Send this page to someone
Fill in the email address of your friend, and we will send an email
that contains a link to this page.
- The good years
-
People should have the right to some good years as a pensioner after a long working life, argues the government.
- Latest: Danish pension reform agreed
-
A political agreement secures early retirement on a state pension for Arne and others who started working at an early age.
The Social Democrats-led Danish coalition government has negotiated an agreement with the Red-Green Alliance, the Socialist People’s Party and the Danish People’s Party to change the Danish pension system beginning in 2022. The agreement fulfils a central Social Democrat election promise from three years ago securing early retirement on a state pension for people who have been working from an early age.
The agreement defines workers as both wage earners and freelancers, and it also covers people who might have been working part-time for periods of their working lives, been unemployed several times or have been in apprenticeships during their education.
The agreement also earmarked 100 million Danish kroner (€30.4m) to improve work environments in 2023, and money will be set aside to prevent sick-leave and early burn-out in the public sector.
Several observers still predict more debate about the retirement age in the wake of this agreement. The parliament must both pass the agreement in late 2020 and agree on an increase of the general retirement age.
- Early state pension
-
The government’s proposed introduction of the right to an early state pension, based on how many years have been spent working by the age of 61. If this is 44 years, you can retire three years before the state pensionable age, while 42 and 43 years in the labour market gives you the right to retire one or two years early. This right is extended to all who have worked for this long, regardless of whether they are worn out or not.
The early state pension would be 13,550 Danish kroner (€1.820) before tax, and less than that if you have pension savings worth more than two million kroner (€268.800). It is allowed to top up the state pension with payments from private pension savings, and you are allowed to work and earn up to 24.000 kroner (€3.225) a year (pre-tax) without seeing a reduction in the pension.
38,000 people will be eligible for early state pension in 2022, especially unskilled and skilled workers. Around 22,000 are expected to make use of the scheme. Out of these people, a large number already receive different types of benefit, including from the voluntary early retirement scheme.
The right to early state pension is expected to cost around three billion kroner (€403.1m) annually, which the government says it will fund partly through ditching tax cuts for the highest earners and by introducing a new fee for the financial sector.
The government aims to pass the legislation and for it to become law by 1 January 2021.
- The health and work-life of Danish seniors
-
Many Danish seniors stay longer in the labour market than before. The reason seniors leave the labour market is complex, but the work environment often plays a crucial part.
Seniors – a very differentiated group of people
In total, seniors are happier with their work than others, but they are more worried about unemployment than younger workers.
Generally, seniors believe themselves to be in slightly worse health than others, and they talk about more muscular and joint pain than younger workers. They do, however, report better mental health than workers between 30 and 49. This goes both for symptoms of depression, mental health issues and stress.
Seniors feel they have less say over the content of their work and are more likely to feel bullied compared to workers aged 18 to 49. They have more clearly defined tasks, face fewer quantitative demands and are less likely to feel that work interferes too much in their spare time.
Earlier studies show that people with poor health, physically demanding jobs and those exposed to various chemicals are more likely to retire early.
Source: “Work environments and health among senior workers – Analysis for Seniortænketanken for a longer & good senior working life”.
Follow us on Facebook
Work Research Institute
OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University,
Postboks 4 St. Olavs plass, NO-0130 Oslo
The Nordic Council of Ministers is not responsible for the content