Silvia is a 67-year-old retiree, but 5 years ago she was a nursing assistant in France. Now, he wanted to count on his financial situation after spending more than 25 years taking care of others. “My retirement pension is 1,790 euros gross per month, or approximately 1,625 euros net,” he explains. This amount, as he admits, “I consider insufficient, taking into account the hard work I have done for so many years.”
Throughout her professional life, Silvi has worked in different hospitals and nursing homes in western France. “As my husband was a salesman and he changed companies often, we moved frequently,” she says. “I worked in several centers, especially in hospitals, both public and sometimes private, and nursing homes.”
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Born in Sarthe, he passed through hospitals in Le Mans, Laval, Angers and Rennes. “I think if I had spent my entire career in the same place, I would have been bored. But by changing departments every few years, I learned new things and learned other methods,” he adds.
For three years, Sylvie worked as a neonatal nurse in a private hospital in Rennes. “I took care of premature babies, and without a doubt it was in this service where my care work became more important,” she recalls. Despite constant moves, he never had problems finding employment. “I systematically arrived at teams with few staff. They always received me well, because they knew they could count on me,” he says proudly.
He retired, but admits that his pension is not enough
In October 2020, and before the entry into force of the latest pension reform, Silvia decided to retire at the age of 62, after almost 25 years of working as an assistant. “I welcomed retirement with great enthusiasm. After dedicating my professional life to caring for others, I wanted to take care of myself and do things I didn’t have time for before,” she says.
In his last position, in a public nursing home in Angers, he earned “about 2,300 euros gross per month, or about 1,900 net,” according to the salary scales of the territorial public service.
Today, this mother of two adult children is a multi-pensioner, that is, she collects from several funds, these being Agirc-Arcco and the National Retirement Fund for Local Government Employees. “I receive a full pension, but I don’t think it’s fair compared to the effort and responsibility that this job entails,” he says. “The long hours, the physical work, the nights without rest and the lack of recognition weigh heavily over the years,” he laments.
Despite the difficulties, Sylvie says she is satisfied with her new life stage. “Now I want to enjoy free time, travel and take care of myself, after so many years taking care of others,” she concludes.
How much does a nursing assistant earn?
In Spain, a nursing assistant earns between 1,400 euros and 1,600 euros gross per month, although this amount depends a little on the province where they work and the salary supplements. The TCAE, who are those who work in public hospitals, belong to group C2 of the administration, so their base monthly salary is 716.98 euros. Complements are added to this figure depending on the destination, medical specialty or years of experience.