Denmark is set to have the highest retirement age in Europe, after lawmakers voted to raise it to 70.
Parliamentarians passed a bill mandating the rise on Thursday, with 81 votes in favor and 21 against.
The new law will apply to people born after December 31, 1970. The current retirement age is 67 on average, but it can go up to 69 for those born on January 1, 1967, or later.
The rise is needed in order to be able to “afford proper welfare for future generations,” employment minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen said in a press release Thursday.
Part of it makes sense. We live longer and longer, retirement age is something that needs to be adjusted with the human lifespan.
The problem is that our idea of what “work” should be is so awful that people look forward to retiring, and logically complain if they are denied the opportunity.
Ah, yes, the old argument of “you live longer, so the billionaires get to own more of your time”.
No. How about if I get to live longer, I get to enjoy my tiny little bit of time longer? It isn’t scarcity by nature - it’s scarcity by design.
You’ve seen a lot of oldies that are in working order after 60+? 70+? They are exceptions, not the norm. Longer isn’t healthier. Not on a functional level. Especially for those not in an office which is I think the majority.
If our Quality of life is increasing shouldn’t we be working less and for shorter periods of our lives?
That make sense to you?
Should it? We live longer and longer, but we’re also more and more productive. 50 years ago, for example, the national labor force produced enough for them and (almost) everyone else to retire after about 40 years of labor. Certainly lifespans have increased, but have they increased more than the productivity of the national labor force? I doubt it. Productivity has definitely increased enough to make up the difference in lifespans, especially since most women now work, meaning essentially double the number of workers. In that case, should we not spend the extra time (which we have earned with our own labor) with our families and friends rather than sacrifice it to some rich prick whose only contribution to society is a portfolio? There’s something distinctly dystopian about the idea that living longer means we should dedicate our time to enriching the already filthy rich rather than enjoy life.
… in Denmark? I mean, they’re the happiest population on Earth in general.
I’m just across the channel in southern Sweden and there’s no way I’m going to retire already in 17 years (67, which I think is the current retirement age for us)
I think it has more to do with the baby boom right after 1945. If those older people retire, there isn’t enough younger generation to support them, so more people need to work longer, so we don’t get too many retired people all at once.
I think it’s more of a “can we support the retired” kind of issue - not just “muh money”. It’s a little more nuanced than that.
If that were the case, they’d be increasing the retirement age for everyone, not just people under 55.
If they’re short on funds for the people about to retire, it means those people haven’t contributed enough to fund their own retirement.