22 July 12 14:44–12 years have passed since the public committee on raising the retirement age submitted its recommendations to equalize men and women’s retirement at 67 over a period of 20 years. Four years later, and ahead of most Western countries, the Israeli government adopted the recommendations in part, raising the retirement age of men to 67 almost immediately, but raising the retirement age for women by only two years. The government also decided that, if by 2012, no new committee was established to raise the retirement age further for women, it would automatically rise to 64.

Israel being Israel, this committee was only established in 2011, and it too recommended raising the retirement age for women, not a difficult recommendation given that a woman headed the Ministry of Finance Budget Department. After a public struggle, it was decided not to decide until 2017.

In practice, Israel was one of the first countries to raise the retirement age. Poland raised it last May to 67 for men and 65 for women. Polish men will have 20 years to adapt to the change, and Polish women will have 40 years. Two years ago, France decided to raise the retirement age by just two years to 62. In 2006, the British government decided to gradually raise the retirement age to 66 by 2024 and to 68 by 2044. Current Prime Minister David Cameron wants to raise the retirement age to 68 by 2016. The US has raised the retirement age from 66 to 67.

In other words, Israeli men retire later than most of their peers in the world. Nonetheless, the Israeli government is again in a hurry to be the first to raise the retirement age. This time, there is no talk about actuarial deficits in the old pension funds, and the impact of an aging population in Israel is less acute than in other countries. Israel’s birthrate is higher than in other countries, which means that the labor market should have enough young working hands without further burdening the elderly…Read More>>

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