The Federal Republic’s pension system is getting further and further into trouble. While in 1981 there were 2.9 contributors per pensioner, according to forecasts by the German Pension Insurance there will only be 1.54 contributors in 2045. Employers are calling for the retirement age to be increased.
Study by the German Research Foundation
If the standard retirement age is reached, a standard old-age pension can be received. According to the German Pension Insurance, the age limit has been increasing gradually from 65 to 67 since 2012. For all birth cohorts from 1963 onwards, the standard retirement age is 67, starting in 2031.
Increasing the retirement age is one of the most important political instruments for dealing with an increasingly aging population and the associated difficulties in making payments.
For this reason, a research team made up of scientists from the Universities of Mannheim and Barcelona examined the consequences of an increased standard retirement age on mortality. Cristina Bellés-Obrero, Sergi Jiménez-Martín and Han Ye analyzed social security data before and after the 1967 pension reform in Spain as part of their research in April 2023. These were people who were born between 1938 and 1949 and were registered with social security at any point in their lives – up to 2020 (e.g. employees and pensioners who pay contributions).
The study found that increasing the retirement age by one year increased the risk of death among 60 to 69 year olds by around 43 percent. However, the increase itself played less of a role, but rather other factors. The working conditions had a major effect, as employees with high physical, mental or social demands were exposed to stress. But people who received less recognition for their job or had the feeling that they achieved less were also particularly affected.
According to the researchers, in order to reduce the risk of death, it is important to establish a gradual transition to retirement and flexible pension regulations – for example the possibility of partial pensions. However, if an increase in the retirement age is unavoidable, better health care and a generally supportive working environment are particularly relevant.
Oregon State University study
A study led by Dr. Chenkai Wu from Oregon State University shows that both healthy and health-impaired people benefit from a longer working life. In his study, information on around 3,000 participants in the “Health and Retirement Study” (HRS) was evaluated. However, the analysis was limited to those people who were initially employed and had already retired in 2010. The test subjects were divided into “healthy” and “unhealthy” pensioners. However, only the emotional state of the participants was taken into account, not their actual physical health. Although this study found that a later retirement age leads to lower mortality rates and better health in old age, the credibility is limited due to survival bias. People who retired earlier simply had more years until the end of the survey (on average ten years). As a result, illnesses or deaths were more likely than in a two-year period.
Nevertheless, this study also showed that healthy pensioners had a higher level of education, were wealthier, smoked less often, exercised, especially at the beginning, and were less overweight. All in all, they had a healthier lifestyle, which also had a positive influence on their own attitude towards life.
Much more important than the length of employment is general well-being, a healthy lifestyle, adequate health care and, in particular, a pleasant working environment.
Editorial team finanzen.net