At 64, Mercedes no longer works and lives only on her husband’s widow’s pension, which is around 1,600 euros per month. She decided to dedicate herself to a hobby that she is passionate about: researching families and ancestors.
His routine includes regular trips to the province of Almería, three times a year, where he consults archives and parish registers looking for old records of baptisms, marriages and deaths. According to the Spanish digital newspaper Noticias Trabajo, Mercedes is not looking for any financial return from these trips, which are done solely for pleasure and vocation, transforming genealogy into a hobby that occupies her days and keeps her mind active.
Interrupted career and dependent pension
Throughout her life, Mercedes has worked in various sectors, from quality control at a car company to customer service at a telecommunications operator. The arrival of her children interrupted her professional career and forced her to “leave it for them”, as she reports to the Spanish publication. Today, he doesn’t think about returning to the job market: “Now it’s my hobby and living whatever I have left”, he says.
Mercedes also hopes that the few years of discounts she has collected will allow her, within a few months, to access her own small contributory pension, which will complement her widow’s pension. In Spain, to be entitled to a contributory retirement pension it is necessary to have contributed for at least 15 years, of which two in the fifteen years prior to retirement, recalls the same article, citing the general rules of the Spanish system.
The minimum contributory pension, in 2025, is 874 euros per month for those without a dependent spouse, rising to 1,127 euros when there is a dependent spouse. Those who do not meet the minimum discount period can only access the non-contributory pension, the full value of which is around 565 euros per month.
Mercedes lives with some stability, but knows that her financial security depends on her husband’s pension, a common situation among women of her generation who interrupted their careers or worked intermittently and without being able to accumulate a full contributory career. “I’m receiving the widow’s pension, and that’s fine, there are many more benefits than mine”, he acknowledges.
The Spaniard also comments on the responsibility of younger generations: “Young people have always paid the pensions of older people. We work so that others cover it”, she says, admitting that the future could be more complicated for those entering the job market now. He also feels the impact of inflation and the change from the peseta to the euro, which, in his opinion, has radically changed the cost of living.
As mentioned by , between traveling and consulting old archives, Mercedes found a way to live her days at her own pace, occupying her time with something that gives her pleasure and illustrating the reality of many women who have interrupted their professional careers and depend on widow’s pensions and benefits that do not always guarantee total financial independence.
Similar situations in Portugal
In Portugal, many women face similar realities. Studies and reports on gender inequality show that women often interrupt their careers to care for children or family members, work more part-time and have shorter contributory careers, which translates into significantly lower old-age pensions than men.
The Portuguese Social Security system provides survivor pensions and other protection mechanisms, but the amounts and conditions do not always compensate for the loss of income associated with a discontinuous working life.
As a result, many widows or former workers end up depending mainly on the pension of their deceased spouse, reproducing a social pattern similar to that observed in Spain, in which women from previous generations had interrupted or unstable careers and reached old age with fewer rights of their own.
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