LeoK of PensionPulse - Where's the REAL Debt Crisis?

FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010

Will the Real Debt Crisis Please Stand Up?

Landon Thomas Jr. and Niki Kitsantonis of the NYT report, Patchwork Pension Plan Adds to Greek Debt Woes:

Vasia Veremi may be only 28, but as a hairdresser in Athens, she is keenly aware that, under a current law that treats her job as hazardous to her health, she has the right to retire with a full pension at age 50.

“I use a hundred different chemicals every day — dyes, ammonia, you name it,” she said. “You think there’s no risk in that?”

“People should be able to retire at a decent age,” Ms. Veremi added. “We are not made to live 150 years.”

Perhaps not, but it is still difficult to explain to outsiders why the Greek government has identified at least 580 job categories deemed to be hazardous enough to merit retiring early — at age 50 for women and 55 for men.

READ FULL STORY HERE