Pension Awareness Day at Vasil Antevksi–Dren school; union urges firm inspections

Students at the Secondary Economic School "Vasil Antevksi – Dren" marked Pension Awareness Day today, part of a ten-year national campaign led by the Agency for Supervision of Capital-Funded Pension Insurance (MAPAS) to raise public understanding of the pension system and encourage early planning.

At the school event MAPAS experts explained how the pension system works and why financial literacy matters for long-term security. Remzi Bajram, chair of MAPAS's Council of Experts, addressed pupils and teachers.

"Pension awareness should not be associated only with the period before retirement, but with the way in which people plan their financial future from youth. In conditions of rapid social, economic and technological change, financial knowledge is an important life skill and young people should be encouraged to inform themselves, to ask questions and to make financial decisions on the basis of knowledge and understanding," Bajram said.

Union: awareness at schools is not enough — firms must be inspected

The Confederation of Trade Unions (SSM) welcomed educational activities but urged authorities to take the programme into workplaces as well. SSM said many employers still pay workers partly or entirely in cash, avoiding pension and other contributions.

"Not only has the trend of taking money in envelopes not declined, but in recent years it has increased. On the other hand, the number of informally employed remains dramatic," Slobodan Trendafilov said, warning that informal work and underreported wages erode future pensions. He cited State Statistical Office figures: 90,020 unemployed people and 101,022 informally employed.

Trendafilov added concrete numbers to show the fiscal effect: with a net minimum wage of 26,046 denars and a gross minimum wage of 38,507 denars, the gap is 12,461 denars per worker. For all informal workers that gap amounts to 245 million euros in unpaid contributions and taxes annually. Using 2025 average wages — 45,198 denars net and 67,951 denars gross — the monthly difference of 22,753 denars per worker implies an annual loss of 448 million euros for all informal workers.

He also stressed that higher pensions require higher wages and highlighted a worrying finding: roughly 50 percent of those in regular employment receive wages up to 600 euros including supplements. Data from the Public Revenue Office for 2025 showed about 521,000 employees received pay via MPIN and were formally employed, but formal employment did not guarantee adequate pay; around 73 percent of employees received wages below the national average each month.

According to July figures from the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIOM), North Macedonia has 349,494 pension beneficiaries. The average pension is 28,046 denars, while 98,025 pensioners receive minimum pensions that range from 20,288 denars to 23,945 denars depending on the retirement period, SSM officials said.

Photo: press material from the event