The bill to adjust the retirement age in the Azores, which you authored, is due to be discussed in parliament next March. What does this measure aim to achieve?

The aim is to equalize the real age of access to retirement for Azoreans with the real age of access for the population living in mainland Portugal, using the “Average Life Expectancy” indicator, which is included in the calculation of the rule for the normal age of access to old age pensions (INAPV).

The initiative promotes equal access to retirement for beneficiaries in the region simply because Azoreans enjoy it for a shorter period of time.

Beneficiaries are proposed to be those who have lived in the Autonomous Region of the Azores for at least thirty years and have spent at least two-thirds of their contributory career on our islands.

What is the fundamental basis behind the proposal?

The main basis is the principle of contributivity laid down in the Law on the General Basis of the Social Security System. Suppose Azoreans contribute for the same number of years and on the same terms as the general population, but it is already known that they will live for fewer years. In that case, they will enjoy retirement for fewer years compared to the rest of the population.

This measure thus corrects the injustice to a homogeneous population group, the Azoreans, who demonstrably contribute as much as the others but also demonstrably benefit less than the others, paradoxically being a disproportionate financier of the entire system.

Let’s not forget that the welfare system is based on a direct relationship between the legal obligation to contribute and the right to benefits. This is evident in the Law on the General Basis of the Social Security System, about the principle of equality, which consists of non-discrimination of beneficiaries, namely on the grounds of sex and nationality, without prejudice, in the latter case, to conditions of residence and reciprocity.

Can you explain the proposed calculation basis?

The basis for the retirement age was set at the national level in 2014 at 65, and reference was also made to the average life expectancy at 65 in 2014 to calculate the actual age of access to retirement.

To ensure the system’s sustainability, it was decided to add 12 months to the base age of 65. Therefore, the base age set in 2014 was 66 (65 years + 12 months).

Therefore, and taking the indicator above as a reference, the intention is to adapt it based on the average life expectancy in the Azores, which was calculated to be two years and seven months lower than the national average.

Introduce this difference into the basis for calculating the retirement age in the Autonomous Region of the Azores, and it will be 63 years and five months instead of 66 years under the rule.

How will the sustainability of the system be guaranteed in this case?

To guarantee the sustainability of the social security system, the current way of calculating the retirement age provides for an annual increase in time, in months, to the basic retirement age, calculated concerning average life expectancy. According to the Law on the General Basis of the Social Security System, the sustainability factor is defined by the ratio between the average life expectancy in a given reference year and the average life expectancy in the year before the pension application.

Therefore, without changing the way it is measured at a national level, we intend to adapt it to the realities and specificities of the Azores, thus guaranteeing the sustainability of the Social Security system under the same terms as the national system.

In conclusion, this proposal corrects an injustice that has been perpetuated for many years and which is essential to apply to the Azoreans. They are currently very much disadvantaged by the current system of access to retirement, which does not repay them the rights they have for the contributions they have made, like all the Portuguese.

In Diário Insular, Armando Meneses, editor-in-chief, and José Lourenço, director.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.