BRUSSELS. “No” to raising the retirement age. Italians respond to a Eurobarometer survey and send a clear message to the Meloni government. An outcry to any hypothesis of lengthening the working age hidden in a document of almost one hundred pages, and published for completely different purposes, first of all that of measuring the degree of appreciation for the single currency. But at some point here’s the question on another topic. “Should the retirement age be raised to ensure the sustainability of the pension system?” Just 8% of the Italian interviewees answered with a convinced “yes”, and another 12% tend to believe that the way forward could be the one suggested by the question. A total of just two out of ten Italians (20%). Only Greeks (19%) and Latvians (14%) are less convinced about policies of this type.
Not to work more, but to create more work so as to have the possibility of payments to pay pensions. Here is the message that comes from the latest survey commissioned on behalf of the EU executive. Moreover, even the EU average does not differ much from the orientation of Italians when it comes to retirement age. Increasing it is advisable for not even three out of ten citizens (28%), among those who are really convinced of it (13%) and those who are tentatively even in favor (15%). It is no coincidence that two thirds of Europeans (63%) believe it is preferable to proceed with a reform of the labor market rather than a change in the pension and social security system. In this request the Italians are the first. Virtually all of them (98%) of them ask for serious interventions in the field of employment policies. It is “very important” for eight out of ten respondents (81%) and “important” for nearly two others (17%). Translated: more jobs, more real contracts and fewer VAT numbers.
When Italians, quite a few actually, because almost all (89%) indicate that reforms are an important tool for improving the national economy, even before that of the euro area, the message they send to the government in Rome is extremely clear. Interventions yes, provided they are in the right direction. To avoid misunderstandings, the suggestion. More work, not for those who already have it, but more work for those who don’t. No to raising the retirement age, but to create a system that allows people to go there sooner. The Italian people have spoken. It is now up to the Meloni government to take this into account and behave accordingly.