Miguel Ángel Castillo started working at the age of 17, paid for Spanish Social Security for 42 years and ended up with a permanent 24% reduction in his pension due to being forced into early retirement. The worker denounced the case in a video published on YouTube, where he claims to feel wronged after more than four decades of contributions.
According to reports, cited by the Spanish newspaper AS, the retirement took place under the involuntary early retirement regime, after a long and continuous career in the job market.
Despite more than 42 years of discounts, the reduction coefficients applied to his pension have definitively reduced the monthly amount that the retiree receives.
“I took more than 42 years”
In his testimony, Miguel Ángel Castillo is direct: “I deducted more than 42 years for Social Security, and the reward I received for contributing so much was a 24% reduction in my pension for life”.
For the worker, his case is not an isolated error, but a clear example of what he considers to be an “injustice” practiced by the system. Castillo emphasizes that he dedicated practically his entire active life to work and contributions, but ended up penalized for a situation that he could not control.
A fight that is part of ASJUBI40
Your complaint is part of the action of the ASJUBI40 Association, which brings together pensioners with long contributory careers affected by early retirement penalties.
According to the same source, the organization demands the revocation of the permanent cuts applied to those who retired before the legal age despite having paid for decades. Outraged, Castillo states in the video: “This is a scam, and that is why we will continue to fight and demonstrate.”
A problem affecting hundreds of thousands
The case is not isolated. It is estimated that around 900 thousand pensioners in Spain are being affected by similar penalties.
These are workers who started working early, paid for decades, but saw their pensions reduced because they were forced to leave the job market early.
“No to the reducing coefficients that do us so much harm”, complains Castillo.
Pensions under pressure in the Spanish system
In recent years, the average retirement pension in Spain has seen increases, but early retirees continue to be subject to significant cuts.
Penalties are applied regardless of the number of years of contributions, which has generated strong social outcry.
The system attempts to balance financial sustainability with the protection of workers’ rights, but criticism has intensified.
A debate that remains open
The case of Miguel Ángel Castillo has once again placed the fairness of the current early retirement model at the center of the debate.
According to , several experts defend the need to review the mechanisms for calculating pensions for long contributory careers.
The objective would be to more fairly recognize those who discounted for more than four decades, without compromising the stability of the system.
Pressure to change the law
Pensioners’ associations continue to pressure the Spanish Government to change the legislation. The main demand is the elimination of reducing coefficients for those who were forced to retire early.
For thousands of retirees, this change could mean replacing part of their lost income for life.
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