Prime Minister and leader of the Independence Party Geir H. Haarde said in a meeting in Reykjavík yesterday that he wants to reduce cuts in the social security system from 40 to 35 percent to secure minimum pension for everyone.
Haarde also announced that he believed people older than 70 should be able to work for a normal salary without the Social Security Administration reducing their pension, as Morgunbladid reports.
“These individuals have already delivered their contribution to society,” Haarde said. “I also believe it is natural for the state to secure a minimum pension from the pension fund for everyone.”
Haarde suggested the minimum could be ISK 25,000 (USD 380, EUR 281) per month additionally to payments from the Social Security Administration. “In that way we can help those who have not been able to obtain any […] rights to payments from the pension fund.”
The parliament accepted new regulations for the Social Security Administration at the beginning of this year to reduce cuts in the social security system in relation to salary from 45 to 40 percent, but now Haarde wants to reduce the cuts even more.
According to the prime minister, these changes encourage elderly and disabled citizens to work if they want to. “The nation needs the experience and knowledge of the elderly,” he said.
Haarde said he wanted to change the service given to the elderly and disabled in Iceland and that the needs of each individual should be met but not the group as a whole.
