Lola Meño lost her job at the age of 59, and could not find a new one, so, as she explains in a video published by ASJUBI40 on YouTube, she was forced to retire early. It is not the first case and similar situations are already known, such as that of Luis Ortiga, who he stopped working at 61 years old and like this woman, he began his professional career very young, being almost a child, at 14 years old.
Now, with 47 years of contributions, Lola denounces that she suffers a 24% penalty on her pension from Social Security. This case has only opened the debate again around the penalties for early retirements with more than 40 years of contributions. “I am a member of the ASJUBI40 association, a member of the committee, and I want to tell you the story of my working life, which, like that of many other children of the 60s or 70s, began when I was 14 years old, something that today is unthinkable.”
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Finding minors working at that time was completely normal. “We felt older, more fulfilled, we had a different mentality,” he remembers, “and it didn’t look bad either.”
“I started my working life in a printing company”
His working life began (and ended) in a printing press. First, it was a small family business with about nine employees, and then it grew to the point of having to travel to Guadalajara, 80 kilometers from his home.
Some of the partners left to create a new company. “In the end we ended up being the four pioneers who went to set up a company in Guadalajara. Each of us had a stake in shares.” For ten years things worked well but then he went into bankruptcy and went bankrupt. So at 59 years old, he became unemployed.
Once exhausted unemployment benefits, He was able to access four months of assistance assistance so that “I was forced to retire.” It was then that he encountered the penalty. “After having contributed 47 years and a few days, I am penalized with 24% of my pension.”
An “urgent” solution to the penalties that affect long careers
Current regulations allow early retirement but apply permanent reducing coefficientsso that Social Security does not differentiate between those who have contributed for more than 40 years and those who have accumulated shorter careers, which results in a comparative grievance.
The case of this worker is common among those people who began their working lives at an early age and are left without a job. before reaching retirement age. “It is an injustice and we are fighting for dignity and justice, this should be solved and the sooner the better. There are many of us who are falling by the wayside.”