Pension sector fears eroding support for pension system

The oldest occupational pension scheme in Denmark will now allow its members to save less, in exchange for more free time as they near their retirement. That causes concern for the Danish pension system.

Per Bremer Rasmussen, CEO of the Danish Insurance Association (DIA) | Photo: Jens Dresling/Polfoto

BY JULIE SØLTOFT

Published: 13.11.17 at 13:50

The government's pension scheme does not provide enough help to Danes with low and middle income compared to what the unions and employers’ organizations had hoped. The pension sector now fears losing support for occupational pensions, Danish business media Finans reports. This spring, the oldest employees in the industry and in a number of other private areas were given the option to exchange pension savings for freedom. Labor union FOA now makes the same demands to public employees, Finans writes.

"We fear that the FOA's announcement is just the first sign that support for the Danish pension system is crumbling. In the long run, we fear that the unions will stop taking responsibility for a mandatory pension scheme. And if it’s up to the individual, we are on a fast track to losing our position as the world's best pension system,” says CEO of the Danish Insurance Association (DIA), Per Bremer Rasmussen, to Finans. According to the Finans, DIA, LO and DA, in a joint inquiry, called on the government to adjust its pension initiative to target the low- and middle-income groups for whom pension savings are currently a deficit business for the last 10-15 years before retirement.

English Edit: Marie Honoré