From next year more than 100,000 pensioners will receive another increase of €8 per week or €416 per year, which includes the increase for the cost of living. This is the tenth increase that is being made to pensioners.
More than a hundred thousand retirement, invalidity and widow pensioners will benefit from this increase as well as others entitled to an old age pension. The Minister for Social Policy and Children’s Rights Michael Falzon spoke about this during a news conference with the theme Country of Quality, during which the dozens of social measures aimed at pensioners stood out.
Minister Michael Falzon explained that over a period of ten years, the consecutive increases in pensions amount to the total sum of at least €3,583, almost €70 per week. It was explained how during the next year the gap in the Maximum Pensionable Income between people who were born before 1962 and others who were born after will continue to decrease, a gap which was created as a result of the reform that took place in 2006. This will be done because those who were born before 1962 and if they were still working and their salary exceeds the Maximum Pensionable Income of €23,500, they will have another adjustment in their pension. About 26,000 pensioners are expected to benefit from this measure.
Minister Michael Falzon spoke about the improvement in the tax exemptions that apply from the age of 61 onwards for pensioners, about the adjustment to tax exemptions for active pensioners and the additional increase in widows’ pensions. “All this is being done thanks to the strong, resilient and sustainable economy. We are doing this wisely and without raising the retirement age,” stressed Minister Michael Falzon.
Here it was explained that for those people born in 1976, the retirement age will remain that of 65 years. Until today they needed 41 years of stamp duty to get a full pension at the age of 65. With the change that has taken place they will now need 42 years of contributions to get a full pension at the age of 65. This means that if they have started working from at least the age of 23 they will have enough stamps to get a full pension at the age of 65. In addition, the Government has introduced several credits for stamps, such as if one does a four-year tertiary education course in a bachelor’s degree (degree), this costs as much as two years of stamps. If a person stops working to take care of the children they will also benefit from stamp credits, even if a person is unemployed or has stopped working for health reasons.
Meanwhile around 3,250 pensioners of the service will be increased by another €200 and reach the sum of €3,666. The adjustment applies according to the general social security pension rules for everyone with a service pension. This while people who did not have enough stamps to qualify for a pension receive a bonus according to how many stamps they had paid. This bonus began to be given in 2015 and was increased several times until this year it reached €500 for those who paid up to four years of stamps and €600 for those who paid from five to nine years of stamps. Next year, people who have paid up to one year of stamps will be given a bonus of €550, while people who have paid up to 9 years of stamps will be given a bonus of €1,000.
