Around 8,500 survivor pension beneficiaries in the Greek public sector will see their payments doubled on August 28, after their benefits were previously cut from 70% to 35% of the deceased spouse’s original pension. At the same time, more than 75,000 pension reform beneficiaries — who won’t receive an immediate increase — will for the first time be permanently protected against future cuts, while approximately 122,000 insured individuals are guaranteed the retention of both their national pensions. On the other hand, around 60,000 older survivor pension recipients will see no restoration of their benefits whatsoever.
Survivor pensions doubled for 8,500 public sector beneficiaries
In detail, survivor pension payments issued at the end of the month will be increased for approximately 8,500 beneficiaries, as the Ministry of Labour’s recent legislative amendment comes into effect. The amendment abolishes the reduction of the death benefit pension after the first three-year period in cases where the beneficiary is simultaneously receiving their own pension or earning income from employment.
According to data from EFKA (the Unified Social Security Entity), this applies to 8,552 public sector pensioners who had already experienced the reduction and will now see their survivor pension restored to 70% of the deceased spouse’s pension. The total net fiscal cost of this restoration amounts to approximately €4,000,000 per month, corresponding to an average monthly increase of around €470 per beneficiary. In some cases, the increase will be even higher.
The cut had originally been imposed under the insurance framework of the Katrougalos Law (Law 4387/2016). After the first three years following the granting of the death benefit pension, the amount was reduced to 35% when the beneficiary was simultaneously receiving their own pension or was employed. The new provision from the Ministry of Labour, recently passed into law, permanently abolishes this specific restriction and stipulates that survivor pensions granted after May 13, 2016 — when the austerity-era Katrougalos law was enacted — will continue to be paid at 70%, without the additional reduction.
Categories
The increase, however, does not apply to all survivor pension beneficiaries. The legislative amendment establishes different categories of insured individuals, depending on when the original beneficiary passed away, which fund they belonged to, and whether or not they had their own income.
¤ The directly benefiting group includes the 8,552 public sector beneficiaries who had experienced the reduction from 70% to 35%. For these individuals, the change is immediate and translates into a higher monthly pension starting from the August payment. As an illustrative example, a survivor pension of €1,000 that had been reduced to €500 will be restored to €1,000.
¤ There is also a large category of beneficiaries considered to have gained from the changes, even though no immediate increase will appear in their end-of-August payment. This group consists of more than 75,000 private sector survivor pension recipients, for whom the cut had not yet been applied. Under the new regulation, the relevant framework is abolished and, consequently, any future imposition of the reduction is permanently prevented. For these insured individuals, the benefit lies in retaining their current payment amount.
¤ There are also approximately 122,000 pensioners who receive both a pension in their own right and a death benefit pension, who are also considered to have gained — not because their survivor pension won’t be reduced, but because their second national pension will not be cut either. This is because the new regulation guarantees the retention of both national pensions without reduction, even though the Council of State had previously ruled that this dual payment was not lawful.
¤ A significant provision also applies to double orphans — children who have lost both parents and are entitled to a death benefit pension from each. Under the new regulation, they will receive the full national pension corresponding to each parent separately, rather than the reduced amount that had previously been in effect.
Who is excluded
Excluded from the increases, despite having experienced cuts, are approximately 60,000 survivor pensions that were granted before May 13, 2016. These pensions continue to be governed by the previous insurance regime and, as a result, their beneficiaries are not included in the increase that will be reflected in August payments. Also remaining outside the scope of immediate financial restoration are claims relating to amounts withheld in previous years. The issue of back payments for the period from 2020 onwards therefore remains unresolved.
Originally published in Apogevmatini
