The population believes or thinks in a generalized way that pensions are lower than they really are. According to a report prepared by Funcas, 66% of the surveyed people believe that the average retirement pension is “something” quite “lower than the minimum interprofessional salary, when at the time of the survey the middle pension slightly exceeded 1,500 euros per fourte SMI that stands at 1,184 euros. The average pension of the set (that is, which encompasses retirement, permanent disability, widowhood, orphanhood and in favor of relatives) of the system exceeded 1,300 euros. Despite this, two out of three citizens place the pension below the minimum wage.
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The study, entitled “Worried and somewhat disoriented: Spanish society against pensions”, It is based on 1,200 telephone interviews held between September 1 and 13, 2025 to people from 18 to 75 years resident in Spain, of which 1,070 had unique Spanish nationality, subsued on which the analysis is made.
We barely know how pensions are financed
Ignorance also extends to system financing. Only 49% correctly identifies that the pensions present are paid with social contributions of current workers, or with a combination spontaneously mentioned of contributions and taxes. The remaining 51% indicates wrongly to the general taxes or the quotes paid by pensioners when they worked.
The undervaluation of the average pension is transversal by ages and sexes, which questions the existence of an intergenerational conflict understood as the perception of “opulent pensions” in the elderly. Among young people aged 18 to 30, 69% believe that the average pension is below the SMI, ten points more than between those over 60, where that percentage drops to 59%.
The concern for the future is high. Between busy and unemployed, who declare “a lot” or “enough” restlessness for the sufficiency of their pension exceed 60% even between university students, and reaches 86% among homes that claim to live badly or very badly with their income. This anxiety is associated with the expectation of cuts: depending on age, between 60% and 80% believe that within ten years pensions will be smaller.
They reject the retirement age
The rejection of delaying the legal age of retirement at 70 years It is overwhelming. After mentioning the precedent of Denmark, the opposite responses reach up to 90% between women and 83% among men, with 96% rejection peaks among young women aged 18 to 30.
The survey also explores normative preferences. The company is divided by those who would opt for a more contributory system (51% believe that they should approach the quoted) and those who prioritize a sufficient pension regardless of what is contributed (49%), with greater inclination to the taxes between men, under 45 years and those who show more interest in economic information.
Despite the rejection of raising the legal age, there are nuances about the extension of working life. Three out of four employed or unemployed would prefer not to work beyond 67 years, but “a non -negligible proportion” of those who will retire in the next 20 years would consider doing it, and almost three out of ten retirees would see with good eyes to return to the labor market compatible by salary and pension. The materialization of this preference, the report warns, will also depend on the business provision to hire senior profiles.
For Elisa Chuliá, Funcas researcher, these results draw a “worried and somewhat disoriented” society in pensions, with a low level of knowledge that hinders an informed debate. Only one in eight Spaniards simultaneously succeeds how benefits are financed and if the average pension is above or below the SMI, a figure that falls even more among women.
Thirty years after the start of the Toledo Pact, the survey suggests that informative noise has not translated into understanding of the basics, since who pays pensions today, how much they give up and what reforms would be necessary to adjust them to demography and employment. Funcas ends by saying that improving financial education and institutional communication is a condition for a more serene social debate about the sustainability of the system.