El Congreso de los Diputados convalida el Real Decreto-ley que culmina la modernización del sistema de pensiones

The Congress of Deputies has validated, with 179 votes in favour, Royal Decree-Law 2/2023, on urgent measures for the extension of pensioners’ rights, the reduction of the gender gap and the establishment of a new sustainability framework of the public pension system. In addition, Congress has also approved its passage as a Bill. This regulation completes the process of modernization of the pension system, begun in 2021, after the approval of the recommendations of the Toledo Pact in autumn 2020.

During his speech, the minister stressed that “the process of modernization of the system that ends today allows it to be improved for a large social majority”, since it “eliminates the uncertainty of present and future pensioners and, in addition, focuses on improving the conditions of some groups, such as women, self-employed workers, the most vulnerable pensioners, workers with irregular careers or young people”.

This regulation contains several measures that complete the reform of 2011, shielding the revaluation of present and future pensions. Among the measures included is the implementation of a new framework of revaluation, above the CPI, of minimum and non-contributory pensions until 2027 and an increase of 10%, in addition to inflation of the supplement to reduce the gender gap.

In terms of equity, the Royal Decree-Law contains far-reaching measures, such as the implementation of a dual system of the period of computation for the next 20 years, which will apply to workers who retire the most beneficial of these possibilities: the last 29 years of career, ruling out the worst 24 months (2 years); and the current period of computation (25 last years). The first possibility will be progressively deployed for 12 years from 2026. This will especially benefit workers with irregular careers.In addition, improvements are included in the treatment of the contribution gaps of working women.

In addition, in order to protect the purchasing power of current and future pensioners, Social Security income is strengthened through various measures. Firstly, with the gradual increase in the maximum bases and maximum pensions. Secondly, with the creation of a solidarity quota for the highest salaries that remain above the maximum base. And the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism is also strengthened, which from 2024 will grow by a tenth each year to reach 1.2 percentage points in 2029.This mechanism replaces the Sustainability Factor that established the 2013 reform and that represented a significant cut in the initial pension, especially for younger people.

Finally, students who carry out training and academic practices included in training programs are included in the Social Security system. These are the practices carried out by university students, both those aimed at obtaining official bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, and those aimed at obtaining a university’s own degree, whether it be a master’s degree in lifelong learning, a specialization diploma or an expert diploma. Also included are those carried out by vocational trainees, provided that they are not provided under the intensive vocational training regime. Social Security contributions for common contingencies will be reduced by 95%.