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If you work in Greece, chances are you can retire at age 50. Why does Greece have such low retirement ages? Over the years, strong unions negotiated a myriad of concessions as they dealt with weak governments, explains Landon Thomas Jr of the New York Times.
At present, there are 580 categories that deem work in those fields hazardous enough for early retirement. Here are some examples:
- Hairdressers -- Hairdressers who work with dyes, chemicals and ammonia, which are labeled hazardous, qualify for early retirement. Early retirement is age 50 for women and age 55 for men.
- Coal mining and bomb disposal are other categories that entitle workers to early retirement.
- Radio and television presenters fall into this category because of the bacteria on their microphones.
- Musicians playing wind instruments are early retirees because they deal with gastric reflux as the puff and blow.
Throughout Europe unions have negotiated benefits that will add to the debt level of their respective governments. Here are some data:
- Adding Greece's pension obligations would show the government's debt is really 875% of GDP.
- In France, when you add pensions benefits, government debt rises to 549% of GDP.
- In Germany the number would be 418% of GDP.
- In the U.S., 78 million baby boomers are to begin drawing Social Security and Medicare.
Now, we can see why workers in Greece are staging demonstrations against their government's austerity programs. They see a threat to their livelihood and early retirement. The situation in Western countries will only worsen over the next few years. How all of this will play out is unknown.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-12-2010 @ 1:12PM
MyKisa said...
Utopia is possible....only need a gov man to force others to pay for it
3-12-2010 @ 6:18PM
BUDDY7768 said...
IN NYC CITY WORKERS CAN RETIRE @ HALF PAY AFTER 20 YEARS WITH FULL MEDICAL I AM 40 AND JUST RETIRED FROM THE SANITATION MY PENSION IS 4000 PER MONTH HE HE HE SUCKERS THANKS FOR THE MONEYHE HE HE INEVER WORKED MY THAN THREE HOURS A DAY AND HAD UNLIMITED SICK TIME
3-12-2010 @ 4:25PM
william lindblad said...
One of the existing problems with Greece is that pensions are quite liberal, borne out by the 875 number. Generally speaking, when one takes and "early" retirement the benefits are commensurately less than going at the "normal" age. This has been a bit of a bug-a-boo throughout Europe and consequently, some nations opted to reduce benefits. Noted in this blog is that Germany and France remain high - even after massive cuts which took place around 5 years ago. No doubt that they have union problems. Ever look at what is considered a "normal" vacation schedule? Two months off is the norm, so are 30-35 hour work weeks and wage parity with the U.S. Socialism works in small countries, but as geographic size increases that system becomes less and less effective.