The Study Committee on Ageing confirms the reduction of the risk of poverty with pensioners

Today, Wednesday 13th July, the Study Committee on Ageing has presented its annual report aimed at analysing the long-term consequences of population ageing.

Although it makes a few corrections to the conclusions  - published in the previous report – in relation to certain economic parameters, the annual report 2016 confirms the favourable effect of the pensions reforms on the decrease in the budgetary costs of ageing.

Moreover, the annual report 2016 stresses that the risk of poverty with the elderly keeps dropping  and that this trend will continue until 2050.  

These conclusions reflect the ones published last Monday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. This Ministry states, for example, that the poverty rate with the elderly dropped from 23% in 2006 to 15% in 2015. For the first time the poverty rate with the elderly is comparable to the poverty rate of the entire population.

The increase in the minimum and lowest pensions is without any doubt the main reason for the decrease of the poverty rate.

It is to be reminded that half of the budget of the  « prosperity envelope » for 2015-2016, being nearly half a billion euros was consecrated to – in particular - the revaluation of the lowest and the minimum pensions. This is more than double the amount allocated to pensions by the previous government in 2013-2014.