Collecting a pension that is greater than the salary of your own children can attract attention, especially after the Ministry of Labor raised the Minimum Wage this year to 1,221 gross euros per month in 14 payments. Even though the SMI has been raised, it is true that average salaries remain stagnant and that young people can barely afford to pay the rent or mortgage. That is why there are retirees who are even happy to have the pension they have. This is the case of Curro Cordero, a 67-year-old pensioner.
After 43 years of contributions to Social Security and 18 months of military service in the Navy, he currently receives a pension of 1,780 euros per month. An amount that exceeds the approximately 1,200 euros that, as he explains, his daughters earn.
Cordero told of his experience in the Antena 3 program ‘And now Sonsoles’, where he participated in a debate about the difference between the income of certain pensioners and the salaries that younger generations receive.
“After 43 years of contributions, I deserve it”
Curro does not deny that her economic situation is better than that of her daughters.
“I collect a pension of 1,780 euros. After 43 years of contributions and 18 months of military service, I deserve it,” he defended during his speech.
Now he has, as he himself explains, “24 hours a day” for his hobbies after a lifetime of working.
The difference appears when you look at the next generation. Their daughters have salaries of around 1,200 euros and, in addition, they must pay a mortgage.
That difference does not make Curro think that they should receive less help from him. Quite the opposite.
“Before something is missing for them, before my life is missing,” he said.
A difference between generations that goes beyond your family
Curro’s case also serves as an example of a much broader debate about how the incomes of different generations have evolved.
According to the analysis included in the original information based on OECD data, the real income of workers between 18 and 29 years old fell by 3% between 2008 and 2024, while those of those over 65 years old increased by 18%.
This does not mean that all pensioners earn more than young workers (although economist Santiago Niño Becerra thinks otherwise) nor that all young people are in the same situation. The amounts depend on careers, salaries, years of contributions and very different personal circumstances.
But in Curro’s family that difference is seen very clearly.
He earns 1,780 euros after having worked for more than four decades and his daughters earn around 1,200 euros while they still have to pay for their home.
Curro does not believe that the solution is to question its benefits.
He delays his retirement to collect 157 euros more per month, he continues to act and Social Security demands 740 euros, but the court confirms that the extra is part of the pension
Social Security receives a new loan from the State to pay pensions and the debt will be around 146,000 million without having returned any of the ten requests
After 43 years of contributions and another 18 months doing military service, he is quite clear about how he sees those 1,780 euros: “I deserve it.”