Polish Sejm voted approvingly on lowering retirement age to 60 for women and 65 for men, which is an overturn of the reform passed in 2012 by the previous government.
The biggest Polish trade union, Solidarity, is happy to hear the news, but others point out the faults in this action. Jeremi Mordasiewicz, an advisor to the council of confederation of private employers Lewiatan, says that “every Pole will pay for this”.
He goes on to say that the return to the lower retirement age, despite the general increase in the longevity of life, will lead to lower number of active working people, more pensioners, bigger public sector deficit and, ultimately, lowering of retirement pensions in the future. He explains that the country in which only 16 million of people (out of 38 total) is working and 9 million is receiving pensions will not able to develop quickly, because the government is lacking the money to finance investments which are critical to the modernization of economy and, in turn, the productivity and salary growth is hampered.
Another problem raised by Lewiatan is the ability to retire earlier, which may lower the motivation needed for work. The pressure on valorization of pensions shall also be higher because the women who retire at the age of 60 will not have the minimum necessary pension guaranteed.
Mr Mordasiewicz expects that the further increase of burden on the working generation caused by the increasing cost of pensions will lead to lower economic growth and more people emigrating from the country. Poland is the only country in Europe which is lowering the retirement age.
Source: PSIG, http://www.pulshr.pl/wynagrodzenia/obnizenie-wieku-emerytalnego-lewiatan-emerytury-moga-byc-albo-wyzsze-albo-wczesniejsze,39259.html
