Berlin- Germans are famous for being hard workers but retiring at 70?

That the prescription of two think- thanks , which say more years of toil are inevitable due to stubbornly low birth rates and the ballooning costs of the cradle to grave welfare system in a country that already decided to bump up the retirement age from 65 to 67.

Germans already feel like t he workhorses of Europe and are fuming at the idea of footing Greeks. However, without an influx of highly skilled immigrants, they may have no choice.

The European commission said last month that the 27 member states need to hike their retirement ages to 70 by 2060. However, no European country is planning to go beyond the age of 68 at this point.

The German group VDK which is lobbying for retirees interests said retirement at 70 is "utopian". VDK chief Ulrike Mascher said a quarter of German employees aged 55 to 59 need to retire early because they are too sick to work.

Europe is facing the same trend of ageing populations. While there are currently four people working for each retiree, projections indicate that there will be an average of only two by 2060.