Increasing retirement age could have dire consequences - SSNIT boss warns

Director-General of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), Kwasi Afreh Biney, has warned that increasing Ghana's retirement age could have unintended consequences for youth employment, potentially delaying job opportunities for thousands of young people.

Speaking in an on Joy News on Wednesday, June 16, 2026, Biney said while there is a growing case for extending working years due to improvements in life expectancy and the health of older adults, any decision on the matter must take into account broader labour market realities.

“I agree that the demographic numbers have shifted rapidly. A lot more people today in Ghana are living longer, are much stronger even after 60... I agree,” he said.

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However, he stressed that the debate should not be limited to demographic trends alone, arguing that factors such as unemployment levels, job availability and the country's overall employment situation must also be considered.

“But a decision to extend retirement goes beyond just that. You need to consider factors like your employment rate, unemployment numbers, and availability of jobs,” he stated.

According to him, extending the retirement age could strengthen the pension scheme by increasing contributions and reducing immediate benefit payments, but such gains must be weighed against the possible impact on younger job seekers.

“Of course, if you extend the pension years from, let’s say, 60 now to 65 or 67, what it practically means is that my payout now will reduce whilst more contributions will come in,” he explained.

Biney also questioned whether the potential financial benefits to the pension system would justify keeping younger people out of the job market for longer periods.

“How do we just oppose that against probably creating another backlog of five to seven years on unemployed youth who could have come into the employment bracket?” he asked.

He maintained that the issue requires extensive stakeholder engagement and should not be determined by a single institution.

“So we all need to go and sit together as stakeholders, brainstorm, deliberate, and ultimately come to the point where we all make a decision, rather than an individual institution like SSNIT deciding, guys, let’s run,” he said.

He further emphasised that any decision on retirement age reforms must carefully balance pension sustainability, labour market demands and the need to create employment opportunities for the country's growing youth population.

“So we need all of us to sit down, look at the numbers, look at the various alternatives, the opportunity cost of taking a particular decision against the other, and then we take a much more comprehensive decision,” he added.

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