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Poland Sees Rise in 'Penny Pensions' as Expert Blames Lack of Contributions
🇵🇱 Poland /Economy & Trade

Poland Sees Rise in 'Penny Pensions' as Expert Blames Lack of Contributions

From Rzeczpospolita · (1d ago) Polish Critical tone

Translated from Polish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • The number of Polish pensioners receiving minimal, "penny" pensions is increasing, with women forming the majority of this group.
  • In December 2025, nearly 460,000 seniors received benefits below the minimum pension of 1,978.49 PLN gross.
  • An expert attributes the rise in low pensions primarily to individuals not paying pension contributions after 1998, with a significant portion having their benefits calculated solely from initial capital.

Poland is facing a growing challenge as the number of citizens receiving extremely low, often negligible, pensions continues to rise. Recent data from the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) reveals a stark reality: in December 2025, almost 460,000 seniors were subsisting on pensions below the official minimum. This represents a significant increase from the previous year, highlighting a deepening crisis in retirement income security for a substantial segment of the population.

In Poland, there are more and more people with penny pensions. Women from these birth years are predominant.

— Report from ZUSHighlighting the demographic trend of low pensions.

The ZUS report indicates that women, particularly those born in 1963 and 1964, disproportionately make up this group of low-income pensioners. This demographic trend points to systemic issues affecting women's long-term earning potential and contribution histories. The report also notes the alarming fact that two individuals were receiving pensions as low as 2 groszy, underscoring the extreme end of this phenomenon.

The number of newly system pensions paid out at a level lower than the minimum pension has increased more than 19-fold over the last 15 years, and their share in the number of newly system pensions paid out has increased from 4.2% in December 2011 to 10.1% in December 2025.

— ZUS reportQuantifying the increase in low pensions over time.

Experts, such as Dr. Marcin Wojewódka from the Emertius Institute, point to a complex interplay of factors. While acknowledging that individuals may have opted out of contributions when legally permitted, he also criticizes lawmakers for creating a system that allows for such outcomes. The core issue, according to the ZUS report, is that a significant percentage of these low-pension recipients had their benefits calculated based solely on their initial capital, meaning they paid no pension contributions after 1998. This situation raises serious questions about the adequacy of Poland's social security system and the long-term financial well-being of its aging population, particularly for those who may have faced career interruptions or economic hardship.

The main reason is the fact that they did not pay pension contributions.

— Dr. Marcin Wojewódka, Emertius InstituteExplaining the primary cause of low pensions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Rzeczpospolita in Polish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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