Malta
Old-Age Insurance
Pension reforms are underway and are expected to be introduced some time soon.
In line with other European countries, the Maltese government has decided that it needs to reform the state pension system. In 2006, expenditure on pensions awarded under the Social Security Act accounted for 9.2% of GDP, compared with 6.81% in 1992. The existing pension system will become less sustainable in the coming years. In Malta, there are currently five persons of working age for every pensioner, a figure that will diminish to three workers to every pensioner by 2025.
The government received proposals on pension reform from a special Welfare Commission. The reports proposed, among other measures, that the retirement age should be gradually increased from 60 for women and 61 for men to 65 for both sexes by 2020, and that the national insurance contribution system be revamped.
Beneficiaries
All persons who reach retirement age.
Conditions of entitlement
Under the current law, prior to reform, the claimant must have paid an average of at least 15 contributions (paid or credited) per year from either 1956 or 1965 or from age 19, and completed at least ten years of employment or self-occupation prior to retirement.
Life Insurance (Survivors’ pension) – Beneficiaries
The widows or widower of a deceased contributor who would have been entitled to a retirement pension.
Conditions of entitlement
The surviving spouse of a contributor whether a widow or a widower who immediately prior to widowhood had a legal right to be maintained by the other spouse. A surviving spouse can be gainfully occupied and still entitled to a Survivor’s Pension regardless of her earnings if she has children, who have not yet reached their eighteenth birthday, is over 65 years of age, or her earnings are less than the minimum wage.
Insurance for occupational accidents and diseases – Beneficiaries
All employees and self-occupied persons who sustain an injury/disease while at work. Benefits vary according to the employee’s prior income and contributions.
Conditions of entitlement
An application form should be filled in by the employer and countersigned by the employee confirming that the claimant has sustained an injury while at work. The application should reach the department within 10 days from the date of injury.
