Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) has given a clear rejection of an extension of working life.
"What I think is right is the flexible transition to retirement," Heil told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
"But the idea that you should work in a steel mill or at the supermarket checkout, as a police officer or as a nurse up to the age of 70 can only be had by people who live in a completely different world."
"I think it's a phantom debate to want or to work until 70," said Heil.
This is a discussion "that cannot be reconciled with the reality of life for many people in Germany".
The Minister of Labor referred to the determination of the traffic light coalition in their coalition agreement.
SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed “that we would not increase the statutory retirement age.
And nothing will change that.”
Previously, the discussion about a longer working life had flared up again: economists like the Leipzig economist Gunther Schnabl spoke out in favor of a significant increase in the retirement age, also to cushion the consequences of rising prices.
According to the current legal situation, the age limit for the pension will be gradually raised from 65 to 67 years without deductions until 2029.
The SPD general secretary had already clearly rejected these proposals.
In an interview with the Tagesspiegel he spoke of a "feeling derailment".
“The SPD will not allow pensioners to be declared drivers of inflation and economic risk factors.
The SPD does not accept that the same people are always using the subject of inflation to make their wet neoliberal dreams of the past come true today in the face of looming social imbalances.”