JEDDAH, 16 April 2005 — Some Saudi workers are finding that the pension savings they were putting aside for their retirement aren’t always the gold mine of which they dreamed but the shaft instead in some circumstances.
Retired men and women are complaining about the social security system. The Establishment of Pension has set the rules to serve those who have worked for many years, yet people find the system filled with flaws. These retirees are dissatisfied with the way the system works and believe their pensions must be paid back to them when they retire. When they die, they want it to go to their children after them. Instead their pension funds go to the establishment.
The pension is a deducted percentage that companies take from workers’ salaries every month and must save it. According to the Establishment of Pension, it is given to men or women who reach the age 60, or are incapable of work or asked for early retirement. It is received after completing at least 20, 30 or 40 years of service.
Companies calculate it by multiplying the employee’s monthly payment by the years of work and then divide it by 40. When two or more of the family members die after retiring, heirs receive only the pension of the deceased with the higher salary.
“Who deserves to receive the money more than me?” asked Huda Yousif, a widowed housewife, whose son also died. “Why do they continue taking pension money from salaries if they know that most of the retirees will not get their money back?”
Another stipulation in the pension system disinherits males who reach 21 years of age and can no longer benefit from their parents’ pensions.
“I spent most of my life in the field of education,” said May Essam, a newly retired instructor in the Ministry of Education. “If I died, none of my children will receive my pension, which was taken from my salary. I wish we had the option to accept whether they deduct money from our salaries or not. It would make a difference if the nine percent was not taken, or if they hand it over after the end of each year.”
The retired instructor questioned the age stipulations.
“I don’t think it makes a difference if my children are over 21 years of age or working. The money was taken from my salary, and it is supposed to go back to my children after I die”.
“The money goes to the Pension Fund in the establishment in cases like these,” a representative from the Establishment of Pension told Arab News.
He clarified a different case in which the pension is given to both husband and wife. Yet, if they die, only the higher retirement fund will go to their heirs.
“We only get my father’s pension, and I am adapting myself to this new life,” said Mohanad Kareem, a freshman student, who is suffering now after the retirement and death of both his parents. “However, I am concerned about the future of my brothers and sisters. Our living standard has changed because we are not getting the money that belongs to us in the first place.”
A female graduate student, Amani Abdulmajeed, talked about yet another situation.
“My engagement is delayed because after the death of my father the pension that comes every month is divided between my mother and I. If I got married I won’t receive anything, and my mother will only get half of what we used to get. Just thinking of what will happen to my mother if I got married frightens me,” said Amani.
Roqaya Behiri, president of the Employment Services Department, explains many issues related to the social security system in the book “Retirement, Hopes and Ambitions,” a Ministry of Education publication.
“The Counseling Department needs to research the subject in order to have these issues resolved,” she points out.
