Raising the retirement age, hotly debated on social media. “Let them cut from the special pensions and we'll talk”

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan's announcement regarding the retirement age, which should also be increased for other professional categories, apart from magistrates, caused wide reactions on social networks, with many participants in the discussions suggesting that priority be given to cutting special pensions and only then to increasing the retirement age.

The possible increase in the retirement age has sparked extensive debates on the Internet. Archive photo

“Let's go cut from special pensions and we talk“, wrote a participant in the discussions, thus answering the moderator's question.

Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan declared that he supports raising the retirement age for other professional categories as well, apart from magistrates, stating that it is necessary for each category to take into account the activity performed. “Romania, if it wants to recover economically, must have more people in the real economy. And that means raising the retirement age, whether we like it or not, because otherwise we can no longer function“, the head of the Government declared on TVR 1 on Tuesday.

“If Romania wants to recover economically, before anything else, it must punish those who brought it to this state. We are no longer doing well if some just steal and embezzle and the fools pay more and more taxes to cover what the swindlers have done. Why is the “bean-eating old man with a hammer”, Ciucă, at home quietly playing with his grandchildren? Why Ciolacu is left alone to play with the country's budget, hoping that he will become president if he distributes money from the country's strategic reserve? Why doesn't Iohannis bring the money for those exorbitant trips from the budget? There are about 1,000 people in this country that you collect with the door, we solve half of the country's problems. Start with these first, then if there is a deficit left to pay, we promise that we will comply as well.” objected a netizen.

How long to work?

Arguing that no matter what life expectancy is, generally after 50 you enter cognitive decline, which actually begins physically around 40, another panelist said that no one would want to be a bus driver at 70, and certainly not an airplane pilot.

“Not even a judge or a prosecutor. At over 65, it's no longer ok. Let me also say that no one calls you after 50 years for a private interviewthey have that anyway jobs are being automated in a gaiety”, he said.

“The discussions have already started to make men from 65 as of now to 70.72 or as much (…) as they want. The point is that it is absolutely extremely difficult to be employed after 55 years or something like that. You have to be mega lucky in private to catch something and be able to stay there until you get out at 65. This is the reality. I absolutely do not understand this devil at all, he cut and hung on the common man like a weak. He recovers 1.2 million euros in vain when the deficit is 50 times more”, answered another.

They will work until they die, but the special ones still retire at 45

Outraged by the situation, given that ordinary pensions are anyway very small compared to those of former judges and prosecutors, one of the netizens said that he does not believe that there will be a retirement pension, but at most a social aid. “I think that you will reach the situation where there will be no retirement pension. There will probably be some kind of social assistance for people who are old and so sick that they can no longer work at all. Those who will not be extremely ill will work until they die, regardless of whether they are 70, 80 years old. Meanwhile, the specials also retire at 45″, he said.

While I agree with raising the retirement age for all non-standard age, less those who get a discount for the harmful working conditions but who don't retire at 48 anyway. It seems insane to me how the magistrates especially, but even the military and the police, retired at 48 because “it's hard” what they and miners, literally miners, do at 52. However…

Let's also cut the child allowances

Ironically, another participant in the discussions suggested to cut off the children's allowances, so that they could no longer buy a Mercedes-Benz with this money. “I say cut from the children's allowances. It's like I saw some 3rd graders at the mall, they were buying a penny each from the allowances. Hit those thieves with ridiculous allowances guys, not the poor politicians with tiny salaries and 2 lei pensions…” he wrote.

“I like how the government, whether it's raising the retirement age, firing budget workers, reducing the unemployment period, eliminating some social benefits, etc., tells us a story to put the children to sleep about how the country needs people to work, gentlemen, for labor, not handouts. In the context of the private sector, there are more dismissals than hiring, but we pretend that we don't see it.” another commented.

“In fact, the effect would be simple. The bargaining power of employers would increase enormously and they could demand more from employees on lower wages because there would be much more competition for the same job.” added another in ternaut.

The government wants to increase the retirement age in MAi, MApN, SRI and SPP

The Government is working on a draft law to increase the retirement age in the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior and in the SRI and SPP structures, the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, informed on Monday, January 12, adding that the Government will use the assumption of responsibility to pass the legislative package regarding the 10% reduction of the salary fund in public institutions, a measure that it considers the last chance of credibility of the current executive.

“The real and responsible budget cannot be conceived this year without these spending cuts”said Miruță, stating that on Thursday, in the Government meeting, the administration package will be adopted.

According to him, each principal authorizing officer must reorganize the institution he leads in order to reduce the salary fund by 10%, without cutting basic salaries. He added that each minister decides how to apply the measure – through layoffs, reduced allowances or reduced management positions. For the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, SRI and SPP, the solution found is to increase the retirement age.

“We are working on a draft law, together with the Ministry of the Interior, to increase the retirement age. This is the compromise accepted by the coalition so as not to cut the salary, not to cut the number of employees. But we must also contribute to the effort, by increasing the retirement age. It also applies to the SRI and SPP structures”said Radu Miruta.

The Minister of Defense could not specify to what level the retirement age will increase, which is now around 48, but only that Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan asked to have the draft law ready by the end of next week.

“We need to bring the bill to the government table at the end of next week to raise the retirement age. Some simulations are being done… About how much do you need to raise the retirement age to cut spending by 10%? Maybe not until 65, maybe until 60, maybe at 55. But today it's 48″Miruta concluded.

The retirement age will change every 3 years

Currently, the retirement age for men is 65, for women it will reach, in stages, 65 in 2035.

An article in the new pension law, which entered into force on September 1, 2024, states that the retirement age will change every 3 years.

“Starting with the date of completion scaling provided in annex no. 5, the minimum period of contributory contributions, the full period of contributory contributions and the standard retirement age, provided by this law, are increased depending on the evolution of life expectancy in Romania, at a maximum interval of 3 years.

In the situation where a positive evolution of life expectancy is found, the competent authorities will take measures to change the minimum period of contributory contributions, the full period of contributory contributions and the standard retirement age by half of the period of increase in life expectancy, by modifying the legal framework. In the situation where a negative evolution of life expectancy is observed, the contribution periods and the standard retirement age cannot be increased (paragraph 6).

In the situation where the increase of the minimum contributory contribution period, the full contributory contribution period and the standard retirement age is less than one month, the provisions of para. (6) does not apply.

With the publication of the Aging Working Group (AWG) projections, every 3 years, the Fiscal Council prepares a report by which it verifies whether the minimum contribution period, the full contribution period and the standard retirement age have been modified according to the evolution of life expectancy. The report is published on the website of the Fiscal Council. In the situation where deviations from the provisions of para. (6), the Government is obliged to increase the minimum contribution period, the full contribution period and the standard retirement age according to para. (6)”it is stated in the new pension law.

Specifically, starting from January 2035, when the retirement age for women will be equal to that of men – 65 years – the retirement age will be correlated with life expectancy.

According to art. 47 of Law 360/2023, the standard retirement age for women is 65 years. Regarding the contributory contribution period, the minimum is 15 years, and the full period is 35 years.

Reaching the retirement age and the contribution period is achieved by increasing the age/period, according to the schedule provided in annex no. 5 of the new pension law.