The government decided to send to the Riigikogu a draft Act that stipulates the increase of retirement age to 65 years as of 2026.
There are two main reasons for the increase in retirement age. First, the future pensioners must be sure that their pension would not be lower than it currently is and that, if possible, it would even increase. The second reason is to alleviate the labour shortage accompanying the decrease in the active population on the labour market.
Hanno Pevkur, Minister of Social Affairs, hopes for the quick proceeding of the draft in the Riigikogu, as indecisiveness could mean a situation for the current working people where in the future, it would no longer be possible to pay a worthy pension. The current forecasts show that in the coming 50 years, Estonia will lose 284 000 working age people.
“Such a decrease in working hands means that if today in Estonia there are 4 working age people for each person that is 65 years old, then by the year 2030, it will drop to 3 people and in 50 years, only 1.8 working aged people will be paying the pension of one person,” Pevkur added.
The increase in retirement age, in the proposed form, will mainly affect those people who are now up to 50 years of age.
Those people who are currently 50-56 years old, whose retirement age will arrive in 2017-2026, will remain in the transition period.
All people who are older than 56 will retire according to the order valid now.
At the moment, the retirement age for men is 63 years and for women 60 years and 6 months. By 2016, the retirement age for women will be increased to 63 years. As of 2017, the retirement age would gradually increase for everyone, that is, by three months a year, and by 2026, it will be 65 years for both women and men.
