The sustainability of the system of pensions in Spain.

Abstract

The aim of this work is to present the important demographic changes that Spain has experimented in the last 50 years, which are marked by an inescapable process of population aging. This fact has been minimized by the large number of foreigners who comes to Spain. Although the guarantee of the pension system is a fact, during the next two decades, it’s needed to carry out some reforms with relative urgency, following the models that the most European countries have already carried out. The purpose of these reforms must be clear and precise, because it is a fact that in the following years will be a great number of retirees and is not so clear that a proportional increase in the number of participants will happen. With respect to the measures to be taken, we think that all of them must be directed to improve the relation between the contributions during the phase of activity and the amount of benefits, once retirement occurs. Finally, it would be desirable that any pension system’s reform would be accompanied by effective measures of economic policy which increase employment, as well as its quality.

Key words: Ageing, pensions reform, retirement age, dependency ratio.