The government wants retirees who want to return to working life. The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migrations will approve before the regulatory development of the so -called reversible retirement, a modality similar to flexible retirement that will allow retirees to re -fall to the labor market, to renounce their pension must be reached.
According to the official projections that it collects The confidentialin the next five years more than 30,000 pensioners could benefit from this mechanism, which will reward with an increase of between 10% and 20% of the benefit to those who work part -time after having accessed retirement.
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This new retirement modality will replace the known as flexible retirement, in force since 2002 but with little success, since according to social security data, only 3,174 people had recognized it in March 2025, that is, less than 0.1% of retirees. The Executive expects the new regulation and repeals the previous Royal Decree 1132/2002 to reverse this situation. The change of name is not accidental, since with the term “reversible” it is intended to make us understand that the pensioner can go back, rejoining the work after having retired.
The Royal Decree project, dated July 22, 2025, extends the margins of compatibility between pension and employment. They can take care of both those who work on behalf of a day between 40% and 80% of the usual and, with restrictions, who undertake an activity on their own, provided that they have not been high as self -employed in the previous five years. In the latter cases, the compatible pension will be 20%. For partial wage employment, the incentive will be greater, since those who resume the activity at least six months after retirement will see their pension increased by 10% if they work between 40% and 60% of the day, and in 20% if they do between 60% and 80%.
Return to work for retirees who wish
Social Security forecasts (that can be consulted in this link) They point out that, between 2026 and 2030, 1.8% of the new retirement highs will be accepted to this modality, which is equivalent to some 6,000 annual additions. Together, they would exceed 30,000 in five years. Although the volume is modest compared to 6.5 million retirement pensions in force, it would represent a substantial increase against the current situation.
The economic impact will also be limited. The Executive estimates that, once the collective is stabilized in 2033, the net savings will range between 185 and 285 million euros per year, a reduced figure if compared to the almost 10,000 million per month that the payroll costs. Even so, the objective is not so much immediate savings and yes, to send sustainability signs and promote a culture of prolongation of working life.
Spain does not want to work after retirement
Spain starts from a lagging position in this area. According to Eurostat, in 2023 only 4.9% of those who began collecting the pension continued working, compared to 13% on the European Union. Only Greece and Romania presented lower figures. In addition, only 18% of Spaniards who compatible retirement and work do so by personal motivation “feel useful” or “productive”, far from 36% of Sweden. The high replacement rate of Spanish pensions (which mediates 80% of the last salary) reduces incentives to continue working.
The executive framed this reform within a broader set of measures that include active, partial and delayed retirement. These figures have had more route, since only in 2024, more than 34,000 retirees voluntarily delayed their withdrawal, with an average age of access to the 68 -year pension. But, on the other hand, flexible retirement does not take off, hence the government’s need to reformulate this withdrawal modality and enhance it.
The baby reform of the agreements of the Toledo Pact and the Social Dialogue Board, which in 2024 recommended to review the existing incentives. The Executive has followed the path marked by previous reforms, the 2011 law, which progressively delayed the legal age; the 2013 decree, which promoted active retirement; or the changes of 2021, which penalized the anticipated and reinforced the benefits for delaying retirement.
Even so, the objective is to have a public system of strong and sustainable pensions. It must be said that Spain has one of the highest life hopes in Europe, with an especially generous pension system. Therefore, the Government seeks with this modality that retirees who wish can continue working in exchange for winning more in the pension, although that idea is not yet very accepted by our society.