Portuguese really should work until they drop

The Portuguese population is aging and the projected decline in working age people to 2050 is among the steepest in any OECD country, according to the institution led by Ángel Gurría.

A riveting report on the Pension System of Portugal, published on Wednesday, makes key recommendations to simplify the current system, but will any government take action?

The existing pension system is a mix of benefits, contributory and statutory, which still manages to leave many people with tiny pensions and no social security back-up to rely on.

The OECD claims that the early retirement scheme is far too generous and stops older citizens getting jobs, “Allowing someone to retire at the age of 60 is too generous and should be severely restricted,” says the OECD, committed to forcing everyone to work until they drop, thus saving States from having to pay out any money at all after a lifetime of toil.

"Given increased life expectancy, the age of 60 to access early retirement is too low. This age has contributed to shaping social norms and influencing behavior of both workers and bosses about work in later years. This is not consistent with the effort to increase the labour supply of older workers," states the OECD whose own executive pension arrangements are not recorded.

Comments  

+1 #6 Darcy 2019-03-23 10:50

I also live in the Algarve and i see people working from 8.30am to 7pm, and the workmanship of these tradesmen is exceptional.

0 #5 Boratt 2019-03-21 09:32

Portuguese really should work until they drop,,, because they don't work much,,,
or, they should work,

9 to 5
have half hour lunches
work on weekends
work on saints days, all of them
work more -- holiday less
productivity is low, i live in the Algarve,
i know...
Spain is worse,

0 #4 Peter Booker 2019-03-21 08:07

I agree with you, Ed. There are many in the USA for example who work well into their seventies, and some lorry drivers even in their eighties. It is well known that the state old age pension scheme devised before WW1 is too expensive because of increased life expectancy; which is why they have increased the age at which one qualifies for a pension to 67.

It is funny how we in Europe are being dragged in the wake of the American economic model. I enjoyed the last remark in your article.

0 #3 Ed 2019-03-20 21:45

Quoting Richard 2:

Sorry ED, I don't know the original source of the article but it is ridiculous as written. It is perfectly reasonable to state that retirement at 60 is too generous given life expectancy. Equating working past 60 with "working until they drop" is unjustified.

The OECD wants retirement to be linked to life expectancy, as indeed it already is in Portugal. What the OECD is complaining about is the soft options available for early retirees. It would prefer everyone to continue to work well beyond the current retirement age so that increasingly ageing population at least pays enough tax to support pensioners. Working into ones 80s would solve a lot of the State's problems, economically anyway, maybe not socially.

+2 #2 Richard 2 2019-03-20 20:57

Sorry ED, I don't know the original source of the article but it is ridiculous as written. It is perfectly reasonable to state that retirement at 60 is too generous given life expectancy. Equating working past 60 with "working until they drop" is unjustified.

0 #1 J.Bull 2019-03-20 20:38

Just a thought - but far too few Portuguese are dropping dead. What does the OECD suggest to speed this up ? Then rename Portugal. Call it something By the Sea.
(For the record - this comment (GB666) has been passed by the Portuguese anti-Racism Board as it does not involve any Portuguese being racist to each other)

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