Tito Boeri, the head of State
pensions and social security agency INPS, on Tuesday called for
reforms to make it easier for people close to retirement age to
quit work, saying Italy risks having entire generations miss out
in the labour market.
Boeri said this reform was needed in a "tight" time frame
as "young people are penalized in a major way and there is the
risk of having entire generations lost inside our country".
He added that levels of youth unemployment, with over 40%
of 15-to-24-year-olds who are on the labour market out of work,
were unacceptable.
Boeri gave the example of "generation 1980" people now in
their 30s, many of whom have contributions "holes" and, as a
result, risk not being able to retire until they are 75.
"I don't want to terrorize (anyone). I just want to make
you aware of the importance of contributions continuity," he
said at the graduation day of Rome's Università Cattolica.
Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan, meanwhile, said there
are "margins" for rethinking the existing pensions system to
"improve" things for people entering and exiting the job market.
"There are margins for reflecting on the instruments and
incentives, and on the links between the pension system and job
market," Padoan said during a hearing on the government's
economic and financial blueprint (DEF), adding that he was
"certainly" in favour of "complex reasoning" on the issue.
The minister also said he was "open to sources of
complementary financing", including a possible role for the
credit system.
The pensions system "is one of the pillars of
sustainability" but "there are margins", Padoan said.
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