Last Updated on Friday, 20 September, 2024 at 1:22 pm by Andre Camilleri
In 2023, 55,713 persons between the age of 50 and 74 years were receiving an old-age pension, encompassing statutory, occupational, and private pensions, the NSO said Friday.
A person may receive more than one type of pension. The most common type of pension was the statutory pension, either on its own or in combination with other pensions. In fact, 96.4 per cent of all pension beneficiaries claimed that they received such a pension.
Certain occupations like Police, Armed Forces, Civil Protection Officers and Prison Guards are entitled to an occupational pension upon completing 25 years of service. In fact, 12.3 per cent of pension beneficiaries were receiving an occupational pension, either alone or combined with other pensions.
A lower share of pension beneficiaries (3.9 per cent) were receiving a private pension. This type of pension is obtained when a person voluntarily invests in a private pension scheme throughout their career, aiming to generate additional income upon retirement.
The NSO said the data in this news release are derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) ad hoc module, which was carried out in 2023 and partly financed through EU grants. The LFS is a household-based survey that is used as a monitoring tool across the European Union to assess progress made in various spheres of labour market and social statistics.
The Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1642 established a legal framework for collecting data on pension and labour market participation, focusing on individuals aged 50 to 74 living in private households. This module aimed to analyse the transition from employment to retirement, and provide comparable data on various pension types, average retirement age, early retirement, and the employment status of pension beneficiaries.
LFS results showed that 63.0 per cent of all pension beneficiaries perceived their overall health to be good or very good. Another 31.1 per cent reported their overall health as fair, while 5.9 per cent perceived their overall health to be in a bad or very bad state.
A discrepancy was observed between the share of male and female pension beneficiaries. In 2023, approximately six out of every 10 pension beneficiaries were males. In fact, almost half of all males between 50 and 74 years were receiving a pension, compared to only 28.1 per cent of their female counterparts
Almost 70 per cent of all pension beneficiaries had achieved a secondary level of education or less. A further 21.7 per cent obtained a post-secondary level, while 10.4 per cent attained a tertiary level of education.
The share of pension beneficiaries increased with age, influenced by the legal retirement age. In Malta, where the legal retirement age is 65 for persons born from 1962 onwards, 78.2 per cent of persons aged 65 to 74 were receiving a pension. The share decreased significantly for the 50 to 64 age group, with only 13.5 per cent receiving a pension.
The average retirement age in 2023 was 61.3 years, slightly higher for females (61.8 years) when compared to males (61.0 years). The average age varied by pension type: 61.5 year for statutory pensions, 61.7 years for private pensions, and 57.8 years for occupational pensions. Almost all statutory old-age pension beneficiaries (90.5%) received their first old-age pension without any bonus or penalty.
Nearly nine out of every 10 pension beneficiaries were not in employment at the time of the survey (85.7 per cent). Conversely, 64.0 per cent of persons between 50 and 74 years who were not receiving a pension at the time of the survey were employed.
Employed pensioners
LFS estimates indicated that 7,991 persons aged between 50 and 74 years receiving an old-age pension were still in employment during the survey reference week, with 70.9 per cent of them being males. The most common occupation among these employed pensioners was in the highly skilled non-manual category, which includes Managers, Professionals and Technicians and associate professionals, accounting for 35.7 per cent. The second most common occupation was in the low skilled non-manual category, comprising Clerical support and Service and sales workers at 30.9 per cent. Nearly half of all employed pensioners had a secondary level of education or less (48.3 per cent), while a further 29.8 per cent had attained a post-secondary level of education.
Seven out of every 10 employed pensioners were employees. The majority of employed pensioners were working in the Services industry (80.0 per cent). This industry comprises the Wholesale and retail trade, transportation and storage, accommodation and food service activities sector (24.8 per cent), Public administration, defence, education, human health and social work activities (24.0 per cent) and other services (31.1 per cent). Approximately nine out of every ten persons who were receiving an old-age pension were in indefinite employment.
On average, employed pensioners normally worked 31.2 hours per week, with 51.3 per cent engaged in a part-time job. Retired males worked slightly more hours than females, averaging 31.5 and 30.4 hours per week, respectively.
Labour market transition upon receipt of old-age pension
Almost half of all pension beneficiaries (48.2 per cent) stopped working upon starting to receive their old-age pension, with a higher percentage of males (50.4 per cent) compared to females (44.3 per cent). Additionally, slightly over one-third of all pension beneficiaries were not working when they started receiving their old-age pension for various reasons, with the share being 8.1 percentage points higher for females (39.3 per cent) than for males (31.2 per cent).
Furthermore, 17.7 per cent of pension beneficiaries continued working after receiving their first pension, with 8.0 per cent of them making some changes to their previous employment conditions.
Over 40 per cent of pension beneficiaries who continued working did so for financial reasons, either out of necessity for additional income to maintain an adequate living standard or to earn extra money. A further 29.8 per cent continued working because they enjoyed their job or wanted to stay productive, while 27.8 per cent remained employed for other reasons such as maintaining social connections or because their partner or spouse was still employed (Table 8).
On the other hand, 62.5 per cent of pension beneficiaries stopped working immediately upon becoming eligible for their pension. Additionally, 15.0 per cent terminated their employment upon reaching the maximum legal retirement age, and 9.3 per cent ceased working due to illness or disability.
Disability pension and other disability periodic cash benefits
LFS estimates indicated that 2.2 per cent of all persons within the 50 to 74 year age group were receiving a disability pension or other disability periodic cash benefits, which is payable to persons who cannot engage in a full-time or regular part-time employment. The average age of persons at the time of their first disability pension or disability cash benefit was 48.4 years .
Entitlement to old-age pension
Almost three out of every four persons between 50 and 74 years who were not receiving an old-age pension in 2023 were making financial provisions with the intention of receiving a pension in the future. This was significantly more prevalent among males (97.3 per cent) compared to females (55.0 per cent). Entitlement to an old-age pension for persons who were not receiving a pension at the time of the survey varied by age group. In fact, 90.2 per cent of all persons between 50 and 54 years reported being entitled to at least one pension in the future. The share was slightly lower among the 55 to 59 and the 60 to 64 age brackets, where 82.8 per cent and 74.9 per cent, respectively, claimed that they were entitled to a pension in the future .
Almost all persons who were making financial provisions with the intention of receiving an old-age pension in the future claimed that they will receive a statutory old-age pension (97.2 per cent). A following 9.5 per cent were entitled to a personal pension while 3.5 per cent were entitled to an occupational pension upon reaching the legal retirement age.
