Mother with a Disabled Child Eligible for Early Retirement
Following the 2011 amendments, regulations were introduced to allow mothers of disabled children to retire earlier. Under Law No. 5510, part of the social security reform, mothers who have a child requiring continuous care due to disability can qualify for early retirement.
How early retirement is calculated: one-quarter of the premium days paid after 01/10/2008 (each year a working mother is treated as if she paid approximately 450 days) is added to the paid premium days. These additions reduce the retirement age threshold. After a mother of a disabled child applies and her premiums are reviewed, it is common to see a reduction equivalent to three months per year from the retirement age for each year counted under this provision. This right is available to all insured working mothers who meet the conditions.
How to Apply for Early Retirement
- The process for mothers who want to benefit from early retirement is straightforward. The mother should apply to the nearest Provincial Social Security Directorate or Social Security center to verify that her child requires continuous care from another person due to disability.
- After the application to the nearest Social Security office, the institution will refer the child to a hospital authorized to issue an appropriate health report.
- The medical report obtained from the hospital is submitted to the Social Security Institution (SGK), and an early retirement application is made along with the report.
- If an insured mother has more than one child in need of care, separate applications must be made for each child and calculations will be adjusted accordingly.
- Once the reports confirm that the disability requires continuous care, the periods to be deducted from the retirement age will be calculated.
When an insured mother applies to SGK for early retirement, whether she is actively working at the time of application is not a decisive factor. Even if she is not working at the moment of application, if the application and investigations are approved, the necessary deductions from the retirement age will be applied.
Calculation of the Period to be Deducted from Retirement Age
One-quarter of the premium days paid since 01/10/2008 will be added to the paid premium days. The total resulting days are then deducted from the retirement age, producing the remaining days until retirement under the early retirement provision. As a result of these calculations, an insured mother with a child requiring care will effectively have the system treat an additional three months per year as already paid, reducing the length of time required to reach retirement age.
When performing these calculations, the following factors are taken into account:
- Whether the insured person’s insurance start date is before or after 01/10/2008,
- The child’s date of birth,
- If the child has died, the date of death,
- The start and end dates of the period during which the child required another person’s care,
- If the insured woman is divorced, whether she has legal custody of the child,
- Whether the child in need of care was adopted by the insured woman,
- Whether there are multiple children who require continuous care by another person,
- Whether the child benefits from protection, care, and rehabilitation services on a paid or unpaid, continuous and residential basis under Law No. 2828 on Social Services and Child Protection Agency.
An insured mother who began working before October 2008 and has a child in need of care may, after applying, have one-quarter of her working period added to her total paid premium days, and the corresponding amount will be subtracted from her retirement age.
Duration of the Benefit
The conditions for an insured mother of a child requiring continuous care to benefit from early retirement are as follows:
- The entitlement continues for as long as the child’s need for care persists,
- The same procedures apply for adopted children; if approved, days will be deducted for early retirement and the entitlement continues as long as the child’s need for care remains,
- There is a single entitlement even if the mother has multiple disabled children. If the child receives full-time residential care at the Child Protection Agency, this benefit will not apply for that child.
Regulations determining how to assess the need for care and the principles of care services for disabled persons are published in the official gazette. Consult the official gazette notice for the related regulations.