Poles’ pensions 30 percent lower?
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
10.12.2015 14:33
The pensions of Poles may be up to 30 percent lower after the government cuts the age of retirement, a senior government official has said.
“The differences stretch from 10 percent to a maximum of 30 percent for women, and [will come into effect] in a decade at the soonest,” Henryk Kowalczyk, from the Law and Justice (PiS) party, said in parliament.
He was speaking as the lower house launched work on a bill submitted by President Andrzej Duda to reverse retirement reforms carried out in 2012 by the former Civic Platform (PO) government.
Duda wants the retirement age to return to 65 for men and 60 for women, down from the 67 for both sexes at present.
Lowering the age of retirement is a priority for the conservative Law and Justice, which swept to power in Poland’s October general election on a wave of spending and welfare promises.
The former government, led by the more economically liberal Civic Platform, had argued that raising the retirement age was inescapable as Poland is facing a demographic crisis, with the number of pensioners set to rise in proportion to people of working age. (pk/rg)