Pension Policy Design in Spain and Portugal: Same Policy Goals, Different Policy Means

The Spanish and Portuguese welfare states have suffered in the last years massive stress due to the economic and financial difficulties suffered in both countries. In Spain, although intense population ageing and pension system’s maturation provoked rapidly growing pension outlays since the 90s, governments refused to introduce substantial pension reforms during the period of economic expansion. Only in 2010, when the contraction of public revenues due to economic recession and increasing unemployment triggered urgent demands by the European institutions, the center-left government initiated a negotiated pension reform strategy leading to the enactment of substantial changes in 2011. Under pressure of the sovereign debt crisis, the center-right government strengthened the reform in 2013. Portugal began earlier than Spain to change its pension system. Nevertheless, the 2006 pension reform enacted under the Socialist government had also to be reinforced after Portugal’s bailout in 2011. Thus, the center-right government approved in 2013 new cost-containment measures in response to severe fiscal difficulties and as a way to signalize the will to enact structural reforms. In both countries the approved changes have focused on two main measures: the increase of the retirement age (so as to reduce the length of the period in which pensioners perceive benefits) and the introduction of sustainability factors based on life expectancy to calculate the initial pension amount. But while the problem load and the policy goals were in Spain and Portugal very similar, the policy means have considerably diverged. In fact, policy learning between both countries appears to be also in this specific case very scarce. The paper describes and explains the differences in pension policy design paying special attention to the different timing of reforms, the preferences and strategies of political and societal actors and the patterns of their relations, as well as the role of experts.