Korosec opens debate on higher retirement age, puts years of employment at the center

"If we keep getting older, then clearly something has to change," Korosec said in an APA interview to justify her initiative. At the same time, she rejected a pure chronological-age threshold: "Whether you tie the retirement age to date of birth or to contribution years changes nothing about the core message: people should work longer." Instead of constant new "burden fantasies," those who voluntarily work longer should be rewarded.

According to Korosec, the debate is overdue: with the start of the next legislative period, a "forward-looking, flexible pension system" must be developed, "naturally with protection of legitimate expectations of 15 to 20 years." At the latest from 2030, there will be no way around the issue for the government in office at that time, because the enshrined sustainability mechanism "will not be achieved."

Years of employment instead of date of birth as the benchmark

Despite the urgent tone, Korosec is confident that progress can still be made. As an optimist, she is convinced that something will happen by the end of the year, "because we can no longer afford not to." Meanwhile, "at least everyone says so, they just don't do it," criticized the ÖVP Vienna health spokesperson, referring to the sluggish implementation.

In addition to the pension debate, Korosec spoke out against rising contributions for older workers. The fact that from 2027, employees over the age of 63 will also have to pay unemployment insurance contributions is "unreasonable" and stems from a reform that her own party co-approved. This burden unnecessarily hits those who are already working longer.

Criticism of contributions for older workers

Regarding the ongoing negotiations on the health reform, Korosec welcomed the agreement on joint financing of specialist medical centers within the framework of the reform partnership as a first step. "But further steps absolutely must come," she stressed. "There must be more, we need reforms," demanded the ÖVP Vienna health spokesperson, with a view to greater pooling of financing.

The demand to organize the financing of the health system "from a single source" is a long-standing concern for Korosec. She had demanded exactly that 20 years ago and was "laughed at" at the time. Now a solution is at least emerging in one sub-area – the specialist medical centers – although the substantive work is by no means complete.

Health reform: "from a single source" demanded for 20 years

On care, Korosec spoke out in favor of raising the income threshold for the promotion of 24-hour care. The threshold introduced in 2007 and never indexed since must be raised to provide tangible relief for caregiving relatives and care workers. In doing so, she took up a demand that has been virulent in senior citizens' policy for years.

Korosec strictly rejects lowering the pension adjustment below the inflation rate, which provides for budgeted savings of 270 million euros for 2028. Senior citizens have contributed "an incredible amount" – a total of 10.4 billion euros – to budget consolidation in this legislative period, she stressed. There must be no further cuts: "That's enough." For 2029, she demanded full inflation compensation.

Budget and pensions: full inflation compensation demanded for 2029

Political criticism of Korosec's initiative came promptly from the FPÖ. Social policy spokesperson Dagmar Belakowitsch called the launching of the debate in a press release "deeply unsettling for the working population." The FPÖ thus accuses the ÖVP of bringing a difficult topic into the public domain with a view to older voter groups, without regard for employees.

Korosec indirectly defended her course: it is not about abruptly making people work longer, but about setting the framework so that voluntary longer working is rewarded. A rigid increase in the retirement age based on date of birth would further undermine public acceptance, she argued. Whether linking it to years of employment actually creates more acceptance is politically open.

FPÖ criticizes the initiative as creating uncertainty

The next political stages are thus mapped out: with the start of the next legislative period, a flexible pension framework is to be in place; the sustainability mechanism will in any case not hold, according to Korosec. Initial directional decisions could still be made by the end of the year – after that, the hot phase begins in her reading.

What is certain is that pensions in Austria will remain a central election and coalition issue in the medium term. Korosec's initiative combines the Senior Citizens' Association logic (protecting purchasing power and benefits) with the governing party's line (budget consolidation), but shifts the risk of the increase to the next government. Whether this works also depends on the social partners and on the outcome of the health reform negotiations.

The concrete next steps will determine how solid Korosec's key points are: raising the income threshold for 24-hour care, specialist medical center financing as an entry into a "system from a single source," and a pension reform that places not date of birth but years of employment at the center. All of this must be coordinated with federalism and social partnership – a long process that Korosec nevertheless wants to accelerate.