Pension reform will condemn up to 40,000 self-employed workers to years of struggle, warns union

And 'paying into the system' only counts as a full year if the person has been working full-time – part-time work is calculated on a pro-rata basis.

This means a person who has been working 20 hours a week instead of 40 will only be considered to have paid their stamp for six months in each year.

The Union of Self-Employed Workers' and Business Owners' Associations (UATAE) warns that the toughening up of pension entitlement conditions will hit those who work for themselves the hardest.

Many self-employed people in their 50s and early 60s who are struggling to find enough work to survive would be better off retiring and leaving a job opportunity open to a younger person who cannot find a job and has 30 or 40 years left that they need to be working, says the UATAE.

“For all these people who work for themselves, this move is a harsh backward step which willl force them to stay in the rat-race, even though they have little or no work to enable them to survive, and will prevent them from being able to hand the reins over to younger people,” says the Secretary-General, María José Landaburu.

She has slammed the 'lack of communication' with the community of affected workers and the fact that 'there has not even been a Parliamentary debate' to allow everyone a say and help prevent the negative effects on workers of the reform.

The UATAE says increasing early retirement minimum age meant even fewer jobs would be available to younger people at a time when there are not enough to go round.

And the increase in minimum number of years of paying social security before a person can retire means many of those who today are in their 20s, 30s and 40s and cannot find jobs may find they can never afford to retire, the UATAE warns.

As many as 30,000 to 40,000 self-employed people could be badly affected by the reform, says Landaburu.