The tightening of the rules on early retirement compared to old age begins to give its effects: in the first six months of the year, according to the Monitoring of retirement flows published by theINPSthe early retirement 99,707 were liquidated, a decrease of 14.15% compared to those effective in the same period of 2023. The data is mainly linked to the extension of the so-called “windows” for Quota 103 or the period that must be waited for once you have reached 62 years of age and 41 years of contributions for retirement. For private workers it went from three to seven months while for public workers it went from six to nine months. This means that in 2024 none of those who have reached the age and contribution requirements for Quota 103 have been able to retire since the first exit is scheduled for August 1st. However, those who have reached 42 years and 10 months of contributions (41 and 10 months for women) have been able to retire since the window has remained fixed at three months.
Outlook for the coming months
It is likely that there will be a decline in the coming months as well. flexible early retirement since, in addition to the lengthening of the windows and the roof to what can be perceived with the measure until reaching old age, the contribution calculation in light of this choice. INPS also reports a contraction in exits with Woman option (the minimum age has been increased, brought to 61 years except for reductions in the case of children) which in the first six months were only 2,107 against 11,576 in the whole of 2023. Another brake on leaving before the old age for those who are entirely in contributory system (at 64 years of age with at least 20 years of contributions) could then be the increase in the minimum amount which in 2024 went from 2.8 to three times the social security benefit (1,603.23 euros this year).
Decrease in pensions paid
INPS reports that overall in the first six months the pensions paid with effect in the period were 376,919 with a decrease of 12.54% compared to the 430,957 paid in the first half of 2023 and that among these the strong gap in the amount of women’s and men’s benefits is confirmed. Pensions paid to women with effect in the first half of 2024 have an average amount of 992 euros, 30.58% lower than the average amount paid to men (1,429 euros). The average amount for both genders is 1,197 euros but takes into account the fact that the amounts range from an average of 820 euros per month for disability, an average of 892 euros for old age and 2,054 euros for early retirement.
Gender gap in pension amounts
The large gap in the amounts between men and women is linked to the fact that women have less than a third of the early pensions paid out overall in the period (those based on a higher number of years of contributions and therefore higher), or 30,053 out of 99,707 and the vast majority of those to survivors which have lower amounts on average (83,058 checks for an average of 973 euros compared to 18,783 for an average of 568 euros paid out to men). However, even for early pensions, women can count on lower amounts thanks to jobs that are often lower-skilled and paid worse. If on average for early pensions the amount of checks effective in the first six months of the year was 2,054 euros, for women the average treatment is 1,816 euros compared to the average of 2,157 for men.