Modern retirement was invented in 1889 by a 74-year-old German Chancellor named Otto von Bismarck, who set the eligible age at 70 in a country where the average male life expectancy at birth was around 40

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#2

How generous :grinning:

#3

That’s still a misleading kvetch though as high infant mortality is what drove that abysmal life expectancy figure. What was German life expectancy for males after they had reached the age of 40 in the 19th century? I’m sure it was quite different. Let me look it up in fact:

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Bismarck was an innovative man. He created a country by unifying Germany and tried to get creative in running it.

Key innovations and sweeping reforms introduced by Bismarck include:

  • The First Welfare State: To preserve the conservative regime and undermine the growing socialist movement, Bismarck’s administration pioneered a trio of landmark social security laws:
    • Health Insurance (1883): The first nationalized healthcare system, financed by both employers and workers.
    • Accident Insurance (1884): Introduced to provide financial and medical support to injured workers.
    • Old Age and Disability Pensions (1889): The first state-sponsored retirement system to support disabled and elderly workers.