Bill limits rise in women's pension age to 62

The bill is against the position of the Ministry of Finance.

The Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee, chaired by MK Haim Katz (Likud), today unanimously approved for its first reading a bill that states the retirement age for women age will not be later than 62, against the position of the Ministry of Finance.

On the basis of the bill proposed by Katz and MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz), the current situation will remain unchanged, and women will be able to apply for early payment of their old age pensions from the age of 62, based on means tests.

Katz said, "Precisely at a time of social protest, the Ministry of Finance is trying to harm hundreds of thousands of women for no reason."

An expert source slammed the decision, calling it "populism that contradicts demographic trends characteristic of Israeli society. The decision is based on a desire to appear socially aware."

They said that the bill will carry real costs.

Until now, there was discussion of raising women's retirement age to 64, compared with men's retirement age of 67.

The sources said that in view of currently longevity, a women who retires at 62 can expect to live 24 more years until 86. "Every decade, life expectancy increases by three years," said an official.

The Ministry of Finance said in response, "The budget cost of keeping the retirement age unchanged is NIS 1.1 billion. The actuarial deficit created is estimated at NIS 4 billion. The only way to offset this deficit is by reducing men's rights in old pension funds."

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 31, 2011

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011

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