New pensions -26% in first nine months (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, October 21 - New pensions dropped 26.5% in the first nine months this year compared to the same period last year, INPS social security and pensions agency said Friday. This was due to a four-month rise in life expectancy for both genders, and a new measure raising women's minimum retirement age from 63.9 to 65.7 years. INPS said it paid out 311,299 pensions in the first three quarters, against 423,000 in the same period in 2015. Welfare checks dropped to 23,715 (-34.9%). Of the 2106 total, 180,221 new pensions were paid out to full-time employees (down from 236,134 or -23.3% compared to the first three quarters of 2015. Another 20,006 were paid out to farmers (down from 28,304 or -29.3%) and 38,667 went to artisans (down from 55,205 or -29.9%).
    INPS also cut checks for 29,195 newly retired shopkeepers and retailers (down from 42,414 or -31.1%) and 19,495 workers falling in a category somewhere between the employed and the self-employed - called in Italy "parasubordinate" employees - (down from 25,036 or -22.1%. Also down were early retirements, with 73,289 checks cut in the first three quarters this year against 157,052 in 2015 as a whole. Of these, 50,148 went to full-time employees, against 76,988 (34.8%) who retired early in the same period in 2015.