BERLIN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-seven percent of Germans have lost confidence in their government's retirement benefits policies, according to a survey published by the insurance company AXA on Wednesday.
Around one in four Germans are relying entirely on the country's statutory pension scheme, a survey conducted by research institute YouGov has found. Forty-two percent of the respondents said they expected their "quality of life to deteriorate in retirement."
In view of an aging population and the growing pressure on its pension funds, Germany decided in 2007 to successively raise the retirement age to 67 years old by 2031. The current government rejects any further increases.
"That would be irresponsible," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in July. Those who leave school at age 17 today would have 50 years of work ahead of them. That is "a long way to go," he said.
To enable higher returns, a government commission presented a proposal to reform the private pension sector in the summer. Under the reform, Germans could build additional retirement provisions in subsidized funds without guarantee requirements, according to the Ministry of Finance.
Consumer groups are calling for a swift implementation. The German government "must finally make a serious commitment to reliable private pension provision," Ramona Pop, executive director of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), said last month. The organization called for a "publicly organized fund that invests the money cost-effectively and with high returns." ■
