Retirement should be a time for rest, stability and some financial peace of mind. However, for millions of pensioners, it has become an obstacle course: low pensions, chronic illnesses and a rental market that leaves them no respite.
According to the National Social Security Institute (INSS), almost one in two pensioners earns less than 1,000 euros per month, and 39.38% of retirements are below that threshold. Despite this, women are the ones who especially bear the burden of precariousness: their risk of poverty or social exclusion is clearly higher than that of men.
In theory, a minimum single-person pension is around 875.90 euros per month, but in practice, many retirees like Begoña live on the limit. When you add a serious illness, such as metastatic cancer, and an exorbitant rent, the dream retirement becomes a daily struggle to survive.
600 euros for 12 m2
Begoña is 63 years old, divorced and living with metastatic cancer for almost a decade. After forced early retirement, she was forced to reorganize her life around chemotherapy treatments. “I have a pension of 860 euros and I can’t afford a flat,” he explains to Public MirrorAntena 3 program. In a city like yours, your reality is that of many people: paying up to 600 euros for a room of just 12 m2.
“They have torn down the living room to make rooms and 13 people are living in the house,” he describes. It does not share a refrigerator, only the freezer. And in her tiny room there is barely enough space for a small refrigerator that fills it with healthy food.
Living in a room without access to common areas, such as the living room or dining room, is what urban planning experts call ‘infrahousing due to compartmentalization’ or, better known as the phenomenon of beehive apartments.
However, Begoña seeks a window for leisure and has turned sport into one of her great allies. That is why in his room “I have weights and dumbbells… when I have to use them I put the table in the corner” to take advantage of the space and move around. He has his first class at 7 in the morning and he keeps a helmet under his bed to go skating.
“I always live with anguish”
Renting rooms in Spain has stopped being an option for young people and has become a market for all ages. In cities like Madrid or Barcelona, prices exceed 500 euros per month, and due to low salaries, many adults are forced to live like Begoña, in a very small space under temporary contracts that destroy any concept of ‘home’.
“I’ve been here for a year and they’ve given me two six-month contracts. Every time they renew me they can change it. The contract ends in a few months and I don’t know if they will renew me, raise the price or I will have to find something else,” he confesses. And, due to chemotherapy, he needs to have the hospital very close.
Moving floors would mean assuming transportation and accommodation costs that you cannot afford. “I always live with that anguish. To come here I asked for a loan to make the move, the months of deposit and pay the management expenses. I just hope they renew me,” he says.
40 euros to sleep with someone
At home, the rules are very strict. “To bring someone I have to notify them and it costs 40 euros per night,” explains the woman. She consulted a lawyer and confirmed that everything is legal, but for her, it is a reminder that her private life is subject to rent.
Unfortunately, this is not the only case. 12 more people live on that same floor, many of them over 50 years old with jobs, stable salaries and ‘successful’ professions.
“Here there is a lawyer who is 50 years old, a couple of the same age and other colleagues who are 30 or older. They are people who work, but they cannot afford a house. The problem is not mine, it is society’s,” reflects Begoña.
Although he confesses that his room is the largest and that he is lucky enough to share a bathroom with only one person, in the basement there is a smaller bathroom that is shared by six,” he details.
In a large city, a minimum pension falls short of covering rent that, in many cases, like that of Begoña, exceeds 70% of income, when international organizations recommend not exceeding 30%.