Reversing the reasoning: towards a quid pro quo between the sustainability of the pension system and the guarantee of migrant workers’ rights

Abstract

This article approaches the issue of the sustainability of the public pension system from a multidimensional perspective, focusing on the defense and guarantees of working conditions for migrant workers. The sustainability of the pension system in Spain faces challenges arising from demographic aging and the imminent retirement of the baby boom generation. Although international indicators place the Spanish system slightly above the average of the countries analysed, public debate presents a more alarming diagnosis and tends to promote solutions that involve the privatization of pensions. In this context, immigration plays a central role by increasing the working population and contributing fiscally to the maintenance of the system. However, migration and labour policies show contradictions: the entry and regularization of foreigners is made more flexible for economic reasons, while legal frameworks produce situations of administrative irregularity that lead many of these people into the underground economy, hindering their access to social protection.