Public Opinion on Retirement Age in the Report of the Parliamentary Research Center; Women at 48 and Men at 55

The Parliamentary Research Center of the Islamic Consultative Assembly stated in its latest report that the average suitable retirement age for men, according to the public, is estimated at 55 years and for women at 48 years. The report indicates that 62.2% of the public considers 'retirement pension' as their source of income in old age. The data for this report was collected from January 17 to 27, 2023, and the statistical population of the survey included all individuals aged 18 and older across the country. According to the same report, 16.7% also consider 'income from property and market investments' as a source, while 24.4% stated they have no income source planned for their old age. Regarding the financial status of pension funds, 31.8% of the public rated it as 'good or very good', while 22.3% rated it as 'bad' and 25.6% as 'critical'. Among those who rated it 'bad' or 'critical', 23.7% attributed this situation to the mismanagement of funds, 22% to financial corruption, 20.4% to economic instability in the country, 19% to the government's poor performance, and 4.4% to the increase in the number of retirees. The main reason for re-employment among retirees who have taken up another job is cited as 'insufficient retirement pay'. This report from the Parliamentary Research Center comes at a time when on June 3, the head of the Planning and Budget Organization of the Islamic Republic stated that due to 'severe imbalances' in pension funds and the mismatch between their resources and expenditures, it has been decided to raise the retirement age. According to news agency Mizan, 'Davood Manzoor' mentioned that 'in the draft of the seventh development plan, reforms are anticipated, some of which pertain to the retirement age, and under certain measures, the retirement age will gradually increase by the end of the seventh plan.' He emphasized that 'given the limited resources of pension funds, the services that retirees expect to receive are not practically realized, which causes dissatisfaction.' News agency ILNA also reported on July 9, quoting Nematollah Torki, the CEO of the National Pension Fund, stating that 'the life expectancy rate is 76 years' and added that the retirement age should correspond with this figure. Torki noted that there are 1.65 million retirees under the coverage of this fund and added that due to 'the imbalance between inflows and outflows and also the reduction in workforce hiring, the fund has become imbalanced.' An examination of the seventh development plan draft in the pension sector indicates difficult and concerning conditions ahead for retirees and current employees, as according to this plan, the retirement age has increased by 5 years, and alongside the increase in the share of insurance premiums paid by workers, employers will no longer have any obligation to pay premiums for individuals with more than 30 years of work experience. The increase in retirement age is one of the controversial issues of the seventh development plan, and the government has decided that without any exceptions, the retirement age for all individuals in regular or hard and hazardous jobs will be increased by 5 years. The government's involvement in the retirement sector seems to have many repercussions, and the wave of protests from this group is likely to intensify in the coming months. In this regard, following the publication of the draft of this bill, the technical committee for pursuing the demands of civil and military retirees also stated in a statement that 'the interests and welfare of the oppressed, noble, and honorable retirees have been forgotten.'