Today, the Pensions Committee presents its report. The task has been to evaluate the pension reform that was introduced under the red-green government in 2011. The reform was to ensure that the state can pay for pensions through the National Insurance Scheme also in the future, when the number of pensioners increases and lives longer. In the current system, the retirement age is 67 years, but it is possible to draw a pension from the age of 62. But the committee wants a change in that. – Increasing the age limits is more financially sustainable, more people will stay longer in work, says committee leader and Schibsted director Kristin Skogen Lund to news. In 2005, the governing parties agreed on the pension reform. The pension reform came into force on 1 January 2011. Here, former Marit Arnstad (Sp), Jens Stoltenberg (Labor Party), Oddvard Nilsen (H) and Einar Steensnæs (KrF) sign the agreement. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Read the main conclusions from the committee in the fact box further down in the case. Raising the retirement age Kristin Skogen Lund emphasizes that the changes are intended to take place over time, without too abrupt an impact for those who are close to retirement age. In any case, many young people must prepare to work longer than people do today before they can retire. The usual retirement age for those born in the 90s is around 70 and a half years – compared to today’s 67 years. The lower age limit for drawing a pension for this group is increased from 62 years to approximately 65 and a half years. In the graph below you can see how long you have to expect to work, depending on when you were born. This figure shows the development in the age limits for drawing a pension with the system proposed by the committee and based on Statistics Norway’s population projections. Photo: Statistics Norway The minimum pension is increased The Government’s financial room for maneuver is likely to be significantly smaller in the coming years. Thus, the state is dependent on increased revenues – or reduced expenditures. One of the largest expenditure items in the state budget is the pension. The committee nevertheless proposes to increase the minimum pension. This is because in the future it will be too small to live on – if it is not adjusted upwards. This means that the state will not save money on the committee’s proposal, even though this was part of the committee’s mandate. – The pension reform from 2011 eases the pressure on central government finances in the long run, but then we see that there are some social gaps. There are a number of areas that need to be adjusted so that it is socially sustainable, says Kristin Skogen Lund. She says it is important in order to ensure support for the pension system, that one succeeds in closing the gaps that are associated with minimum pensioners and the disabled. However, raising the retirement age helps cut government spending. – By introducing higher age limits, you still counteract part of that cost effect. So we experience that we have found a methodology that is cheaper than it otherwise could have been, says Skogen Lund. The committee proposes this: – The new system applies from the 1963 litter onwards. – The age limits gradually increase by about one year per tenth year. Initially, this will increase by two months per year. At the lower limit for drawing pensions, they will increase even faster, to prevent the cost of early retirement of workers. – The normal retirement age for those born in the 90s is thus 70 and a half years – compared to today’s 67 years. The lower age limit for drawing a pension for this group is increased from 62 years to 65 and a half years. – The committee also proposes better regulation of the minimum pensioners, as well as a more reasonable development in the old-age pension for those with disabilities. Impossible to define “tired” An important question for the committee has been what will happen to those who no longer have the health to work. Here we are talking about the so-called “hard workers”, who have worked in heavy occupations since they were quite young. – We have discussed this a lot. Those who have long careers get a good return on their new National Insurance. Those who have spent ten years on education lose out on it compared to those who started work early. Limiting that group to a statistical group is completely impossible, Skogen Lund answers. She believes it will be difficult to make a separate scheme for the weary, but acknowledges that not everyone can be in working life well into the 60s. – Then we have other schemes. We have unemployment benefits and various health-related schemes such as disability benefits. You can not avoid the fact that then you have to resort to other schemes than the pension system. It is very difficult to create a unified pension system that captures so many different needs, which cannot be grouped. Today at ten o’clock the committee presents its entire report. The proposals will form the basis for a new political debate on changes to the pension system. The trade union movement’s pension network “Pension for all” has announced that they will present an alternative report in August.
ttn-69
So much longer you have to work – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
