In Poland there is a discussion on the retirement age. After the pension reform, it will be 67 years for women and men. President Andrzej Duda wants to restore the previous system: 60 years for women and 65 years for men. How are other European countries coping with retirement age?

The retirement age in Poland depends on the date of birth and gender. At present, most women reach it at 60 years of age, while men at 65 years of age. However, the pension reform assumes raising the retirement age and making it equal for women and men. For both sexes, it would be 67 years old. This is to be done successively, over the years. From the beginning of 2013, the retirement age is increased by one month every quarter. The level of 67 years will be reached for men in 2020, and for women in 2040 - that means that by 67 years of age, women over 40 will have been working.

Returning to the past

However, these assumptions may change. President Andrzej Duda postulates lowering the retirement age. He signed a draft law that provides for the restoration of the previous retirement age - 60 years for women and 65 years for men. "This law restores the retirement age to 60 years for women and 65 years for men (...). She gives you the right to a pension, i.e. if someone reaches retirement age and wants to start collecting a pension, they can do so. But perhaps also - if he has such a will, if he feels strength in himself and has such opportunities, to continue working, in order to have a higher pension and to continue to pursue a career. If he has other plans for life, if he wants to take care of his grandchildren, or if he wants to lead his life in a completely different way, in a non-professional way, he can start taking his pension. It will be his free decision - said the president in a statement made in the Presidential Palace.

67 years a standard in the EU

The debate on retirement age is not only taking place in Poland. All EU countries are adapting their retirement age to demographic changes. They decided to increase the retirement age to 67 years: Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain and the Czech Republic. England and Ireland, compared to European countries, leaned out strongly. They plan to increase the retirement age to 68 years. In England this would happen in 2046, in Ireland in 2028. Currently, men aged 65 and women aged 62 and four months are retiring in England. By 2028 the age is to be equal for both sexes and 67 years, and by 2046 it will have risen to 68 years. In Ireland, the retirement age for both sexes is now 66. It will increase by two years until 2028.

It takes less time to work here.

Many European countries have decided to raise the retirement age to 65. Austria, Bulgaria (but only for men, the retirement age for women will increase to 63 by 2020), Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovenia. Luxembourg residents also retire at the age of 65. The state has decided to maintain this situation and does not envisage any changes for the time being. The most attractive system from the point of view of people who do not smile to work long after the age of 60 is the one in Slovakia. The retirement age there is 62 years for men and 58 years and 3 months for women. Slovakia wants to harmonise the pension system by 2017. The retirement age would then be 62 years for both sexes.