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Radicova: Increasing Age of Retirement Would Be Inhumane
Friday 31 December 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 31 (TASR) - Current demographic developments mean that the long-term sustainability of pension systems is an issue for almost every country, including Slovakia, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova (SDKU-DS) has told TASR.
"That's why we help young families, because the basic solution for pensions is to have more children. This is the only long-term solution," said Radicova.
Slovakia carried out pension reform several years ago with the aim of making the system sustainable in the long term. According to Radicova, there is a need to stabilise the second (capitalisation) pension pillar, rather than "making meaningless changes that weaken it and prolong the transition to the new system".
Radicova said that there is a need to introduce a minimum pension in the public system that would be fully covered by taxes in line with the principle of solidarity, regardless of how much the individuals themselves have contributed to the system.
"The current system creates a problem in that some pensioners have unfairly low pensions. Including an entire career in pension calculations would be more just," said the premier.
At the same time, Radicova disagrees with the idea of increasing the age of retirement, arguing that people should enjoy their pensions for at least 15 years. "With the current age of retirement at 62 we are meeting this. It would be inhumane to increase the age of retirement given current life-expectancy," she added.
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