Pension Age in Spain Will Rise to 67
January 27th, 2011
Spain’s government and unions have said they are close to an agreement on pension reform, a move that will avert a second general strike in less than six months.
In separate statements, the government said a preliminary agreement had been reached, while Comisiones Obreras, Spain’s biggest union, said an agreement could be reached later in the day.
The government has said it will approve on Friday draft legislation that will raise the country’s retirement age from 65 to 67 years old, a proposal which prompted the country’s biggest unions to threaten another general strike.
Negotiations with unions on pensions have centered around providing flexibility for workers to retire earlier than 67 in certain cases. The government proposed, for example, allowing workers to retire at 65 if they contribute to the state pensions system for 41 years. Unions have negotiated this minimum contribution figure down to around 38.5 years.
Though the country’s pensions system is currently healthy, an aging population presents it with long-term challenges. Spain’s parliamentary commission on pensions estimates the number of people collecting a pension in Spain could nearly double to 17 million by the year 2050.
Earlier this week parliament signed off on reform recommendations made by the pensions committee, which are broadly similar to those of the government.
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