A German politician, Stefan Nacke, the chairman of the workers’ group of the Union’s faction in the German Bundestag, aims to reduce the number of early retirees. He suggests that the government could introduce new incentives or higher deductions to encourage people to work until nearly the age of 67.
According to Nacke, many people want to retire as early as possible, as they believe this marks the beginning of their freedom. He understands this perspective but argues that this approach is not sustainable for the social system. Instead, people should ask themselves what a good life and the sense of purpose in it are: working as little as possible and retiring early, or finding a career in which one can make a difference and where work becomes an integral part of one’s life.
Nacke stated that it is not pleasant to make pension policy, focusing on where to cut costs, but noted that savings are necessary to secure the social systems. The retirement level should be a central pillar of the people’s security and contributions should not increase indefinitely.
He emphasized that he does not want to pre-disclose the coalition talks, but ruled out an increase in the retirement age. He also expressed reservations about the proposed mother’s pension. As for the special infrastructure fund, Nacke warned that it should not be used as a “treasure chest” for election promises and that the debt should not be simply transferred to consumption.
For a potential government coalition with the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Nacke aims to learn from the past. He said that many in the Union criticized the last grand coalition, stating that the SPD pushed for certain policies, while the Union could block some of them. Nacke wants to avoid a “watchdog coalition” in the future and instead pursue a constructive cooperation and a social order policy.