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Spain: Working Through Retirement

October 2, 2013

In Spain, more and more people are working longer, well past the time when they could have retired. It's particularly common among the self-employed. In fact, the number has risen by 25-percent over the past few years. Farmers, especially, feel compelled to keep working -- in part, because government retirement benefits are so low.

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Unlike their counterparts in the rest of Europe, few people in Spain have been paying into private pension funds. And future retirees will likely receive even smaller pensions from the government. The retirement fund is essentially bankrupt -- because during the international financial crisis, the government raided the fund, and used the money elsewhere in the budget.