A petition has been submitted to Poland’s Chancellery of the President, in which the author proposes that childless women should retire at the age of 65 – “just like men,” writes Do Rzeczy. The portal notes that despite being forwarded to the legal department, this in no way indicates support for the proposal from the Chancellery or President Nawrocki himself.
The author, who remains anonymous, argues that women live longer on average than men, and the lack of social reasons, such as raising children, does not justify early retirement — although by the time a woman retires in Poland at the age of 60, she is most certainly no longer raising children.
The document was forwarded to the legal department – this is standard procedure and does not imply support for the proposal.
According to the petition, the reform would be implemented in stages: the first stage would extend the retirement age for childless women to 65, followed by a gradual extension to other groups of women (which remain unspecified), once “society has become accustomed to the new rules.”
The petitioner justifies the proposal, among other things, by the growing burden on the pension system and the declining birth rate. Currently, the difference in pensions between women and men averages approximately 1,500 PLN (€353) per month, to the detriment of women. This is primarily due to the earlier retirement age and shorter contribution record.
The proposal, or any advancement of it, is sure to hit a nerve among Polish women — at least a good many of them. According to a 2023 Ipsos poll, some 68% of Polish women supported legal abortion in all or most cases. Poland’s top court, under the previous conservative PiS government, passed far more restrictive abortion laws, resulting in mass protests in many cities. PM Tusk has since attempted to ease some of the “burdens” on women, but has also admitted that his government does not have the majority needed to reverse course and fully legalize abortion.
As a Catholic nation, Poland is home to some staunchly religious groups who are adamant that no form of abortion at any stage is ever allowed. Combined with Poland’s low fertility rate, hitting an all-time low of 1.1 children in 2024, one of the lowest in the world, the pressure is on for women to make more babies — and this proposal is clearly following this thinking.
At stake are the pensions of retirees today and most certainly those in the decades to come, as fewer and fewer Poles are paying into the system.
Sramatic forecasts regarding future benefits are increasingly common. According to data cited a few days ago by “Rzeczpospolita,” in 20-30 years, the average pension will amount to just 30 percent of the final salary.
“If someone earns PLN 6,000 gross today, they can count on about PLN 1,800 in retirement. This amount will be enough to cover bills and basic purchases for at most 10 days,” says economist Dr. Anna Rybicka from the Warsaw School of Economics.”
There is also good reason to be concerned about just how prepared Poles are or will be for this reality.
Only 25 percent of Poles regularly save money, with the same percentage having no savings at all. As many as two in three don’t use any retirement savings programs – such as Employee Capital Plans (PPK), Individual Pension Accounts (IKE), or Individual Pension Security Accounts (IKZE).
This has inevitably led to more and more Poles being forced to work later to supplement their pension, especially with inflation taking its toll on the cost of living.
Perhaps the best stat is the following: 15 of Poles hope to win their retirement money by gambling.
“The problem isn’t a lack of awareness, but a lack of planning,” comments Jarek Bartkiewicz, CEO of Prudential Polska. “Postponing ‘until later’ has become a national habit. And later may be too late.”
