Current Problems of the Adequacy of Public Pensions in Bulgaria

This article aims to uncover, describe, and analyze existing inconsistencies between the parameters of the Bulgarian public pension system and international adequacy standards applicable to old-age pensions and embedded in Convention No. 102 of the International Labour Organization and the revised European Social Charter of the Council of Europe. The thesis is that the identified gaps, as they relate to the legislative framework but not to actions of national social policy authorities in implementing the legislation, are a result of political decisions that consistently undermine international commitments in the social policy area undertaken by Bulgaria. These decisions weaken important pension policy functions and especially its protection, insurance and distribution functions. The outcomes are higher risk of poverty among the elderly, decline in their economic status after retirement and vulnerability for pensioners during periods of sharp rise in the cost of living. Some issues about the future adequacy of public pensions within the interaction between public state social insurance and supplementary mandatory pension insurance are also discussed.