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Italy rises public-sector pension age for women

11 June 2010 08:24 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Italyâ€™s cabinet on Thursday bowed to pressure from the European Commission by agreeing to increase the retirement age for women in the public sector, adding a modest but still important structural element to the centre-right governmentâ€™s controversial deficit-cutting package, Financial Times reported.

The retirement age for women will be raised by four years to 65 from 2012, in line with men, Maurizio Sacconi, welfare minister, told reporters.

Financial savings to the state are relatively slim, estimated at â‚¬1.45bn ($1.76bn, Â£1.20bn)by 2019, since in effect the average retirement age for women in the public sector was already a little more than 62 years, based on a calculation of age and years in service. Under the new law some women will still be able to retire a year or so earlier than 65 if they have worked for a certain period.

Although the package was initially commended by the EU and the IMF, serious doubts over its efficacy have been raised in Italy. Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister, is under pressure even from allies in parliament to water down proposed cuts in services, particularly education, and funding for regional governments which will severely hit the healthcare sector.

The two-year package â€“ intended to bring the budget deficit down from more than 5 per cent to below 3 per cent by the end of 2012 â€“ was also criticized by economists for lacking long-term structural changes, such as pension reform. The main leftwing trades union federation plans to hold a one-day strike against the emergency budget on June 25 and hold a protest demonstration in Rome this Saturday.

Renato Brunetta, minister for civil service reforms, said Italyâ€™s average retirement age in the private sector was about 61. Italy has one of the lowest overall retirement ages within the EU.

The changes follow a statement on Monday by Viviane Reding, European justice minister, who rejected Italyâ€™s plans for a more gradual implementation of the higher pension age for public sector women.