Having carried out our investigation into opinions on the English pension system we came up with the following solutions for all the problems.
• People would have to pass a disability test before they retired, showing that they were unable to continue their job. This would lower the amount of money required to keep the pension system as it would reduce the number of retired people, and it wo ➔
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Having carried out our investigation into opinions on the English pension system we came up with the following solutions for all the problems.
• People would have to pass a disability test before they retired, showing that they were unable to continue their job. This would lower the amount of money required to keep the pension system as it would reduce the number of retired people, and it would increase the number of people in the workplace. However, it would reduce the number of jobs for young people.
• More transparency about pensions, and realistic commitments made by the government so that they can be taken at face value and are guaranteed to not be altered (as happened recently in England to workers in the state sector)
• Separation of pensions from jobs, with private pension schemes and savings programmes to be chosen by the individual, and a minimum level guaranteed by the state
• Only just over 15% of the younger generation who we interviewed were aware of the pension system, therefore we should promote awareness of the pension system to the younger generation through school programmes.
We had a lively discussion with our partner school, Goethe-Gymnasium in Ludwigsburg via email and a successful Skype session in which we understood difference between the solutions and situation in both countries. Nonetheless, we found out that both Germany and UK face similar problems regarding the pension system.
The German students disagreed with us about the disability tests because they felt that it was unfair to make elderly people work when they did not want to. They thought it would be better to make people pay a separate tax which would go into their own pension fund as opposed to other people paying for their pension.
They agreed with the rest of our solutions and felt also that ignorance of the pension system amongst the younger generations was a problem in Germany as well as England. More awareness definitely needs to be raised in children about their futures.
We feel that this whole process has helped us get more of an idea about what opinions people from other countries hold on everyday issues. We look forward to continuing our communications with Goethe-Gymnasium Ludwigsburg!
