Re: Half of Slovak unemployed suffer poverty, Volume 11, Number 18, May 9 - May 15, 2005
There are all kinds of reasons why people are unemployed. We can go through them all and not solve the problem. However there are many people in Slovakia caught between the Communist era and the free open market practices of the present.
When the new policies for pensions came into place many people were not eligible for a pension because what they made was lower than the amount needed to qualify for a pension.
Don't you think these people should at least be given some credit for the years worked and should be eligible for at least a small pension based on money earned during their working years?
As it stands now, these people don't get any pension whatsoever. Where's the government for these people?
Somehow it just doesn't seem fair to me.
I'm talking about people who worked hard, not those who don't want to work. Each case must be judged on its own merits.
It's too easy to just bunch people together into categories. It's sad for many who just want to be treated fairly.
Maybe The Slovak Spectator can raise the problem of pensions with the government and those responsible for pensions as they now stand?
Vince Stankay,
Florida, USA
