the collapse of the entire pension system,” he said.
He suggested that early retirement at 63 should effectively be abolished and that future increases in pensions should be more restrained. According to Riedig, linking pension adjustments to inflation rather than wages and tying retirement age to life expectancy would make the system “fairer and more sustainable.”
Germany’s retirement age has long been the subject of debate, particularly amid demographic shifts and fiscal strain on the pension system, with fewer workers supporting more retirees and costs consuming a growing share of the state budget. Economy Minister Katherina Reiche argued that the only sustainable solution is for people to “work more and longer,” warning that ignoring demographic realities will endanger the entire system.
Back in May, Denmark's parliament passed a bill to raise the national retirement age to 70 by the year 2040.
