Piñera’s proposal fuels debate on low pensions in Chile
The controversy over low pensions in Chile, the most serious problem identified by the protesting social movement, has increased after President Sebastian Piñera announced changes to the country’s pension system.
The Chilean president announced on Wednesday evening that he would submit this week a bill to Congress seeking to improve all pensions and, especially, those of women, the middle class and dependent elderly. Piñera said this bill represents a ‘structural change,’ with a system based on State, worker and employer funding.
He said that about one million pensioners with the minimum of contributions will receive, in the case of men, an increase of 65,600 pesos (about US$80), while women, disadvantaged by the current system, will receive 70,800 pesos (about US$90).
Prominent economist Andras Uthoff warned: ‘The current pension system is the largest neoliberal disaster that has ever existed. It is really catastrophic.’
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