Under 40’s to pay into private pensions

After 20 years,"The coalition has reached an agreement on pension reform," headlinesLidové noviny. The “smart reform,” as the Prague daily dubs it, has a five pillar structure: 1) people under 40 years old will pay 3% of their social security charges to a private pension fund (participation in the private fund will be optional for those who are over 40); 2) VAT will be set at a standard rate of 19%; 3) families with children will be able to avail of tax breaks and reduced social security charges; 4) price increases will be offset by benefit payments for people on low incomes, and 5) pension payment increases for retired people. Lidové noviny voices its approval for the new system which will be both public and private, and argues that it is “common sense” to avoid putting “all of your eggs in one basket."