The statutory pension has a financial problem. While six employees financed a retiree after the Second World War, only two per senior will soon be available. A survey now shows that every second citizen fears a lack of money in old age – but most still want to leave their job as early as possible.
Part of this contradicting finding is that the majority of employed people do not even want to work up to 63 years of age. Those who leave early usually have to accept substantial discounts from their statutory retirement benefits. At the same time, the majority of citizens believe that the money will not be enough in old age even if they retire at the regular retirement age, which increases in several stages to 67 years.
“The results show that we are not sufficiently prepared for demographic change,” says Frank Böhringer from the demographic network of companies and institutions that commissioned the survey. “We seriously need a debate about how and what people should live on in old age.” The data demonstrate how popular the position of the SPD, FDP and Greens is, which rule out a further increase in the retirement age for a traffic light government.
It is revealing how the respondents see themselves. Three quarters of those in employment consider themselves mentally and physically unable to work until retirement age 67 or longer. Most already draw the line at 65. 90 percent of the workers believe that it will no longer work under the current circumstances.
The working people would assess it differently if something were to change in their job. More than half of the workers stated that they wanted to work longer if the physical strain and stress were reduced. Further motivational factors across all employees: more flexible working hours, more salary and appreciation by superiors. Only one in four would be motivated by no improvement at all to work longer.
Anyone who has to work long hours needs good working conditions
“If you want to keep people in working life longer, working conditions must be improved in many places,” concludes Hans Martin Hasselhorn from the University of Wuppertal. “This is an important starting point for politics and companies. According to our calculations, every third baby boomer in Germany has a bad job.” The ergonomist believes that this should no longer be tolerated.
The demographic thinning of the workforce means that companies are closely following developments. “The force of this social upheaval will hit companies in the next five years,” says Frank Böhringer from the network. In view of the shortage of skilled workers, companies and social partners need viable concepts and initiatives as soon as possible in order to redesign the future of work.
The business psychologist Jürgen Deller from the University of Lüneburg emphasizes that leaving the job early is not the only result of the survey. Every eleventh person in employment is in favor of working beyond the statutory retirement age. In general, the higher the level of qualification, the greater the desire to stay in the job longer. One in four academics thinks they are fit enough to pursue their job for more than 69 years.
“As a result, we experience a paradoxical situation: while many can no longer or do not want to, others are literally prevented from contributing their work,” observes Deller. “The conclusion from this: companies should make work much more individual and adapt it to different life situations than has been the case up to now.” To do this, it is important to use the potential of those who can work longer and who want to. Companies should be just as active in recruiting older people as they are in recruiting young talent.