Public Pensions, Public Strife
The generation of youth that ran from Franco's police in the 60's and 70's are now grown up. Looking back, they were the ones that ran the illegal printing presses on which they tried to speak the truth about the regime. They were the ones who protested in the streets in the spring of '68. They were the ones who spent grey years in Franco's jails for speaking their minds. They were the ones that believed that another Spain was possible.
Now, in the twilight of their years, they see that the Spain they envisioned and made possible, is gradually slinking back into the frozen hug of the postwar iron-fisted fear. Even worse, they see that their savings are disappearing as they try to help their children and grandchildren weather this latest economic downturn, and that their pensions are not enough to pay the most basic bills. Some of those who are now seniors worked since their adolescence, paying into the system for over forty years before they retired, and now the system is not returning what it promised them. It is not returning what is promised in the Constitution for all Spaniards.
The first sentence of Article 50 of the Spanish Constitution is the key: Los poderes públicos garantizarán, mediante pensiones adecuadas y periódicamente actualizadas, la suficiencia económica a los ciudadanos durante la tercera edad. (The public powers will guarantee, through adequate and periodically revised pensions, economic sufficiency to the citizens during their senior years.) Since 2014, the first year pension went up after being frozen in 2011, pensions have gone up only a guaranteed 0.25%. The cost of living, however, has gone up much more. The electric bill last year alone went up an average of 10%.
Many seniors have had to open the doors of their homes to children and grandchildren who can't live on their own anymore because of unemployment and precarious job contracts that don't guarantee an income steady enough to pay a mortgage or a rent every month. In the worst years of the crisis, the pension of grandma or grandpa was the only money coming in to sustain extended families. Even now, many seniors have to give some of their children or grandchildren some money every month. But the pensions are stretched so thin, many seniors are living as badly now as when they were young.
Women have it worse. Even those who worked all their lives get pensions much lower than their husbands or brothers. Women have always been paid less, so they receive smaller pensions. Yesterday on the news, a woman mentioned she had worked for over forty years, but received a monthly pension of 700 euros. Living in Madrid, that doesn't go very far.
The lowest pensions are around 400 euros a month. The highest are around 2,500 euros. However, those in charge of deciding our fates in the Congreso, have no limit on their earnings after leaving public service. Ex-ministers earn a life-long pension of around 4,500 euros. If they have served in other important capacities, they add in those pensions. If they have held an executive job in a large company, they add that one in, too. If they hold conferences, that goes to the bank, too. So, an ex-minister can earn more once retired than when working. Those prospects lead to comments that scathe the majority of the public, such as the suggestion that people should set up pension funds to pay into as a complement to their future public pension.
I have a pension fund. My mother set it up for me and paid into it every month for quite a few years. For at least ten years now, I haven't put any money into it. I changed it to a guaranteed pension fund that invests in the market in safe stocks. That means it practically makes no money. Twenty years since it's been set up has earned me enough savings for one year after retirement. One year. That is because a pension fund is for people who have money left over at the end of the month that they can squirrel away. It's not for the majority of people who have precarious earnings or just enough for the basics. In other words, it's not for those who will be the most affected by future pensions that won't cover even basic needs.
The biggest problem is that the job market is precarious. Salaries are low, and deductions to Social Security are also low. The government has also taken funds from the slush fund that is supposed to cover pensions, and which had a surplus of billions of euros that is now almost gone. Instead of looking for a way to pay people decent money for all their years of work, they tell people there's not enough money for that, and to tighten their belt. And then the government rescues the "too-big-to-fail" banks with over sixty billion public euros. That was supposed to have been a loan to the banks, but, guess what? The government has admitted it'll never be paid back.
So pensioners are now up in arms. Yesterday there were protests in over a hundred cities all over Spain. Three generations of our family went to the one in Santiago. My mother-in-law, my husband and I, and our daughter. My husband took pot lids to help make the message heard. My mother-in-law worked hard all her life, and what saves her now is planting the kitchen garden and raising chickens. My husband is supposed to retire at 67. He hasn't worked the thirty odd years to receive the maximum pension. I have never worked here, so my non-contributive pension will be a laugh. Our daughter might not even be able to find work that will allow her to pay into the system. She might have to emigrate. Her future as a senior citizen will probably be brutal.
Today's pensioners made their voices heard once. They will be heard again. For the sake of the following generations.
Now, in the twilight of their years, they see that the Spain they envisioned and made possible, is gradually slinking back into the frozen hug of the postwar iron-fisted fear. Even worse, they see that their savings are disappearing as they try to help their children and grandchildren weather this latest economic downturn, and that their pensions are not enough to pay the most basic bills. Some of those who are now seniors worked since their adolescence, paying into the system for over forty years before they retired, and now the system is not returning what it promised them. It is not returning what is promised in the Constitution for all Spaniards.
The first sentence of Article 50 of the Spanish Constitution is the key: Los poderes públicos garantizarán, mediante pensiones adecuadas y periódicamente actualizadas, la suficiencia económica a los ciudadanos durante la tercera edad. (The public powers will guarantee, through adequate and periodically revised pensions, economic sufficiency to the citizens during their senior years.) Since 2014, the first year pension went up after being frozen in 2011, pensions have gone up only a guaranteed 0.25%. The cost of living, however, has gone up much more. The electric bill last year alone went up an average of 10%.
Many seniors have had to open the doors of their homes to children and grandchildren who can't live on their own anymore because of unemployment and precarious job contracts that don't guarantee an income steady enough to pay a mortgage or a rent every month. In the worst years of the crisis, the pension of grandma or grandpa was the only money coming in to sustain extended families. Even now, many seniors have to give some of their children or grandchildren some money every month. But the pensions are stretched so thin, many seniors are living as badly now as when they were young.
Women have it worse. Even those who worked all their lives get pensions much lower than their husbands or brothers. Women have always been paid less, so they receive smaller pensions. Yesterday on the news, a woman mentioned she had worked for over forty years, but received a monthly pension of 700 euros. Living in Madrid, that doesn't go very far.
The lowest pensions are around 400 euros a month. The highest are around 2,500 euros. However, those in charge of deciding our fates in the Congreso, have no limit on their earnings after leaving public service. Ex-ministers earn a life-long pension of around 4,500 euros. If they have served in other important capacities, they add in those pensions. If they have held an executive job in a large company, they add that one in, too. If they hold conferences, that goes to the bank, too. So, an ex-minister can earn more once retired than when working. Those prospects lead to comments that scathe the majority of the public, such as the suggestion that people should set up pension funds to pay into as a complement to their future public pension.
I have a pension fund. My mother set it up for me and paid into it every month for quite a few years. For at least ten years now, I haven't put any money into it. I changed it to a guaranteed pension fund that invests in the market in safe stocks. That means it practically makes no money. Twenty years since it's been set up has earned me enough savings for one year after retirement. One year. That is because a pension fund is for people who have money left over at the end of the month that they can squirrel away. It's not for the majority of people who have precarious earnings or just enough for the basics. In other words, it's not for those who will be the most affected by future pensions that won't cover even basic needs.
The biggest problem is that the job market is precarious. Salaries are low, and deductions to Social Security are also low. The government has also taken funds from the slush fund that is supposed to cover pensions, and which had a surplus of billions of euros that is now almost gone. Instead of looking for a way to pay people decent money for all their years of work, they tell people there's not enough money for that, and to tighten their belt. And then the government rescues the "too-big-to-fail" banks with over sixty billion public euros. That was supposed to have been a loan to the banks, but, guess what? The government has admitted it'll never be paid back.
So pensioners are now up in arms. Yesterday there were protests in over a hundred cities all over Spain. Three generations of our family went to the one in Santiago. My mother-in-law, my husband and I, and our daughter. My husband took pot lids to help make the message heard. My mother-in-law worked hard all her life, and what saves her now is planting the kitchen garden and raising chickens. My husband is supposed to retire at 67. He hasn't worked the thirty odd years to receive the maximum pension. I have never worked here, so my non-contributive pension will be a laugh. Our daughter might not even be able to find work that will allow her to pay into the system. She might have to emigrate. Her future as a senior citizen will probably be brutal.
Today's pensioners made their voices heard once. They will be heard again. For the sake of the following generations.
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| Old and young are in this together. |
A problem that is reflected by the UK economy Maria.
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