The Danish will soon have to work up to 70 years. Parliament adopted, on May 22, a law related to retirement age, today established at age 67. Therefore, it will gradually change to 70 years and will worry since 2040, those born after December 31, 1970.
This will be the highest legal age in Europe, without being completely unprecedented in continental history, even if it is necessary to return very far in time to find such a terminal.
In Germany, the first background insurance system, established by Foreign Minister Bismarck in 1889 in a boom context in the movement of workers, also planned for the payment of a pension from 70 years.
In the eyes of the artisan of German unification, such a threshold had the advantage of not costing very dear. And for a good reason, at the end of the 19th century, life expectancy at birth did not exceed 40 years. In fact, most workers stopped working before 70 years, due to disability.
Indexed age to life expectancy
Unlike the old Bismarckian system, in Denmark, the legal retirement age is indexed to the evolution of life expectancy (81.9 years currently according to the ane against 83, 1 year in France) and is reviewed upwards every five years.
However, this automatic increase system could soon be completed. Last summer, the head of the Government, the social democrat puts Frederiksen, 47, said he was ready to review this system, once the starting age has reached 70 years.
Even if you have not found a strong opposition to Parliament (81 votes to 21 votes against), the system is not unanimous in the country, in particular with manual workers, whose life expectancy is on average lower than that of executives.
Despite the greatly favorable vote of the deputies, the demonstrations took place in Copenhagen in the previous weeks the vote.
“Completely unfair”
According to Jesper Ettrup Rasmussen, the president of a Confederation of the Danish Union cited by the BBC, The proposal to increase retirement age is “completely unfair.”
In all European countries, the extension of work hours and the postponement of legal age is in the governments menu. In Italy, it is currently established at age 67, but must be adjusted in 2026 according to life expectancy. In the United Kingdom, they are 66, but again for people born after 1960, the legal age required to benefit from state retirement should increase.
The constant improvement in life expectancy in Europe, observed for decades, has slowed 2011 according to a recent study published in the scientific journal The Lancet.
According to this study, Denmark, however, is one of the countries that has best maintained improvements in life expectancy. Among the explanations, scientists point out the positive role of public health policies, particularly in the fight against cardiovascular disease.
Source: BFM TV
