Rome
Millions of Italians went on strike this week to protest a planned raising of the retirement age. Italians as young as 57 can retire if they have paid into the state pension system for 37 years. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has proposed increasing that requirement to 40 years, saying the current system will bankrupt Italy in less than a generation. Italians live longer and have fewer babies than any other population in Europe. Soon there will be far more retired people drawing pensions than taxpayers to pay for them. “Short of selling the Coliseum,” sociologist Franco Ferrarotti told NBCnews.com, “there is no rational solution.” France, Austria, and Germany face similar crises.
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