The amount of the retirement pension depends, among other factors, on the contribution bases for the last 25 years (or 29 years, discarding the worst two, starting in 2026). It is normal that in this short period there will be months in which the worker has not contributed, either due to unemployment, uncovered leave of absence or inactivity. To prevent the amount of the pension from going down, Social Security uses the “integration of gaps”, but this has a limit, which is that from the fourth year of gap, the coverage is drastically reduced to 50% of the minimum base.
To better understand the integration of gaps, a Social Security mechanism that covers periods of inactivity without contributing so that the retirement pension is not affected, assigning a fictitious minimum contribution base during those months. In this way, during the first 48 months it is quoted for 100% of the minimum base, but the rest of the empty monthly payments will only count for 50% of said minimum base. This means that you do not lose a lot of money in the first months, but you do in the case of several years without contributions.
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Requirements for gap integration
According to the General Law of Social Security, which was modified by Royal Decree-Law 2/2023 (second pension reform), which establishes this formula to avoid these gaps. In this case, when finding those periods in which contributions were not made, Social Security will not count them as zero, but will apply that fictitious contribution.
Now, there is a specific improvement to reduce the gender gap. While the general rule reduces coverage to 50% from month 49, working women (and men who meet specific requirements affecting their career after having children) enjoy reinforced protection. For them, from monthly payment 49 to 60 it is integrated with 100% of the minimum base, and from monthly payment 61 to 84, the integration is 80% of the minimum base. Only from month 85 would the general 50% apply.
On the other hand, neither self-employed workers nor domestic employees can access the integration of gaps, since the specific regulations of these regimes establish that, for the calculation of the regulatory base, only the periods actually contributed will be taken into account, expressly excluding the general application of the integration of gaps provided for employed workers (article 209.1.b).
Practical example of how it affects the pension
To understand how it affects the pocketbook of the future retiree, we can give the example in which a General Regime worker, within his last 25 years of reference, has a gap without contributions of 6 years (72 months) due to being unemployed and without subsidy.
When calculating your pension, Social Security will fill in the first 48 months (4 years) as if you had contributed for the minimum base in force at that time (approximately 1,260 euros in 2023, although it varies each year). Now, for the next 24 months (from year 5 to 6), Social Security will only integrate those gaps with 50% of that minimum base (about 630 euros for calculation purposes). This will reduce the overall average of your regulatory base and, therefore, your lifetime pension will be less than if you had worked those years, even with a low salary.
Difference between regulatory base and percentage by years contributed
Finally, you must know how to differentiate between the regulatory base (where these loopholes apply) and the percentage charged from said base. The integration of gaps serves to calculate the regulatory base (the amount on which the pension is calculated) by adding the bases of recent years.
On the other hand, the percentage of the pension depends on the total years contributed throughout life. Having 15 years of contributions entitles you to 50% of that regulatory base. To collect 100% of the regulatory base (once any gaps have been filled in), in 2027 it will be necessary to have been contributing for 37 years or more, or to be 65 years old and prove 38 years and 6 months of contributions. Therefore, a worker can have a high regulatory base thanks to the integration of gaps, but if he or she does not have enough years worked, a reducing percentage will be applied to that amount.