Alyaksandr Lukashenka has spoken out in favour of raising the retirement age ‘for everyone’ at Thursday’s government conference to discuss the development of the pension system. In Belarus, women go on pension at 55 while men retire at 60.
“But we should take into account all the factors: male and female life expectancy, particular characteristics of rural and urban areas, working conditions in some fields and other factors,” he said.
According to the president, the average life expectancy in the country has increased in comparison with the 1990s.
“This is why 55-60 years is a normal age. If you tell a 55-year-old woman that she is old or a pensioner, she will be offended! But if we try to offer jobs to the same woman saying she is not old, she may change her mind. The same can be said about men. They pretend not to be offended, but deep in mind, they feel aggrieved. A man at the age of 60 is a horse to plough with,” Lukashenka said.
In his words, two factors speak in favor of raising the retirement age. Considerable changes in the structure of the society with the number of working Belarusians decreasing and the number of pensioners constantly rising is the first factor. In our country, every fourth pensioner continues working. There are over 60 pensioners per 100 working Belarusians. According to the head of state, the trends will get only worse.
“I am not inclined to exaggerate that the entire country will flip over if we raise the retirement age. It will not. I just don’t want to make the decision in a haphazard way and get reproached by the nation,” state-run agency BelTA quotes Lukashenka.
“Everything should be done carefully. If we say that the person occupies the central place in our policy, we need to listen to the person or convince the person just the way we are doing it,” he added.
