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Spain has been overhauling its approach to retirement over the past year or so and the latest change is a significant one for tens of thousands of people living with serious long-term health conditions.

 

Social Security Minister Elma Saiz announced on Thursday February 26 that eleven new illnesses are being added to the list of conditions that qualify workers for a reduced retirement age. Under the updated rules, people affected by these conditions who have a registered disability of at least 45% will be able to retire from the age of 56, with no reduction to their pension.

 

That could mean stepping away from work up to ten years earlier than the standard retirement age.

 

The full list of newly included conditions is spina bifida, variant transthyretin amyloidosis, Parkinson's disease, myotonic dystrophy type 1 (also known as Steinert disease), Huntington's disease, stage 5 chronic kidney disease, systemic sclerosis, spinal cord injury, corticobasal degeneration, multiple system atrophy and progressive supranuclear palsy.

 

The government estimates that around 50,000 people with disabilities in Spain stand to benefit from the measure.

 

"It is a measure of justice for thousands of people who suffer from serious illnesses that greatly affect their daily lives and who, therefore, need to bring forward their retirement age to be on equal footing with the rest of the workers," Minister Saiz said, adding that it was a commitment the government had made and a demand that had come directly from the groups affected.

 

To qualify for early retirement under the scheme, workers will need to meet a few specific criteria. They must be registered, or in an equivalent situation, on the date the benefit is triggered, have at least fifteen years of contributions across their working life, and have been living with one of the qualifying conditions at a disability level of 45% or more for a minimum of five years within that period.

 

Where those conditions are met, the years by which retirement is brought forward will still count towards the contribution period used to calculate the final pension amount, meaning people won't be penalised for leaving work early.

 

This latest announcement follows a separate measure introduced last May, when the government opened up early retirement from age 52 for workers in particularly demanding roles, covering jobs involving heavy lifting, extreme temperatures, constant vibration, exposure to chemicals or a high risk of accidents.

 

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