Bolivia has passed a new pension law that lowers the retirement age from 65 to 58, bucking a global trend for raising the pension age to cope with rising life expectancies, BBC online writes Saturday.
The new law also nationalises pension funds and extends the state pension to people working in the informal sector.
President Evo Morales said he was keeping his promise to create a pension regime that includes all Bolivians. Critics say Bolivia will struggle to fund the system in the long term.
The law – which will take effect next year – will for the first time give pensions to the 60 per cent of the workforce who work in informal jobs – such as market traders or taxi drivers – as long as they make contributions.
Women – for whom the current pensionable age is 60 – will be able to retire at 55 if they have more than three children.
Miners who work in harsh conditions deep underground will also be able to retire earlier. Business leaders have criticised the scheme, saying it is unsustainable.
