Poll: rise in retirement age sparks anger, but is no surprise
Online petition opposing the move got a new name every second on Thursday
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The government’s decision to raise the minimum age of old-age pensions by two years has caused a storm on Finnish Internet message boards, in cafes, and inside labour unions.
The main message of the feedback is that the government has extended the sentence to work by two years. This speaks much about the reality of Finnish working life.
A survey conducted by the polling agency Taloustutkimus on behalf of Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) showed that 62 per cent of Finns are opposed to raising the retirement age, while 19 per cent approve.
The government’s arguments in favour of the higher retirement age focus on aspects of economics and public health.
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has described Finland’s current situation in terms of a story involving three roads.
The first leads to a sharp increase in taxes. The second leads to a sharp cut in benefits, and a third involves the longer working careers.
The government has chosen the third of these options. It wants to lengthen the time that is spent at work through a number of means, including getting young people from school to further education, and from there into work faster than they do now.
The government is encouraging people to remain at work longer before retirement through the so-called super accrual of pension, which means that the employee will be entitled to a bonus pension payment, if he or she does not retire before turning 63-68.
Now the government also wants to raise the minimum age for retirement to 65 years. How this would affect the super accrual has not yet been decided.
The fact that the government announced its decision without first negotiating on it with labour market organisations in the traditional manner has angered the labour union side.
An online petition, set up by organised labour and demanding the cancellation of the changes, brought in a flood of virtual signatures. On Thursday, signatures were coming in at a rate of about one every second.
More on this subject:
 Vanhanen heavily criticised in Parliament over retirement age
Helsingin Sanomat
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