The elimination of the ‘Pension Moratorium’ policy will impact women more than men.

Argentine President Javier Milei has decided not to support the “pension moratorium”, a policy that allows individuals who have not made sufficient social security contributions throughout their working lives to still qualify for a retirement pension.

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Until now, the pension moratorium had allowed workers—especially informal or self-employed ones—to retroactively “purchase” missing contributions and access retirement benefits. As a consequence of the decision made by the far-right president, however, nearly 240,000 Argentines who were set to retire this year will receive only 80% of the minimum pension.

Starting yesterday, 150,000 women and 93,000 men of retirement age (60 and 65 years old, respectively) will have to retire receiving only US$269, an amount that is equivalent to 80% of the Universal Pension for Older Adults (PUAM). The new amount of your retirement pension include the reinforcement bonus that social security has been providing since September 2022 due to the country’s economic emergency.

Since the PUAM is not based on contributions, a person with 29 years of contributions—just one short of the required 30—will receive the same benefit as someone who has never contributed to the social security system.

The end of the moratorium marks a turning point in Argentina’s pension system, which until now had been recognized in the region for its broad coverage: over 90% of the population aged 65 or older receives a pension benefit.

The elimination of the pension moratorium will impact women more than men: of the 70% of retirees who benefited from the moratorium last year, 85% were women. For this reason, maintaining the pension moratorium was one of the key demands of the women’s movement on March 8.

“The International Monetary Fund had been calling for the end of the pension moratorium since 2018, and now it is happening. In practice, this decision raises the retirement age for women to 65, because only at that age they could receive a PUAM,” explained Lucia Cavallero, spokesperson for the feminist organization “Not One Less.”

The pension moratorium was created in 2005 in a context where, due to the high level of labor informality in the country, less than 25% of the population reached retirement age with the necessary 30 years of contributions.

With the first moratorium, the number of retirees increased from 3.2 million in 2005 to 5.6 million in 2010. By 2024, at least 67% of retirees in Argentina had accessed pensions thanks to the moratorium.

Currently, 63.5% of Argentine retirees receive a minimum pension of US$320. However, this amount is insufficient: according to the latest official figures, even a homeowner needs more than US$325 per month to cover basic living expenses.

In recent weeks, thousands of citizens have joined retirees in their weekly protests outside Congress, demanding the continuation of the pension moratorium system. In response to these demands, police launched a brutal crackdown, leaving nearly 50 injured and resulting in more than a hundred arrests.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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