(de-news.net) – Jens Spahn, chair of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, has indicated that a substantial increase in the statutory retirement age should be expected and has explicitly connected future pension policy to continued gains in life expectancy. In his assessment, the prospect of markedly longer life spans would render retirement in the mid-60s progressively impractical. This argument is reinforced, he suggested, by demographic projections indicating that nearly half of all girls born today are likely to reach the age of 100.
On this basis, Spahn anticipates that the federal pension commission will advance proposals aimed both at raising the formal retirement threshold and at extending overall working lives. He further maintained that, should longevity continue to rise, corresponding adjustments to the retirement age would be unavoidable. Within this framework, Germany is already in the process of gradually increasing the standard retirement age for a full, unreduced pension to 67.
In parallel, Spahn firmly dismissed the notion that the federal government could again ease the constitutional debt brake as a means of stabilizing the social insurance system. From his perspective, existing fiscal constraints leave no latitude for additional borrowing, effectively excluding debt-financed measures to shore up pension and welfare funds. This position situates pension reform squarely within the bounds of budgetary discipline rather than expanded deficit spending.
The broader context of the debate is illustrated by recent demographic statistics. Data from Federal Statistical Office show that life expectancy at birth in Germany reached 78.9 years for men and 83.5 years for women in 2024. Moreover, the period preceding the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by steady annual increases in longevity between 2011 and 2019, averaging roughly 0.1 years per year for both sexes. This sustained upward trend has reinforced expectations of long-term demographic pressure on the pension system and underscores the structural challenges facing retirement policy in an aging society.
