Germans Gloomy About the Future

[Siegmund]

Germans Gloomy About the Future
Germany | 22.03.2006

A study by the Emnid research institute reveals that Germany's 50-plus generation are happier with their lot than their European peers, but feel considerably more pessimistic about the future.

"Germans do tend to worry about the future," said Emnid CEO Peter Schöppner at the presentation of the report in Berlin.

Their fellow fifty-somethings in Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Poland agree that life might well take a financial turn for the worse when they become pensioners, but Germans expect a far bleaker future than anyone else.

According to the survey which questioned 500 people in their fifties in six EU countries, what niggles them most are fears about care in their old age, illness and crime. And most of them dread being financially worse off in twenty years time than they are today.

Even so, their fears are general rather than specific -- and somewhat contradictory. While somberly predicting that life will be much worse for the elderly in 20 years time than it is today, 63 percent of them say they're upbeat about their own twilight years -- compared to the 65 percent in France who look forward to growing old gracefully and the 74 percent of Brits who think old age is when the fun really starts.

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[Laocoon]

Originally Posted by Siegmund

Their fellow fifty-somethings in Britain, France, Spain, Italy and Poland agree that life might well take a financial turn for the worse when they become pensioners, but Germans expect a far bleaker future than anyone else.

Well, at least they've had the opportunity to live well. This post war generation hasn't known any war like their parents did and hasn't known unemployment or competition with immigrants like they children do or will.

I'm pretty the life of lots of young germans has already taken a financial turn while their retire is far away...

But yes, if I were them, I'd worry for the future. Who's going to pay for their pension? Certainly not the children they didn't have. I even doubt Turkish will pay for them .

compared to the 65 percent in France who look forward to growing old gracefully

LOL Day dream! They're stone, I tell you.