Pensioners want changes that can improve their income to be introduced over a shorter period as poverty is becoming a reality for many, according to representatives.
Carmel Mallia, president of the Pensioners’ Alliance, said today’s 65-year-olds could not wait 12 years until the proposed changes kicked in that would see their minimum income rise by some €20 per week.
The pension reform White Paper unveiled last week proposes that the national minimum pension should be equivalent to 60 per cent of the median national income. This change would result in better incomes that could raise people out of poverty.
The current national minimum pension for married individuals is €135 per week and €119 per week for singles. The married rate works out at four-fifths of the minimum wage while the single rate is two-thirds the minimum wage.
Read more in Times of Malta.