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Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

telegraph.co.uk

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Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Birthrates are problematic as it usually take 20 to 25 years before they pay taxes. And in that time they require a lot of expenses. They talk abiut the squeeze, if Birthrates increase too suddenly - workers would both have to pay for the elderly and the kids.

This is the real demographic death trap, and why Taiwan and South Korea are probably past the point of no return. If one generation has a fertility rate of 1 child per woman, the next must have 4 children per woman to undo the demographic change. The people in the “corrective” generation must support their own two elderly parents plus four of their own children. It becomes practically impossible.

> The people in the “corrective” generation must support their own two elderly parents plus four of their own children. It becomes practically impossible.

The country and the individual has the same problem. But it also goes a generation further.

There was a link on HN recently which I can’t find. It discussed how we are in an unusual time, where kids can often meet their great grandparents. Previously people died younger, so couldn’t. Now people are having kids at an age where it will be unlikely for them to meet their great grandchildren.

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that’s what parent comment is saying: if life expectancy goes up, shouldn’t retirement age?

Thanks, I misunderstood. I suppose increased life expectancy and fewer young people both contribute to worse dependency ratios.

yes. life expectancy going up is a good thing - it means people can keep working even when they are older. but fewer young people is not a desirable outcome, some of the pension funds could be redirected to more benefits for child care etc.

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't the fourth way be via increasing either birth rate or immigration?

Raising the birth rate is extremely difficult and immigration will destroy a country's culture if not managed properly. For an interesting case study, compare Japan (who refuses to allow mass immigration and is at risk of going extinct) and the UK (who has embraced it and is on the way to becoming Muslim-majority). It'll be interesting to see in 50 years which one has had better outcomes.

In 50 years, Japan will have a Chinese majority, so…

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is. And this is the case in all western countries. It is just being realized in different ways. Fundamentalle there are 3 ways to cope 1. reduce pensions 2. Raise taxes 3. Decrease amount of benefit receivers. Denmark choose number 3

2 has some options. Increase the number of (young) immigrants. Increase the birthrate (has anywhere managed this?).

> Increase the number of (young) immigrants

Increase the number of (young female) immigrants

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't the fourth way be via increasing either birth rate or immigration?

Raising the birth rate is extremely difficult and immigration will destroy a country's culture if not managed properly. For an interesting case study, compare Japan (who refuses to allow mass immigration and is at risk of going extinct) and the UK (who has embraced it and is on the way to becoming Muslim-majority). It'll be interesting to see in 50 years which one has had better outcomes.

it is 6% muslim majority?

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't the fourth way be via increasing either birth rate or immigration?

Raising the birth rate is extremely difficult and immigration will destroy a country's culture if not managed properly. For an interesting case study, compare Japan (who refuses to allow mass immigration and is at risk of going extinct) and the UK (who has embraced it and is on the way to becoming Muslim-majority). It'll be interesting to see in 50 years which one has had better outcomes.

According to Wikipedia[1] you are quite off base as Muslims form only 6.5% of the population as opposed to Christians (46.2%) and a-religious (37.2%).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_United_Kingdom

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#99
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my part of the Nordics (Finland) they are cutting investment and sending people to private institutions. In rural areas private providers have entirely replaced public sector healthcare centers. This is seen as quite controversial across the board.

Self paid?

No, the taxes we pay are going to private institutions driven by profit instead of into funding public institutions that don't have this self-interest. This is not a model I support.

Re: Denmark to raise retirement age to 70

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Getting immigrants who work is a non-issue. I never heard of immigrants from India, China, Africa or Latin America who don't work so long as they entered the country legally. The issue you are alluding to has to do with genuine refugees and illegal economic migrants, who are not filtered at the border depending on their employability within the local market. But the cultural shift is still inevitable. A foreigner is…

Assimilation as most people understand it does not necessitate an immigrant become completely indistinguishable from a native citizen. There are some baseline expectations that are not always met right now, such as learning the official language of one's host country, and sometimes its social standards. Most countries simply lack the necessary coercive incentives to make that happen systematically. I would argue that most Western cultures have become too individualistic at the expense of societal health, fueling the notion that assimilation is inherently unethical.
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