|
Yugoslavia Pensioners
Between 1965 and 1988, the number of Yugoslavs receiving
old-age and disability pensions and survivor benefits rose
steeply (see
table 6, Appendix). The annual rate of increase was
4 to 7 percent, depending on the republic or province. This
growth was considerably higher than the growth in the employment
rate, which averaged 2 percent to 4.5 percent annually in the
same period. The number of pensioners grew as a result of broader
coverage by old-age pension plans, an aging population, and the
high disability rate of laborers. The number of persons receiving
survivor benefits also increased between 1965 and 1988 as a
result of the relatively high accident mortality rate.
In the late 1980s, retirement and disability pensions covered
all employed individuals and all self-employed persons outside
the agricultural sector. Pensions also were available to private
farmers under a voluntary payment plan, and private farmers
nearing old age were offered pensions in exchange for the sale of
their land to an agricultural cooperative. Retirement age was set
at sixty years after at least twenty years of service for men and
fifty-five years after at least fifteen years for women.
Retirement became mandatory in the early 1970s. The economic
crisis of the 1980s jeopardized Yugoslavia's pension system, and
in 1990 pensions often went unpaid for months.
Data as of December 1990
|
