Since 2017, the seniority requirements for receiving a pension have been increasing annually in Ukraine. In the current year, in order to retire at the age of 60, it is necessary to have at least 31 years of service. This number will increase to 35 years by 2028. This means that those who do not meet these requirements will be forced to work until the age of 63 or 65.
Of special importance is not only the fact of seniority, but also payments to the pension fund during this period. For many Ukrainians, this change in requirements came as a surprise. For example, Svitlana, a resident of Dnipro, who worked unofficially in a grocery store for 20 years, was officially registered only in 2017.
"I don't have enough experience. What shall I do? To continue working," she said. According to her calculations, if she hadn't registered in time, she would have had to work until age 63 instead of 60 to receive her pension.
Currently, it is difficult to estimate how many Ukrainians will not be able to retire at the age of 60 in 2028. The situation with the coronavirus pandemic and full-scale war has had a significant impact on the labor market and the pension system. According to preliminary calculations, in 2028, 45% of Ukrainians will not be able to receive a pension at the age of 60, and 5% of them will work until the age of 65.
However, Lidia Tkachenko, a senior researcher at the Institute of Demography and Social Research, notes that there are still no accurate forecasts regarding the number of people who will not be able to gain the necessary experience. She emphasizes the difficulties of forecasting conditions on the labor market for the coming years.
Currently, there is a significant decrease in the number of pensioners in Ukraine, which is connected not only with the military conflict and occupation, but also with the general trend towards increasing the retirement age.
