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'Old' Europe struggles with pension October
19, 2003 European countries like
France are dealing with a massive aging problem and the subsequent lack of
pension funds for millions of current and future retirees. After
decades as a teacher, Francelise Madassamy envisioned a leisurely
retirement in southern France, with occasional trips to Guadeloupe, the
French Caribbean Island where she was born. But
her dreams have been clouded by new pension cuts, the government's
response to an aging crisis looming over France's retirement system.
Because of the cutbacks, she'll navigate her golden years with tightened
purse strings. She'll retire on about $1,725 a month, some $345 less than
she'd expected. ''I'll
have to make fewer trips; I'm already traveling less now,'' said the
50-year-old, who aims to stop working at 60. ``I'm having to think about
retirement differently.'' Giving
new meaning to the term ''Old Europe,'' countries from France to Germany,
Italy to Austria and beyond are grappling with a gargantuan problem:
Millions of post-World War II baby boomers are trooping toward retirement,
and their governments can't foot the astronomical pension bill. For
politicians, experts say, the choice is stark: Reform pensions now, or
risk crippling economic, social and even political costs down the line. ''The
more you wait, the more difficult it becomes,'' said Robert Holzmann, an
Austrian economist at the World Bank. Failure to reform will force
cutbacks that would ``hit those who have the least capacity to react, who
are the old and the very old.'' Such
warnings don't sit well with powerful trade unions and Europeans steeped
in the idea of the state's providing amply in old age. Italy's
three largest unions are calling for a four-hour general strike on Oct. 24
after Premier Silvio Berlusconi said on prime-time TV that without reform,
``the state won't be able to pay pensions, and the elderly won't be able
to live on their pensions.'' On
Friday, the German parliament votes on plans to reform unemployment
benefits and social security, stage two of reforms to trim welfare and
revive Europe's largest economy. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has warned
his very survival in office depends on pushing through the reform package. Sporadic
strikes over welfare hobbled transport and schools in France this spring,
and in June, retirement reforms sparked postwar Austria's biggest strike. ''What's happening in Austria is not reform. People are just going to be denied what they deserve. I have to face the fact that I'll not have the money to pay for my basic needs,'' said Peter Preisinger, a 42-year-old computer specialist in Vienna. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging |
