Revelation of Katrougalos law injustices
Three years after it was ratified in Parliament, the so-called Katrougalos law on social security has created multiple categories of insured workers and pensioners who have been trapped in a system that contravenes many of the principles of social security.
The new decisions on pension regulations contain injustices, mainly with regard to how pensions are calculated based on the contributions paid as a proportion of salary. The system is leading to a considerable reduction in new pensions.
This drop in benefits and the injustices of the new system – whereby workers who have paid higher contributions will receive lower pensions – started becoming apparent with the first applications for pensions after May 13, 2016, when the law introduced by then minister Giorgos Katrougalos went into force.
The travesty of lower pensions after more years of labor does not only create a massive gap between old and new pensioners, but also operates as a strong incentive for social security evasion and undeclared labor. This, in turn, results in considerable losses for the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA), and therefore for the state, with a direct impact on the sustainability of the social security system that remains in a vicious circle of cuts.
