In recent years, income from social security contributions has continued to grow month by month. The introduction of new figures such as the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (IEM) and the increase in wages of workers and employers have triggered money inflows of 33% since 2019, in a growth that easily triples that of the number of people employed and doubles the advancement of salaries.
According to budget execution data, until September 30, revenues from social security contributions recorded an increase of 7.8% compared to 2023. So far this year, these revenues amount to 123.694 million euros, 8.982 million more than a year ago.
If we take as a reference the last year which was not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, that is to say 2019, the increase in income from social contributions reached 31,087 million euros, or 33.6% more. And this increase far exceeds that of other key indicators for the future of the social security system.
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Thus, employment growth, although positive, is much lower than contribution income. More specifically, data from the Active Population Survey (EPA) reveal a increase of 9.81% between 2019 and 2024until reaching these 21.8 million workers.
For his part, salaries increased by 16.08%going from a gross monthly salary of 2,358.96 euros on average before the pandemic to another of 2,738.23 euros in the second quarter of this year.
That is to say that the boom Employment alone does not explain the growth in Social Security revenues. Therefore, only this increase in social security contributionsas well as the introduction of new mechanisms for taxing labor activity, explain the gap between the labor market and income.
Regardless, this discrepancy is not accidental. The public pension system presents a deficit problem year after yeareven taking into account the transfers and loans that the State grants to social security funds to guarantee their sufficiency. And the situation is expected to get worse in the near future, with the majority of millennial cohorts retiring. baby boom.
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However, precisely retirement pensions effectively keep pace with contribution income. In 2019, the monthly payroll received by retirees was 1,143.55 euros; five years later, and after an increase of 26.57%this average pension is 1,447.36.
In any case, the increase in income, driven by the increase in contributions, can represent a A relative and temporary respite for Social Security funds. However, it is not certain that this will be enough to guarantee the sustainability of the system in the future.
The retirement of the generation baby boomwhich will reach its peak in the coming decades, represents a major challenge. Even as incomes increase, pressure on spending also increases. Demographic projections anticipate a sharp increase in the number of retirees, which will require allocating even more resources to pensions and possibly other health and social spending items.
This context of increasing spending and an aging population raises the question of whether current measures are sufficient or whether further reforms will be necessary in the future. From Brussels, institutions such as the European Commission have already warned of the challenges that the Spanish system will face in the years to come, inviting it to ensure its long-term viability without compromising the budgetary balance.
Eventually, The retirement system is at a crossroads. Although collection has managed to grow solidly in recent years, the question that remains is whether this pace will be sufficient to meet the demands of an increasingly aging population and growing expectations of a decent pension.
