The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has considered it “reasonable” that the non-contributory pensions increase by more than 5% in 2026, in line with the Government’s commitment to the most vulnerable groups, and has stressed that the Executive maintains an “unwavering” will to improve this benefit, especially aimed at reducing poverty among the elderly.
In an interview last Sunday, collected by Europa Press, Saiz positively valued the recent OECD report on the public pension system in Spain. As he noted, the document “highlights many measures” adopted in recent years, such as revaluation in accordance with the CPI, the promotion of delayed retirement or the reduction of the gender gap in pensions.
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During the interview, the minister reported that the so-called “pension piggy bank” will end the year with more than 14,000 million euros, with the forecast to reach 31,000 million at the end of the legislature. “When we came to the Government we found the pension piggy bank practically depleted. This is the work we are doing. Filling that pension piggy bank,” he stated.
In relation to the OECD analysis, Saiz pointed out that these reports have a certain “lag”, since some improvements cannot yet be confirmed immediately. Even so, he defended that the labor reform is “correcting the failures related to precariousness and temporary employment.”
What will happen to the contributions of the self-employed and the PGE
Another of the topics discussed in the interview was the possibility of maintaining the current quotas for self-employed workers at the start of 2026. Saiz assured that “it is possible” that they remain unchanged, and expressed his commitment to reaching a fair agreement. “I will give my all to reach an agreement that is about social justice,” he added.
The minister criticized the Popular Party’s position, pointing out that “in recent days we have heard the PP offer pension plans in exchange for reduced contributions, behaving like a private bank, taking a dig at the model it defends.” He added that the Government is currently “analyzing the different proposals” raised at the social dialogue table with self-employed workers.
Regarding the approval of the General State Budgets for 2026, Saiz reiterated the Executive’s desire for dialogue and regretted that some parties have voted against providing an additional 5,000 million euros to the autonomous communities, recalling that, despite being in a minority, the Government has made progress.