Working until the statutory retirement age is reached – more and more employees cannot or do not want to do this. They prefer to accept deductions in order to retire earlier. Chancellor Scholz sees a need for action.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants fewer people to retire before they reach the statutory retirement age. “It is important to increase the proportion of those who can really work until retirement age. That is difficult for many today,” said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group and the French newspaper “Ouest-France”. Scholz also sees “potential for increase” in the proportion of women in the labor market. “But for that to work, we have to expand all-day offers in crèches, day-care centers and schools.”
The traffic light government has ruled out a further increase in the standard retirement age of 67 in the coalition agreement – despite voices from economists and employers’ associations who are calling for retirement at 70. According to calculations by the Federal Institute for Population Research, fewer and fewer people in Germany work that long. Many leave the labor market at the age of 63 or 64. At the same time, the German economy is suffering from a labor shortage.
“We can absorb some things by creating better starting opportunities for young people and investing in vocational training and further education,” said Scholz. “And we will also need immigration from other countries to ensure our prosperity.”
Scholz also defended the federal government’s plan to make naturalization in Germany easier. “For a long time, those who immigrated to Germany were treated as if they would leave the country again later – obtaining citizenship was not the priority,” he said. “But we have long been an immigration country and now want to bring it into line with international standards.” In many states, citizenship is obtained after five years. That should also be the case in this country, “if you can speak German, earn your own living and have not committed any crimes,” said Scholz.
The traffic light had recently started to reform German migration policy with several legislative projects, for example with the so-called opportunity residence law and changes to nationality law.
