Socialists call for allowing men to retire after 40 years

The opposition Socialist Party has called for men to have the option of retiring after forty years of employment. Lajos Korozs, who is head of parliament's welfare committee, told a news conference on Wednesday that the government had made retirement conditions too rigid. This meant that some men may have to work for 47 years before retiring, he said. Also, large gaps in pension payments should be eliminated, he said. Introducing a progressive personal income tax would help to achieve this aim, he added. The Socialists want a return to Swiss-type indexation of pensions to earnings. This way, pension payments would have grown by 10,000 forints (EUR 30) this year as against 3,500 forints under the current system, he said. Further, disability retirement should be restored and people who have been wrongfully deprived of this payment in recent years should receive compensation, Korozs added.