The pension problem is one of the major worries of our social security system. The entire pension problem and the announced aggravation of it cannot be tracked down to one basic cause. Indeed, we can point out various factors which mutually reinforce their influence on pensions. In the first place, life expectancy has grown .
People live longer thanks to the new medical techniques.
Of course, that also means they are entitled to receive a pension during an ever longer period. Secondly, it appears that people retire earlier and earlier . As a result of several types of new measures designed to discharge the older active population for the sake of the employment of young people, the actual pension age is constantly being lowered. Moreover, as study periods before the start of the professional career become ever longer , the active population who pay contributions to finance the pensions keeps on diminishing. Finally, the increasing employment of women will also influence the growth of pension costs, since working women also create their own personal pension.