A senior Social Democratic Party (SPD) official has refuted the comments made by the German Federal Minister of Economics, Katherina Reiche, regarding retirement age.
Dagmar Schmidt, the SPD’s deputy chair for labor and social affairs, told the Tagesspiegel that the minister’s statements “miss the reality.” Schmidt pointed out that the proportion of individuals between the ages of 60 and 64 who are employed and insured in Germany has significantly increased from 2013 to 2023. To further improve this, measures for health protection were enshrined in the coalition agreement.
The reality, according to Schmidt, is that many people today find it difficult to work until the current retirement age of 67, especially those who have spent decades working in physically demanding or high-stress jobs, or in shift work. These individuals, she emphasized, cannot continue working indefinitely.
Schmidt criticized Reiche’s proposal for a faster increase in the retirement age, which she described as a “rent cut and, therefore, deeply unjust.” Instead, the SPD official advocates for a labor market policy with good wages and good social security, enabling people to work healthily until retirement.
Reiche had earlier expressed her support for a faster increase in the retirement age, which she deemed not ambitious enough. She also described early retirement as a problem, stating it was her personal opinion, unaffected by the coalition agreement’s differing views on the topic. The retirement age is set to gradually increase to 67 by 2031, with no further plans for an increase.