Pensioners' income, another victim of growing inflation and the damage left by the minimum wage increase
Inflation is seriously hitting household economies. Photo: Image generated with artificial intelligence.
TL;DR
- Pensioners' incomes are falling behind due to a significant difference between minimum wage increases (23%) and pension adjustments (5.1%), which are tied to inflation.
- This disparity is causing pensioners to struggle with the rising costs of essential goods, services, and healthcare not fully covered by EPS.
- Economic analysts warn that this trend, accumulating over years, has led to a relative loss in purchasing power for pensioners compared to minimum wage earners.
- The policy of increasing the minimum wage significantly while indexing pensions only to past inflation is creating a structural imbalance and raising questions about intergenerational equity and fiscal sustainability.
- Demographic data shows that over 7 million Colombians are over 60, with approximately 3 million being pensioners, indicating the broad impact of this issue.