BERLIN, Dec. 28 — A public opinion poll released on Sunday shows that a strong majority of Germans believe the country’s statutory pension system requires a fundamental overhaul, while confidence in the current governing coalition to deliver such reform remains low.
According to the survey conducted by the Civey Institute for the Funke media group, 82 percent of respondents said comprehensive pension reform is necessary.
Only 9 percent disagreed, while another 9 percent were undecided.
Despite broad public support for reform, just 20 percent of those surveyed said they trust a coalition government of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party to implement major changes.
By contrast, 69 percent expressed skepticism, and 11 percent had no clear opinion. Germany’s pension system is coming under increasing strain as the number of retirees rises and the number of contributors declines.
Reflecting these concerns, 60 percent of respondents supported linking retirement eligibility to the number of contribution years rather than maintaining a fixed retirement age.
Support was even stronger for expanding the contributor base.
The poll found that 81 percent favor requiring civil servants, self-employed workers and members of parliament to pay into the statutory pension system.
The online survey was conducted between Dec. 16 and Dec. 22 among about 5,000 respondents aged 18 and over. (Namibia Daily News/Xinhua)
