ABSTRACT
The Slovenian social security system is a social insurance system and is organized as follows: mandatory health insurance falls under the responsibility of the National Health Administration, while mandatory pension and invalidity insurance is under the responsibility of the National Pension Administration. According to the 1999 Pension Act, the retirement age for women will be gradually increased to 58 years, and the qualifying contribution period to 38 years. Severe macroeconomic conditions and profligate early retirement schemes caused a decrease in the average retirement age in 1990, bottoming out in 1991. Early retirement seemed at the time to be the least painful solution for alleviating tensions on the labour market and an effective measure for preventing an even larger increase in unemployment. Pensions are calculated on the basis of the best 10-year average of wages; the 1999 Pension Act gradually extends this period to the best 18-year average.
