Chileans to get state pensions

The system required salaried workers to deposit at least 10 per cent of their wages into personal accounts managed by private pension funds.

 

That created a huge pool of capital that spurred investment and helped produce Chile’s perceived economic successes.

 

Many countries introduced similar systems.

 

But the private system left out about a third of Chile’s workforce, including most of the 1.2 million people who work in its informal economy.

 

The new state programme is aimed at the self-employed, housewives, street vendors and farmers.

 

Monthly pensions will start at about $125 and will rise next year to $158, boosting pensioners above the urban poverty level of $95.