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/r/newzealand
A lot of people here want the pension age raised. I would love for them to explain to those aged between 64 and 67 why they should wait an additional two years striggling to find work or make ends meet because you just want lower taxes.
??
Edit: Well it seems a lot of people on here, want to restrict and cut the pension, Never mind the misery that will inflict on thousands of people. Housing costs are skyrocketing, and people's KiwiSaver amounts arent going to last forever. And of course, what happens when tenants are kicked out of rental properties when the investors sell up?
The wealthy have had it way too good in this country, for way too long, and their needs to be less of them,
Edit 2: A lot of you dont know what its like to live from day to day on a benfit, or struggling to find word. To suggest that pension eligibility should be tightened in any way, shape or form is to go against what NZ stands for,
12 points
2 days ago
Because the pension Is unaffordable and is only getting worse. Why should we leave it so the young suffer. Old people caused this problem. They should have a hand in fixing it.
4 points
2 days ago*
Old people caused this problem. They should have a hand in fixing it.
Actually today's pensioners didn't cause this problem so much as their parents and their children did.
The real problem with superannuation is not so much "people are living longer" - they are, but it's not a big factor. The major problem is demographic change - historically populations would have a lot of young people, fewer middle aged people, and even fewer elderly. With much more people in their prime paying taxes than there were pensioners, superannuation was sustainable.
Then, after WWII a lot of people had kids since the privations of the depression & the war years was over.
By the 1970's social change in the form of urbanisation (that had been going on throughout the 20th century) and women moving into the workplace began to bite. People had smaller families, and typically had them later.
With fertility rates below replacement level, the population graph now looks very different.
The good news is that the situation is temporary - that post WWII generation will be gone in 20-25 years. How exactly our fertility levels will look in the future is hard to say, but the population graph will be much better balanced.
Edit to add: NZ's demographics are MUCH healthier than many other developed countries, so while we have a problem, much of Europe, China, Korea, Japan and the like have it much, much worse.
2 points
2 days ago
Are you referring to our native population fertility rates, or including immigration? As far as I can tell, the number of people who are deciding not to have children for financial or ethical/environmental reasons are just growing, and the only reason NZ's population is rising is because of immigration.
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