Almost 50 percent of Slovaks might live in poverty after they retire, Martin Halas of the Institute for Research of Social-Economic Risks and Alternatives told a press conference on Friday. “Low salaries generate poverty in the future, with up to 49.62 percent of Slovaks being in danger due to that they are earning of less than €700 per month. At the moment, there are 605,000 women and 542,000 men with an income below €700. All of these people will see pensions of less than €325 or under the poverty threshold, if the current 46-percent ratio between average salary and average pension in Slovak economy is in place,” said Halas.
According to the Institute, the first thing the state should do is to increase the minimum wage. “The minimum wage should reach 60 percent of an average Slovak salary, which would amount to €483 instead of €327.20,” said Halas.
