
The government is involved in discussions aimed at changes in the criteria of the public pension scheme, one of which is the postponement of the age limit for the benefit of the social pension.
Currently, people who do not meet the criteria benefit from the social pension at the age of 70, which has reached over 9,000 ALL per month, but the recent changes aim for the payment to be given beyond the age of 70.
Sources from the group that is negotiating the changes to the insurance law claimed that this measure is intended to further encourage the payment of insurance among people of working age.
In 2023, almost 40 percent of the people who declared themselves to work from the INSTAT Labor Force Survey do not pay insurance. Most are self-employed in the family business without pay. This category, which receives income from work and does not pay insurance, is a contingent that does not meet the conditions for retirement in old age.
Currently, men retire at the age of 65 and women around the age of 62, while people who do not meet the conditions for any pension from the mandatory scheme when they turn 70 receive a social pension.
In 2023, the public pension scheme spent 188 million ALL for the payment of social pensions, which was benefited by about 2300 people.
Insurance experts claim that the number of people who will benefit from social pensions will increase significantly in the coming years as the transition generation that has not contributed to the scheme due to unemployment or undeclared work is retiring.
The idea of pushing the social pension age beyond 70 to 75 will likely render the policy ineffective as men's life expectancy is currently around 76. The time to enjoy the social pension will be very low for both men and women.
Persons who have insurance periods have the right to benefit from partial old-age pension when they have no less than 15 years of insurance period and no more than 38 years of insurance period and have retired from economic activity.
Because they do not meet the criteria for a full pension, more than half of the pensioners receive a partial pension. Part-time pensioners relieve the public pension scheme from rising costs, but on the other hand, a major social problem is being created with the financial sustainability of the third age.
Transition problems and high informality in the labor market are causing the new pensions to appear at lower values, year after year./MONITOR