Art. 38 of the Italian Constitution provides to ensure adequate means for the needs of life of the workers in case of accident, illness, invalidity, old age and involuntary unemployment. The law is the same for foreigners as for Italian citizens. Depending on the case, the types of pension are:
Old-age pension
Eligibility requirements:
There are some exceptions (jobs involving hardship, the blind).
Retirement benefits
All workers are eligible if:
In any case they must have retired
Survivors' benefits
Surviving family members are eligible if the worker was already retired (or had the right to a pension at time of death).
Disability pension
In order to be eligible for this type of pension the worker must be, due to a physical or mental deficit, absolutely and permanently unable to perform any kind of work.
If the ability to work is reduced to less than 1/3, relative to occupations suited to the worker's capacities, the worker has the right to a disability allowance. This is not a pension and is therefore not payable to the survivors.
The foreign worker, in order to have access to the disability pension, must be in possession of the resident's card [Carta di Soggiorno].
Old-age pension contribution system
This is the new system of calculation of the pension, which takes the place of the old-age pension and retirement benefits for those who started working after January 1, 1996. It is calculated on the basis of the contributions paid.
The minimum age for all workers is 57 (men and women), with at least 35 years of contributions paid. Anyone who has the requisites but continues working can receive a higher pension.
Unemployment benefits
Workers who are involuntarily unemployed are eligible for these benefits if: