Matovic Lambasts Minister Tomas's Proposal to Replace Parental Pensions

Bratislava, May 14 (TASR) - The cancelled so-called 'parental pension' [income that pensioners receive on behalf of their working children - ed.note] is set to be replaced by an amendment to the Social Insurance Act sponsored by Labour Minister Erik Tomas (Voice-SD), but it's just a fig leaf, as parents will receive less money than before, warned opposition 'Slovakia' party leader Igor Matovic at a press conference on Wednesday. "In this case, when the minister is pushing this through, even though he promised before the election that no one will lose anything, we can say that this year he's taking €352 million from pensioners in parental pensions, while next year it will be €374 million, and the year after that €397 million — so the amount grows each year," said Matovic. Tomas presented the bill, stating that it aims to eliminate discrimination against parents who took care of children during maternity or parental leave and thus receive lower pensions. This mostly concerns senior mothers, who were more frequently on maternity leave. The amendment is expected to come into effect at the beginning of next year, and based on estimates from the social-insurer Socialna poistovna, the pension recalculation will take four years. Matovic pointed out that a quarter of today's seniors might not live to see the recalculation completed by 2030. The measure is expected to affect 500,000 pensioners, who, according to Tomas, could annually receive an additional €180 to €200 per month on average, and €300 in newly assessed pensions. Matovic questioned these calculations, estimating that if the average were €200 per pensioner, the total would be €100 million. "However, the minister mentioned a budget impact of €40 million, which would mean only €80 per pensioner — contradicting the minister's own estimates," he added. mf/df