AMMAN — “Raising the early
retirement age,
and less incentives for early pensioners” are the two main amendments to the Social
Security Law that are to be issued soon, according to an official source at the
Social Security Corporation who spoke to Jordan News on condition of
anonymity.
اضافة اعلان
The source added that “it is also proposed
to increase the validity of the unemployment insurance for the insured whom are
over 45–50 years to benefit from it for one year instead of three months.”
The expected amendments, according to
experts, do not bode well, especially under the hard economic situation the
country is experiencing, where expenses are high amid a significant increase in
unemployment and poverty.
Ahmad Awad, director of the Phenix Center
for Economic and Informatics Studies, told Jordan News that “the
government should work on protecting retirees by providing them with
unemployment insurance and health insurance, in addition to raising pensions.”
Awad added that “early retirees decide to
retire with the intention of finding another job to increase their incomes and
secure a decent life for their families.”
“They should take a serious step regarding
unemployment insurance,” the expert said, adding that “in this way, workers who
are laid off before the mandatory retirement age can receive cash incomes and
guarantee that they will not be joining the army of the jobless.”
Awad also called for “social protection
for retirees and the elderly that would make their life easier, and reduce
their dependence on their pension.”
“Those retirees depend significantly on
their pension, and you know the elderly might be incurring some expenses that
exceed their salaries,” he said.
For his part, Head of the Parties
Committee at the Royal Committee for the Modernization of the Political System,
Adnan Al-Sawair, told Jordan News that “I was hoping that no new
amendments were to be applied to the existing law, at least not at this stage.”
“A well-phrased law was issued previously;
why should we introduce new amendments to it?” he said. “Raising the early
retirement age should be done gradually.”
The last time the law was amended was in
2019, when MPs agreed to push early retirement age for men up to 55 from 50, with
a threshold of at least 21 years of service, while the early pension age for women
was raised to 52, with at least a 19-year service. Before that, women could
have chosen pension any time after paying subscriptions for 19 years.
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