He withdrawal It is one of the most desired times of a worker after decades of effortand the one that can access after 60 years, according to Dominican laws. However, reality in the country and in Latin America is that this savingin addition to being inconsistent, Whether because of informality or unemployment, it is low.
Due to these and other factors, it is estimated that only 20 % of active contributors will achieve the 360 quotes required by the Dominican system for a minimal guaranteed pension. Increase the age of withdrawal To extend the saving Could it be an alternative?
The senior economist in social protection of the World Bank, Ignacio Apella, considers yes. He knows that it is a controversial measure for workers, but it is viable because the quality of life has increased, a positive factor because it implies that there are increasing people with greater productive capacity of job.
- “Today is not old at 60, nor at 65. There are still people with capacity, with qualification and skills They can contribute to the economy. I would discuss the age of withdrawal From that point of view, “he argued.
This coincided by the Secretary General of the Inter -American Social Security Conference (CISS), Pedro Kumamoto who recognizes, however, that governments must guarantee benefits and working conditions that encourage people to stay longer to improve the sufficiency of their pensions.
“This figure, of 80 % that would not reach 360 quotes, is a problem for the entire society of the Dominican Republic (…) What we have to turn Tangible reality“He said.
Considers that this can be a point to take into account in the Local contextbecause the system of pensions It was promulgated in 2003 thinking that people would have an average life of just under 65 years but, today, the life expectations Until 80 years.
Both Kumamoto and Apella shared their experiences and points of view in the conversation “new trends in pensions“, organized today by the Superintendence of Pensions (Sipen).
There are other factors
The president of the Permanent Social Security Commission In the Chamber of Deputies, Rafael Castillo, understands that there are other more pressing factors for attending rather than considering the increase in retirement age.
“The Dominican Republic has two factors that are enemies of the system: one is the Low pricebecause we barely quote 9 %, and another is Informalitywhich is around 60 %, “he said.
In Castillo’s opinion, in the current stage in which the individual capitalization system is found, first pensioners will be in 2033- Age is not yet a weight factor.
“Before that date, we We will have to have resolved everything this question of contributions, of informalityand that really becomes a system that can increase those funds, “he said.
For Kumamoto, improvements to the Dominican pension system must respond to the context, needs, culture and vision that Dominican workers have regarding retirement.
“It is the peoples who have to determine the age of retirement, but they have to do so thinking about how sustainable that mechanism is, because age will give us the amount of resources we have to invest, and therefore, the amount of time we have to be quoting,” he said.
He explained that pensions are not guaranteed through a single proposal, but that transparency to savings, the clarity of where these investments go, and the formation of a technical commission, with popular representation, which determines which incentive schemes can be promoted for permanence in the system and to what age to maintain the active price.
