Friday, November 29, 2013

OECD not optimistic on German retirees

As the leftovers from last night's turkey dinner fill the fridge and the scale in the bathroom is fitted with a new button battery to help keep our food intake in check, we picked up a recent report by the OECD.

According to the OECD report, German retirees have reason to worry about poverty. For private sector employees, the basic retirement income is 55% of wages in Germany, whereas it is quite a bit higher in other European countries.

Add to this the fact that pensions have been stripped of their tax exempt status, and you can understand worries of the elderly.

But the newly formed German government has one good news for older women. For those who had children born before 1992, a "work credit" will be created, giving these women a little bit more money in retirement.

Public sector employees do better but, as is the case with many who are truly protected, their spokespeople claim they are undervalued and underpaid.

If you combine the outlook for the average retiree with a report just days before the OECD report that, even in Germany, poor people die earlier, the fact that there is a turkey shortage in the U.S. this year does not look as serious as the media make it out to be.

The question left open at the end of this post is whether the "economics of spite" the folks of Freakonomics Radio talked about might or might not have something to do with welfare cuts in wealthy countries.

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