One out of every four Spaniards favours delaying age of retirement
The results of a survey carried out by Mapfre show that 75.3% of Spaniards are in favour of reforming the current system of pensions. However, only 26.8% support the government’s proposals to delay the legal age of retirement to 67 years old.
The survey of 2,650 people below the age of retirement also showed that 51% doubted whether the current system of public pensions would exist in the future and 80% of those asked supported the idea of complementary private pension schemes.

The survey showed that 39.8% Spaniards believe that it is necessary to raise the number of years of contribution from 15 to 25 – a proposal that was taken out of a document on reducing the budget deficit sent to Brussels for consideration in February.

Furthermore, 33.4% people feared that public pensions would be cut in the immediate future. The results also showed that 80.5% of people attribute the problems of feasibility that the current social security system faced to the crisis in pensions and said it was their second biggest worry.

The Chairman of Mapfre, Ignacio Baeza, who presented the results, highlighted the need for more flexibility from the government in the treatment of private pension plans and said that public pensions should gradually be reduced with an increased emphasis on private pension schemes. Repeating the words of the Minister for Social Security, Octavio Granado, he said that it would be difficult to maintain the system if it was not reformed in this way.

The General Secretary of CCOO, one of Spain’s biggest trade unions, José María Fidalgo has also expressed his support for a mixed system of pensions as did the chairman of the Association of Businessmen Claudio Boada. However, Boada ruled out raising taxes as an alternative to reforming the current system of pensions.