Czech government to discuss retirement age rise

The Czech cabinet has approved a pension reform bill that would gradually increase the retirement age to 65 years. The first stage of the pension reform could be debated in the lower house in March. At present males usually retire at the age of 61, childless females at the age of 60 and mothers earlier, according to the number of children. The reform bill also wants to extend the obligatory social insurance period to 35 years. Under the new bill, mothers of two or more children would still have a chance to retire earlier.