"The retirement age should be lowered from 65 to 60 years"

In the report of the Ombudswoman Sabina Aliyeva for 2022, it is proposed to reduce the retirement age of women. The document states that, given the role of a woman, the responsibility she bears arising from caring for the family, it is inappropriate for the retirement age of working women to gradually increase and reach 65 years by July 1, 2027.

During the Soviet era and in the first 25 years of Azerbaijan's independence, there was a serious difference in the retirement age of men and women.

The amendment to the law "On Labor Pensions" increases the age limit of men from July 1, 2017 to July 1, 2021, and the age limit of women - from July 1, 2017 to July 1, 2027 for 6 months annually. Thus, for July 1, 2021, the retirement age in Azerbaijan was 65 years for men and 62 years for women. In general, the retirement age of women (from 2027) has also been adopted -65 years.

The State Social Protection Fund informed Turan that currently the number of pensioners in Azerbaijan exceeds 1 million 114 thousand people: "57.6 percent of these persons are women, 42.4 percent are men. And the number of women who retired before the approved retirement age exceeds 230 thousand."

Member of the Milli Majlis Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship Vugar Bayramov also noted that lowering the retirement age of women is one of the issues discussed recently, and the issue of their differentiation was raised in the Milli Majlis: "In a number of developed countries, women retire earlier. This is also directly related to the fact that women need more social security in retirement. In this regard, we proposed to assess the financial burden associated with maintaining the retirement age of women at the level of 63 years."

According to the deputy, conducting such an assessment makes it possible to implement a differentiated approach to the retirement age between women and men: "The issue of reducing the retirement age of women is relevant and appropriate for consideration. In this regard, after calculating the financial burden, it is advisable to continue discussions in this direction and make appropriate decisions. It may also lead to the realization of women's right to an earlier retirement."

At the moment, it has not been possible to get a reaction from the leadership of the Milli Majlis and other official bodies to the voiced proposal.

Economist Togrul Veliyev also reminded “Radio Azadlig” that in four years the retirement age of women will also be brought up to 65 years: "The fact is that men who retire at 65 live on average seven years, and women - nine years. In this regard, neither a woman nor a man have the opportunity to live the officially calculated 12 years after retirement."

According to the expert, the retirement age of only women should not be lowered: "The retirement age of both women and men should be lowered from 65 to 60 years. Because the recent trend shows that people live less, and able-bodied people have fewer opportunities to reach retirement age."

He noted that the retirement rules in Azerbaijan are also very strict: "That is, 25 years of experience is practically not used in any country. In European countries, 10 years of experience is required for retirement. As a result, quite a large part of the population in Azerbaijan receives a social retirement pension."

According to Veliyev, women also in many cases do not have the appropriate length of service: "This happens either because of informal work or for other reasons. As a result, women predominate among the recipients of age benefits. Men are not doing well either. Over the past five years, we have seen a decrease in the number of recipients of labor pensions. That is, despite the fact that the number of elderly people is growing from year to year, the number of people receiving such a pension is decreasing."

In his opinion, this is just the result of these strict rules: "The seniority requirement should be reduced and at least 12 years, the method of calculating pension capital should be changed. Because the current method serves to reduce the number of pensioners."

For July 1, 2017, the number of pension recipients in the country was 1 million 318.4 thousand people.

According to statistics, approximately 40 percent of Azerbaijani residents die before reaching retirement age. Among men, this figure is 47 percent.