A large number of eligible Greeks choose not to receive their pensions due to debts to the social security system.

A significant number of Greeks who have reached retirement age refuse to take and receive their pensions due to debts accumulated with the social insurance system, according to an article published by Ekathimerini.com. Approximately 300,000 people, including freelancers, business people, and farmers, are not eligible for a pension because of these debts.

The conditions imposed for debt restructuring include waiving banking secrecy, allowing authorities to check the accounts of debtors. Those with debts greater than 30,000 euros must pay part of these before benefiting from a payment mechanism that retains 60% of the pension for debt repayment. Authorities do not have an exact estimate of the number of retirees who cannot pay their debts, but suspect that some refuse to open their accounts for verification, which prevents them from accessing restructuring.