People reject proposal to raise retirement age to 70

People interviewed by Yle at a shopping centre in Helsinki have rejected a proposal from Finnish Finance Ministry officials to gradually raise the lowest old-age pension age to 70.

Viivi Roininen, 32, said it was unreasonable to expect people to work longer when earlier generations had retired sooner. She is currently caring for her six-month-old baby and previously worked in the restaurant industry, where shifts could last 11 to 12 hours and continue for 10 days in a row.

Roininen said she could not imagine doing that work at 70. Her partner, Nopphadon Khonngam, 48, who is originally from Thailand and has worked as a chef in Finland for more than 30 years, said the change would be sad because the body does not respond as it does when people are young.

Sixteen-year-olds Elliot Wright and Teo Sievinen also opposed the proposal. Sievinen said keeping the retirement age at around 65 would be better, while Wright questioned whether a 70-year-old would still be fit to work. Both said they hoped to travel and take it easy after retiring.

Antti Kauppinen, 38, would also prefer to retire at around 65, though he said people who wanted to work until 70 should have the option to do so voluntarily. He hopes to have enough pension income to support himself and would like to travel and draw after retiring.

Raising the retirement age is one of the measures Finance Ministry officials have proposed to lengthen working careers. Their statement for the next parliamentary term aims to halt the growth of public debt and safeguard the foundations of the welfare state. The proposal would require politicians to approve it.

Under the proposal, the lowest old-age pension age could rise by six months for each age group until it reaches 70. It would then be linked again to changes in life expectancy, as it is under the current system.

Preliminary estimates suggest the increase could add between 50,000 and 120,000 people to employment. The effects would emerge gradually, with the full impact taking a long time to become visible.

The lowest old-age pension age is the earliest age at which a person can claim an old-age pension, and it depends on their year of birth. People can continue working after reaching it and accrue earnings-related pension until the upper age limit. After that limit, an employer is no longer required to arrange pension insurance for the worker.