Guzmán Rivera, José Francisco: Pension System in El Salvador: Economic and Social Impact

The social security system is a substantive part of what is known as social security, and the latter is a collective good that to a large extent guarantees the cohesion of any developed society. It should not be forgotten that social security is one of the most valuable existing instruments for achieving, in an organized manner and in a context of solidarity, the best redistribution of wealth, the fight against poverty, the participation of the population in development and the peace of mind of human beings, through the satisfaction of the elements that make up their level of well-being. In this context, the very idea of social security is already part of workers' consciousness and its development is an "irreversible" process. For this reason, "the recognition of certain deficiencies" of the pension systems should not have served as a pretext for the implementation of a new Pension System based on individual capitalization, which at the time generated fear and doubts in Salvadoran society, due to the uncertainty based on the lack of credibility that a private institution would offer certainty and security to the worker in the face of life's contingencies.