{"id":53925,"date":"2025-12-16T17:51:19","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:51:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/?p=53925"},"modified":"2025-12-16T17:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T16:51:19","slug":"adequacy-and-sustainability-in-pensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/16\/adequacy-and-sustainability-in-pensions\/","title":{"rendered":"Adequacy and sustainability in pensions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Minister for Social Policy and Children&#8217;s Rights Michael Falzon tabled the 2025 Report of the Pensions Strategy Group.<\/p>\n<p>The group&#8217;s report, led by Permanent Secretary Mark Musu, forms part of the five-yearly legal review of pensions in Malta, which focuses on adequacy, sustainability and social solidarity.<\/p>\n<p>The review is taking place at a time of rapid demographic change: fertility has fallen to 1.06 while life expectancy continues to increase, leading to a faster ageing population. By 2070, people aged 65 or over are expected to reach 33.6% of the population, while the Old Age Dependency Ratio, in other words the ratio of pensioners to workers, is expected to double in another 45 years. This is while the country has seen positive changes in the labour sector including record employment rates, higher female participation and an increase in foreign workers.<\/p>\n<p>Recent reforms \u2014 including the way the pension increases annually, higher pensionable income limits including for those born before 1962, stronger contribution credits and improvements to minimum pensions \u2014 have improved adequacy by around 5 percentage points.<\/p>\n<p>The incentive for a person to receive an additional pension increase of up to a maximum of 29% if they choose to continue working and take their pension later has attracted almost 7,900 people since 2016. All this has led to long-term projections showing that sustainability has also improved, with the point when spending starts to exceed income, previously estimated to happen in 2051, now moved forward 3 years to 2054.<\/p>\n<p>While no increase in either the retirement age or the social security contribution rate is contemplated, the Pensions Strategy Group highlights several structural issues that require further analysis, including the role of migration, wage composition, job quality, the impact of child-rearing, participation in private pensions, alignment of the Guaranteed Minimum Pension Level and fertility policies.<\/p>\n<p>The public is invited to provide their feedback on 14 questions as part of the public consultation between Monday 5 January and Friday 3 April 2026. This will help the Group formulate its recommendations on the future direction of the pensions system in our country.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_53925\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"53925\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Minister for Social Policy and Children&#8217;s Rights Michael Falzon tabled the 2025 Report of the Pensions Strategy Group. The group&#8217;s report, led by Permanent Secretary Mark Musu, forms part of the five-yearly legal review of pensions in Malta, which focuses on adequacy, sustainability and social solidarity. The review is taking place at a time of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_53925\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"53925\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" version=\"1.0\" viewBox=\"0 0 502 315\" preserveAspectRatio=\"xMidYMid meet\"><g transform=\"translate(0,332) scale(0.1,-0.1)\" fill=\"\" stroke=\"none\"><path d=\"M2394 3279 l-29 -30 -3 -207 c-2 -182 0 -211 15 -242 39 -76 157 -76 196 0 15 31 17 60 15 243 l-3 209 -33 29 c-26 23 -41 29 -80 29 -41 0 -53 -5 -78 -31z\"\/><path d=\"M3085 3251 c-45 -19 -58 -50 -96 -229 -47 -217 -49 -260 -13 -295 52 -53 146 -42 177 20 16 31 87 366 87 410 0 70 -86 122 -155 94z\"\/><path d=\"M1751 3234 c-13 -9 -29 -31 -37 -50 -12 -29 -10 -49 21 -204 19 -94 39 -189 45 -210 14 -50 54 -80 110 -80 34 0 48 6 76 34 21 21 34 44 34 59 0 14 -18 113 -40 219 -37 178 -43 195 -70 221 -36 32 -101 37 -139 11z\"\/><path d=\"M1163 3073 c-36 -7 -73 -59 -73 -102 0 -56 133 -378 171 -413 34 -32 83 -37 129 -13 70 36 67 87 -16 290 -86 209 -89 214 -129 231 -35 14 -42 15 -82 7z\"\/><path d=\"M3689 3066 c-15 -9 -33 -30 -42 -48 -48 -103 -147 -355 -147 -375 0 -98 131 -148 192 -74 13 15 57 108 97 206 80 196 84 226 37 273 -30 30 -99 39 -137 18z\"\/><path d=\"M583 2784 c-38 -19 -67 -74 -58 -113 9 -42 211 -354 242 -373 16 -10 45 -18 66 -18 51 0 107 52 107 100 0 39 -1 41 -124 234 -80 126 -108 162 -133 173 -41 17 -61 16 -100 -3z\"\/><path d=\"M4250 2784 c-14 -9 -74 -91 -133 -183 -95 -150 -107 -173 -107 -213 0 -55 33 -94 87 -104 67 -13 90 8 211 198 130 202 137 225 78 284 -27 27 -42 34 -72 34 -22 0 -50 -8 -64 -16z\"\/><path d=\"M2275 2693 c-553 -48 -1095 -270 -1585 -649 -135 -104 -459 -423 -483 -476 -23 -49 -22 -139 2 -186 73 -142 361 -457 571 -626 285 -228 642 -407 990 -497 242 -63 336 -73 660 -74 310 0 370 5 595 52 535 111 1045 392 1455 803 122 121 250 273 275 326 19 41 19 137 0 174 -41 79 -309 363 -465 492 -447 370 -946 591 -1479 653 -113 14 -422 18 -536 8z m395 -428 c171 -34 330 -124 456 -258 112 -119 167 -219 211 -378 27 -96 24 -300 -5 -401 -72 -255 -236 -447 -474 -557 -132 -62 -201 -76 -368 -76 -167 0 -236 14 -368 76 -213 98 -373 271 -451 485 -162 444 86 934 547 1084 153 49 292 57 452 25z m909 -232 c222 -123 408 -262 593 -441 76 -74 138 -139 138 -144 0 -16 -233 -242 -330 -319 -155 -123 -309 -223 -461 -299 l-81 -41 32 46 c18 26 49 83 70 128 143 306 141 649 -6 957 -25 52 -61 116 -79 142 l-34 47 45 -20 c26 -10 76 -36 113 -56z m-2057 25 c-40 -58 -105 -190 -130 -263 -110 -324 -59 -707 132 -981 25 -35 42 -64 37 -64 -19 0 -241 119 -326 174 -188 122 -406 314 -532 468 l-58 71 108 103 c185 178 428 349 672 473 66 33 121 60 123 61 2 0 -10 -19 -26 -42z\"\/><path d=\"M2375 1950 c-198 -44 -350 -190 -395 -379 -18 -76 -8 -221 19 -290 114 -284 457 -406 731 -260 98 52 188 154 231 260 27 69 37 214 19 290 -38 163 -166 304 -326 360 -67 23 -215 33 -279 19z\"\/><\/g><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-53925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-150x96.jpg",150,96,true],"medium":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-300x192.jpg",300,192,true],"medium_large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"large":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_0x420":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_80x60":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-80x60.jpg",80,60,true],"td_218x150":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-218x150.jpg",218,150,true],"td_324x400":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-324x263.jpg",324,263,true],"td_696x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_1068x0":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_100x70":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-100x70.jpg",100,70,true],"td_265x198":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-265x198.jpg",265,198,true],"td_324x160":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-324x160.jpg",324,160,true],"td_324x235":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-324x235.jpg",324,235,true],"td_356x220":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-356x220.jpg",356,220,true],"td_356x364":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-356x263.jpg",356,263,true],"td_533x261":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168-411x261.jpg",411,261,true],"td_534x462":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_696x385":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_741x486":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false],"td_1068x580":["http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Michael-Falzon-2-e1765903848168.jpg",411,263,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Bernard Lynch","author_link":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/author\/bernardlynch\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Minister for Social Policy and Children&#8217;s Rights Michael Falzon tabled the 2025 Report of the Pensions Strategy Group. The group&#8217;s report, led by Permanent Secretary Mark Musu, forms part of the five-yearly legal review of pensions in Malta, which focuses on adequacy, sustainability and social solidarity. The review is taking place at a time of&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53927,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53925\/revisions\/53927"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/livenewsmalta.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}