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Average
ages for retirement in the main European countries The
legal retirement age in most major European countries is 65, even if the
actual age when many people leave their jobs is often lower. Faced
with increasing difficulties in financing pensions, Italy, following the
lead of France and Austria in recent months, has introduced reforms that
toughen up requirements on the number of years an employee has to pay into
the system in order to retire with full benefits. Here
is retirement and pensions data for the main European countries: AUSTRIA
Reforms
adopted in mid-June by the Austrian parliament extended from 40 to 45
years the period of employment for a worker to retire on a full pension.
The legal age for retirement is 65. The
reform also calls for the elimination by 2017 of provisions that allow
workers to take early retirement, which have enabled Austrians up to now
to stop working at an average age of 59 for men and 57 for women. BELGIUM
The
legal age for retirement is 65 for men and 62 for women until the year
2009, after which it will be 65 years for everyone. BRITAIN
The
legal age for retirement is 65 for men and 60 for women. In 2010, the age
for women will be raised to the same as for men, 65, to be eligible for
state pensions. For civil servants, retirement is now at 60, but the
government wants to raise this to 65 as of 2006. DENMARK
The
legal age for retirement is 67, provided the person was 60 prior to July
1, 1999, and 65 for people who have turned or will turn 60 after July 1,
1999. The actual age when most people stop working is between 60 and 65. FRANCE
Reforms
adopted by the French parliament in July keep the legal age of retirement
at 60 years. In the private sector, an employee however would have had to
pay into a pension fund for 40 years in order to receive full benefits
when he or she leaves work. In the public sector, the period one pays into
the system to receive full benefits will go from 37.5 years to 40 years
between now and 2008. As
of 2009, the length of payment into a pension fund will be increased by
three months every year in both the public and private sectors, to reach
41 years in 2012 and 42 in 2020. GERMANY
The
legal age of retirement is 65 but many Germans take early retirement.
Official figures show the average age people stop work is, in western
Germany, 62.8 for men and 63.1 for women, and in the former communist
eastern regions 61.7 for men and 60.9 for women. Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder wants to discourage the practice of early retirement to
standardize the "real age" when people leave work at 63. But he
has said that talk of raising the legal age of retirement to 67 "will
not happen before 2010". GREECE
In
2002, the Greek parliament adopted a law to standardize the condition for
retirement to 37 years of employment without any particular minimum age
(or 35 years of employment for men who reach 65, and women who reach 60. ITALY
The
controversial overhaul adopted by the conservative government of Silvio
Berlusconi on October 3 would increase, as of 2008, to 40 years the period
an employee -- man or woman -- has to pay into the system in order to
retire with full benefits. The
legal age for retirement is 65 for men and 60 for women. Currently, to
claim full pension benefits on retirement, people aged more than 57 must
have contributed for 35 years and others for 37 years. THE
NETHERLANDS The
legal age for retirement is 65 years. PORTUGAL
The
legal age for retirement is 65 years. SPAIN
The
legal age for retirement is 65 years, though many people actually leave
work at 63 years old. SWEDEN
The legal age for retirement is 65 years. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
