Escrivá assures that the extension of the calculation of the pension will be considered for people who benefit

Escrivá has appeared in the parliamentary commission, at the request of the PP, to give an account of the intergenerational equity mechanism that has just been agreed with the unions, without the businessmen, and also to clarify his intentions about the calculation period. In Spain's contract with the European Commission on European funds for recovery, the "extension" of the period of years of pension contributions is stated, in a general way, but the minister has insisted that this is simply a schematic wording "and possibly not very fortunate "of the reform that the Executive is proposing.

The head of Social Security has explained that the measure on the calculation period, which will be included in the second block of the pension reform, is not yet developed, so he has not wanted to advance much in what it could consist. But he has outlined that the reform will focus on the "new labor realities", which are no longer as linear as they were years ago and do not have their best contribution records at the end of their careers.

Escrivá has insisted that addressing this issue was one of the recommendations of the Toledo Pact. "When we raise it and present the data, which we have not done yet, probably one of the options that must be considered is the possibility that for these people the contribution period is extended for their benefit and / or that they can exclude years, or a different treatment of the gaps ... That is strictly what we are proposing on this issue. And that is written in great detail in the documents approved by the European Council, "he said this afternoon.

The "mattress" for baby boomers will be 42,000 million

On the intergenerational equity mechanism (MEI), which consists of the additional contribution of 0.6 points over the next decade to create a "cushion" for the pensions of the baby boom, the main novelty has been the adjustment on the money that can be collected in this mattress. Despite the fact that the minister stated at first that the fund would raise about 50,000 million euros at the end of the period, in 2032, this Thursday he has considerably lowered the figure.

The "most reasonable thing", Escrivá pointed out, is to consider that it will be possible to add some "42,000 million euros" in the so-called "pension money box", given the history of the last 20 years of profitability of the reserve fund, of an average of 3.5%. For each additional (or lower) profitability point that is reached, Escrivá has stated that some 2,000 million euros would be added (or lowered).

The minister has defended the measure against the sustainability factor of the PP that it replaces. Escrivá has faced the cuts that the Rajoy government factor would cause, especially for the youngest, compared to what the contribution via social contributions that the MEI implies for the next decade. Compared to contributions of 12 euros per month (two for the worker and ten for the company), the sustainability factor caused the increasing reduction of the pensions of the future, with a cut of up to 20% for people who are 18 years old today. For an average pension, the cut would be around 300 euros per month.

Faced with criticism from the opposition for the lack of dialogue between the minister on this mechanism with the rest of the political groups, José Luis Escrivá has defended that the alternatives to the MEi "are cuts." "Any alternative leads to cuts and nobody wants cuts. That is what the PP wants. Not just cuts, massive cuts," said the head of Social Security.