Prague, Jan 10 (CTK) – The expert group of the government coalition parties, the Social Democrats (CSSD), ANO and Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), have agreed on the maximum retirement age to be 65 years for people born before 1971, KDU-CSL deputy head Jan Bartosek told Czech TV yesterday.
The government is now to assess the proposal.
The retirement age is not firmly set in the Czech Republic now.
The 65-year age limit is to be applied in a year, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksova (CSSD) said.
“As in the case of other proposals, we expect it to take effect as of 2017,” Marksova told public Czech Television (CT).
The retirement age has been gradually raised in the Czech Republic by two months yearly for men and four months for women and the age should eventually reach the same level for both genders. However, no limit by which the retirement age should be growing is set.
The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry proposed this year that the age limit be 65 years.
According to its proposal, the capping would be revised once in five years and possibly modified so that people would spend about one-quarter of their lives in retirement.
Lifespan in the country is rising and the number of seniors is growing along with the number of years when they take old-age pensions.
While in 2000, men spent 16.8 years and women 22.7 years in retirement on average, last year it was 19 years for men and 27.1 years for women. The average retirement period is 23.6 years, according to the Statistical Yearbook of Pension Insurance issued by the Czech Social Security Authority.
Some experts point out that the Czech pension system is not sustainable in the long run without reforms.
Last year, the spending on pensions was 43.4 billion crowns higher than revenues from social insurance.
The European Commission (EC) and other institutions have repeatedly criticised the Czech Republic for having a low retirement age compared with other advanced countries.
($1=24.873 crowns)
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