The subsidy for people over 52 years of age is the benefit of the State Public Employment Service (SEPE) that se gets paid until you find a job or reach normal retirement age that corresponds to the beneficiary. During the time that this aid is received, the unemployed contribute towards their future retirement pension, these contributions being made by the SEPE on the established minimum base. Now, given that the legal ordinary retirement age varies every year and, depending on contributions, may be different, many wonder exactly up to what age the subsidy is collected for unemployed people over 52 years of age.
As explained on the SEPE website: “The duration will be until you reach the ordinary age required to be entitled to the contributory retirement pension in the Social Security system.”. This means that there is a Limit age from which the subsidy will be suspended for those over 52 years of agealthough it will not be the same for all beneficiaries, since two retirement ages currently coexist in Spain.
At what age do you stop collecting the subsidy for those over 52 years of age?
According to the Law 27/2011published in the Official State Gazette, since 2013 the retirement age has been delayed each year and the number of years that must be contributed to be able to retire at 65 has increased.
In 2025, the retirement ages will be the following, and will also function as a limit for collecting the subsidy for those over 52 years of age:
- The age limit to receive the subsidy will be 65 years if the beneficiary has contributed for at least 38 years and 3 months.
- The age limit to collect the subsidy will be 66 years and 8 months if the beneficiary has not reached the required 38 years of contributions.
This is the age at which workers must stop receiving the subsidy for those over 52 years of agesince it coincides with the ordinary retirement age that corresponds to them. Now, this does not mean that they should compulsorily retire or stop working.
Once the ordinary retirement age is reached, the worker is not obliged to request the pension. You can continue working if you wish, as established in article 35.1 of the Spanish Constitution, which guarantees that “All Spaniards have the duty to work and the right to work”. In other words, although there is a normal retirement age, there is no limit age for stopping working.
However, it is important to keep in mind that, although in Spain there is no age limit for stopping working, the subsidy for people over 52 years of age stops being received upon reaching the corresponding retirement age in each case.
Economic consequences of not requesting a retirement pension after the subsidy expires
According to article 3 of the General Social Security Law, available in the Official State Gazette, contributory pensions, including retirement pensions, are inalienable. This means that you cannot waive them, but you can delay the moment when you start collecting them.
If you postpone the application to start receiving the pension, it is important to know that you can only claim payments corresponding to the last three months from the date of submission of the application. This is detailed by Social Security, indicating that “it will be accrued with a maximum retroactivity of 3 months from the date of submission of the application.”
Therefore, if a year passes from reaching the legal retirement age until the application is submitted, it will only be possible to claim payments for the last three months. Payments prior to that period cannot be recovered.