Raising retirement age

Retirement age in Jordan is currently 60 years for men and 55 for women.

It was decided this way when the average life expectancy in Jordan was 45 years, and it is still so even though the present life expectancy rose to 78, thanks to higher standards of living and the availability of medical care.

Raising the retirement age is a trend around the world; worldwide it now ranges between 65 and 70 years.

Raising the retirement age is considered an integral part of economic and fiscal reform programmes imposed on debtor countries that live with high budget deficit and indebtedness as a percentage of their gross domestic product.

The idea of raising retirement age is not new in Jordan; it was discussed several times with reference to government staff pensions, which exceeded JD1 billion a year and continue to rise year after year.

The retirement system in the Social Security Corporation could easily make critics describe Jordanians as a retired people by design.

The idea was recently brought up by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour who, however, neither took a decision nor formed a committee to look into the subject.

He simply signalled the fact that the government was thinking of raising the retirement age, a move that may be a test balloon giving those opposing the idea ample time to raise their voices in defence of what they call “earned interest”.

The prime minister’s announcement left the door open for possible retreat and leaving things as they are by limiting the idea of raising the retirement age only to those in the medical sector.

Even this small step in the right direction will not be adopted, pending an extensive study and consultations.

If this waste of human resources and public funds is not enough, we have a system of early retirement that enables employee to leave employment at the peak of their mental and practical abilities.

The retirement in that case is not real. It is only a way to get entitled to unearned money at the expense of society.

Retirees usually look for new jobs, both in Jordan and abroad, which negates the very idea of retirement and converts it into a trick to get public money as soon as possible in a way that borders corruption.

If the prime minister is worried that a sudden decision to raise the retirement age will cause a shock to government employees, especially for those who are about to retire, he should consider implementing the needed step gradually, by raising the retirement age one year every one or two years in a way that achieves the objective over five to ten years, giving everybody ample time to adjust to the new state of affairs.