Union parliamentary group deputy Jens Spahn (CDU) has called for an immediate end to the "pension at 63" in view of the shortage of skilled workers in Germany. "Retiring at 63 costs prosperity, burdens future generations and sets the wrong incentives," Spahn told Bild am Sonntag. "It should be abolished immediately and replaced by a better disability pension." The skilled workers who had retired earlier were now "bitterly lacking".
The "pension at 63" is the possibility of early retirement without deductions for long-term insured persons, which has existed since 2014. The Federal Institute for Population Research had announced in December that people in Germany are increasingly retiring early. According to the study, many leave the labour market at the age of 63 or 64 – well before the standard retirement age. In 2021, according to the institute, almost one in three access to old-age pensions was via the "retirement at 63" route. The calculations were based on the microcensus data on the development of labour force participation.
At the end of the year, the president of the employers' association, Rainer Dulger, had also called for a move away from the pension from the age of 63 in its current form. "Retiring at 63 has led to a brain drain," Dulger said at the time. Many highly qualified workers are no longer available because of the retirement age of 63, which has weakened companies.
FDP deputy Johannes Vogel calls for a "self-determined, flexible retirement age" in the "Bild am Sonntag". Everyone should be able to decide for themselves when they retire. "If you work longer, you get more pension," he said.