SSS releases P257 B in benefit payments

State-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) released P257.4 billion in benefit payments to 4.7 million members last year.

This is 6.9 percent higher than the P240.6 billion benefit disbursements it recorded in 2022.

SSS has been recording higher benefit disbursements over the past years due to the reforms implemented including the Social Security Act of 2018, the Expanded Maternity Leave Law of 2019 and the additional P1,000 benefit pension grant which started in 2017.

The Social Security Act paved the way for the expansion of the SSS’ mandatory coverage to overseas Filipino workers, increased the maximum monthly salary credit for the computation of benefits and the grant of unemployment benefits, among others.

Broken down, about 60 percent or P156.7 billion of the total went to retirement benefits of 2.2 million members. This is 10.7 percent higher than the 2022 level of P141.5 billion.

Members who paid at least 120 monthly contributions will get a lifetime monthly pension while those with less than that will receive a one-time lump sum amount.

Death benefits, which are granted to beneficiaries of a deceased member, came in second with P70.1 billion, slightly below the P70.2 billion in 2022.

Deceased SSS members should have had 36 months worth of contributions for their beneficiaries to be entitled with pension.

Meanwhile, maternity benefits followed with P14.1 billion, up 10 percent, to 357,000 members. These are granted to female members who have paid at least three monthly contributions before the semester of childbirth, miscarriage or emergency termination of pregnancy.