The retirees in Lleida who contributed under the general regime receive an average pension of 1,652 euros per month, while those who worked as self-employed individuals receive 1,016 euros. The gap between both groups exceeds 8,900 euros per year when considering fourteen payments.
The difference is notable in a province with a significant weight of self-employment. In Lleida, there are 67,384 retirees who were salaried employees and 33,861 who were entrepreneurs, a volume partly explained by the presence of the agricultural sector.
Self-employed individuals in Lleida receive 636 euros less per month than salaried employees
The difference between regimes is related to the contribution bases chosen during working life. Experts link it to many professionals opting for low bases to reduce the monthly contribution, a decision that ends up reducing the benefit upon retirement.
Self-employed organizations disagree with this interpretation and maintain that, in many cases, contributing at the minimum base was not a real choice, but rather due to the low profitability of numerous businesses. This argument is stronger in territories where self-employment has had a historical weight.
In the province as a whole, the average retirement pension stood at 1,418.17 euros in May. This figure corresponds to 66,610 retirees receiving this benefit in the area.
The Government opens flexible retirement to those who remain active as self-employed
The Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree that reforms flexible retirement to facilitate pensioners continuing to work without losing their benefit. The main novelty is that the formula can also be applied to those who carry out self-employment activities, as until now it was only foreseen for salaried work.
In the case of part-time dependent employment, the reform sets a range between 33% and 80% of the working day. The amount of the pension will be reduced in inverse proportion to the reduction in hours worked.
Furthermore, after six months from retirement, the system will recognize an additional percentage between 15% and 25% of the pension, depending on the reduction in working hours applied.
Beyond retirement, the average pension in the system in Lleida reached 1,242.74 euros per month in May, with an increase of 4.96% compared to the same month of the previous year. This figure includes all types of pensions.