Albanian citizen Sose Kamberaj says that every bit of money helps in her country, where prices continue to rise.
Finally getting a pension-after years of living without one was a big relief, says Kamberaj, who’s 76 and lives in the city of Vlora.
“This pension helps me to take care of myself. I feel happy with it because I didn’t get anything in the past. Before, when we only had my husband’s pension, we couldn’t cope. Now we can,” she says.
Recent changes to Albania’s retirement system allowed Kamberaj and thousands of other Albanians to receive so-called “social pensions.” These pensions are designed to help people over 70, who worked officially, but for less than 15 years, or people who have worked, but had not paid into the nation’s previous retirement plan.