In 2023, Social Security issued more than 46 million professional life. Hundreds of thousands of citizens wanted to know how many days they had contributed throughout their professional career. These were not the only efforts. Between January and July of this year, this service resolved 104 million telematic queries. The ministry headed by Elma Saiz presented on Monday the news of the ‘Importass’ application, with which it aims to facilitate and bring these services closer to citizens, especially the youngest.
The update of the platform, already used by freelancers, artists, domestic workers and employers, focuses on a group recently affiliated with Social Security: interns on unpaid internships who have been contributing since January 1. “The new application includes a specific section for young people and interns, that is, more than 700,000 students since the entry into force (of the new regulation), who have accumulated more than 14 million days of contributions,” quantified Minister Saiz, who stressed. “The administration must get closer” to young people.
The measure has a dual objective. On the one hand, citizens can “intuitively access, in a few clicks, the personal information that interests them and any type of procedure.” This is what already happens in many bureaucratic procedures carried out by self-employed workers or domestic workers and their employers. On the other hand, that the youngest and those who have just started their professional activity or their contribution career “engage in the public system,” the minister stressed. “This is what guarantees their present, but also their future. Contributing today is the guarantee of a pension tomorrow, of being protected in the event of an accident and of having rights from the first moment.
Through the application, users can check their professional life, their contribution base, their contracts, how many days they have been registered and the social benefits to which they are entitled or the agreements that mark the perimeters of their work relations with the company. “Students ask us what they pay contributions for and when they see it, they understand it,” said the Deputy Director General of Integration and Coordination of Digital Administration, Celia Sacristán.
The Secretary of State for Social Security, Borja Suárez, indicated that the application will allow the administration “to take advantage of the most advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to improve care, evaluate how this care is provided and ensure that our staff is aware of all the advances that occur in these areas. In any case, the number 2 of the ministry stressed that “there will always be a person behind it.”
Suárez stressed that, although on this occasion they have focused on young people, “it is obvious that this application tries to be as user-friendly and accessible as possible, not only for them, but for everyone.” Along the same lines, Saiz stressed that “the task is not over” because the application “was born with the task of being a living tool,” which can gradually integrate all the services and procedures of Social Security. But he was also direct in his message: “Although the government’s goal in digitalization is to reach 80% of the population, older people will not be left behind.”
