Many workers idealize retirement day as a well-deserved rest after years of continuous effort. However, for some, this moment arrives unexpectedly and imposed, leaving a deep feeling of emptiness and injustice. The transition to inactivity is not always a personal choice, and the value of the pension can end up being a bitter reflection of decades of “invisible” work, as happens with this Spanish woman, who receives just 800 euros per month after 28 years of deductions.
Antonia Velázquez has worked practically her entire life. She started at 14 and remained active until she was 65, the age at which she was forced to retire, even against her will, according to reports. She wanted to continue working, she felt in perfect condition, but she was informed that she could no longer do so. “They told me that I had already worked enough”, he said, lamenting that, after a lifetime dedicated to work, the current pension is barely enough to reach the end of the month.
An imposed reform
After decades of effort, Antonia managed to collect just 28 years of Social Security discounts, according to Spanish digital newspaper Noticias Trabajo. The remaining years remained unrecorded, the result of long periods of work without formal registration. Therefore, despite having stopped working at the age of 65, he receives only 800 euros in monthly pension.
The woman recalls that she tried to resist the forced retirement. “They told me I had to retire at 65 years and seven months. I asked if I could continue working, but they said no.” Thus ended a career that began very early and spent in various sectors, from hairdressing to supporting the elderly.
A lifetime without stopping
Antonia’s career is marked by constant work and almost no breaks. “I didn’t stop since I was 14 and until I was 43 I didn’t take my first vacation,” he recalls. There were almost three decades without formal interruptions, always caring for others and providing services that today he feels have not been recognized.
Despite such a long journey, he considers that retirement was imposed on him and that the value of the pension does not correspond to the effort of a lifetime. He worked in salons, nursing homes and private homes, often without a contract and without discounts. It is precisely this lack of records that explains the low income he receives today.
In Spain, the legal retirement age is 66 years and 8 months, or 65 years for those over 38 years of age and 3 months of discounts, according to Spanish Social Security.
Weight of informality
Cases like Antonia’s are common among generations who worked outside of official records. For many years, domestic and family support work was not formalized, which prevented thousands of people, especially women, from accumulating the necessary years of contributions, says the same source.
Today, looking back, Antonia feels that she worked much more than the 28 years of discounts that appear on her record. However, it is these official numbers that determine the value of your pension.
Financial and emotional impact
Mandatory reform did not only bring economic difficulties. It also brought a feeling of personal loss. “If I had to, I would go back to work”, he confesses. Forced absence from work represents, for many retirees, a sudden break in identity and routine. The emptiness of the days and the weight of expenses become even more difficult to bear.
This story of Antonia is, therefore, a clear portrait of how labor and contribution rules can transform entire lives into an impersonal calculation, where what counts is not the real effort, but what has been officially declared, says the .
What if it happened in Portugal?
Imagining that this situation occurred in Portugal, the legal framework would be quite different. First of all, the legal retirement age in the general Social Security regime is not 65 years, but 66 years and 9 months, according to article 1 of Ordinance no. 358/2024/1, of December 30, which sets this age for 2026.
This means that, at the age of 65, no one can be legally forced to retire in Portugal. Reform is a right and not an imposition. The worker only has to leave if they have already applied for and started receiving the pension, or if they have reached 70 years of age, the age from which the contract automatically becomes considered fixed-term, as provided for in article 348 of the Labor Code (Law no. 7/2009).
According to this rule, anyone who retires and chooses to continue working sees the contract converted into a fixed-term contract, renewable for periods of six months, and may terminate with prior notice. Outside of these cases, the company cannot fire or force someone to retire just for turning 65.
Conditions for reform
To be entitled to an old-age pension in Portugal, it is necessary to meet two requirements: reach the current legal age (66 years and 9 months in 2026) and have at least 15 years of registered deductions, the so-called guarantee period, defined in article 19 of Decree-Law no. 187/2007. Thus, a worker with 28 years of deductions would have access to the pension, as she exceeds the legal minimum required.
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