Pensioners across Italy to protest deep cutting pension reforms ahead of 2018 elections

As a response to unpopular pension reforms, Italy’s largest trade union has called for nationwide demonstrations today.

Implemented in 2011, the Fornero law reformed the way pensions were calculated, raised women’s retirement age from 62 to 66 and increased compulsory social security contributions.

With general elections scheduled for 2018, Fornero has become a hot button issue. The ruling Democratic Party has labelled the reforms defective and responded to union pressure by exempting 15 labour categories from the age increase.

Opposition groups want to reverse the trend by lowering the retirement age and increasing pension payments. Affiliates of the Northern League opposition party have pledged to double pension payments at a cost of $4.7 billion annually.

Reversing Fornero may be popular, but with economic growth less than half that of the broader Eurozone and $425 billion in public debt to be serviced, a reversal could see Italy sink back into the quagmire of fiscal instability and trigger an economic crisis.

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