They criticized the widows’ pension. “Poverty has nothing to do with being widowed.”

On the last day of July Senate Decide on bills regarding new benefits. The House of Lords did not propose any amendments to the provisions of the Bill About widow’s pensionAs a result, after the president signs the bill, widows and widowers will be able to receive joint benefits and survivor pensions from their deceased spouses. These provisions could benefit 2 million people.

The rest of the article is below the video

The Economic Observer analyzed the new benefits. As the author of the material pointed out, “Currently, after the death of a spouse, retirees have two options: continue to receive the pension he deserves, or give up the pension and receive a survivor pension instead. At least 85% of the pension of the deceased spouse.” Widows’ pension aims to make both options more financially advantageous for older Poleswith an additional benefit of 15%. (25% from 2027) depending on the option selected.

The website draws attention to the conditions that must be met to receive the new benefit. As he says: “The most important of these is the widowhood age. The widow’s pension will be paid to the retiree, provided that his or her spouse died up to 5 years before she (we are talking about the beneficiary of the benefit, not the retiree) the deceased) reached retirement age.” Suraj later in the article questions the fairness of this condition.

The author of the material points out several problems with widow’s pensions. In his opinion, these are ill-considered assumptions, high costs and discrimination against men. He quotes economist Michał Mycek on the X platform:There is a lot of confusionHow a widow’s pension will work in practice; the existing documentation is not very precise,” he wrote.

The portal criticized the government for the lack of plans regarding the reform of the tax and contribution system to finance the program. As he wrote, “This means that it will come into effect Another bill to increase government spendingcompletely ignoring the problem of covering them. ” The Economic Observer reminds us of Poland’s budget deficit problems and the excessive deficit procedure implemented by the European Commission.

With regard to discrimination against men, the portal draws attention to: Differences in retirement age between women and men and the time that has passed from the death of the spouse to reaching retirement age. He cites Tomasz Lasocki of the Warsaw University of Technology, who says that “if a 58-year-old widow becomes a widow, she will receive additional benefits from her husband when he retires, and If a woman becomes a widow at age 58, she or he will no longer receive such benefits.When he retires. ”

The website also questioned the purpose of the widows’ pension scheme. It quoted economist Janina Petelczyc, who pointed out that “statistics show that Pension poverty not linked to widowhood (Thanks for the survivors pension.) The author of the comment wrote that perhaps poverty should be fought regardless of marital status?

In turn, Tomasz Sawczuk said that “offering political programs to older citizens has great electoral significance, since there are a lot of such voters” – he wrote in the magazine Free Culture.

About widow’s pension In an interview with Money.pl Kamil Sobolewski, chief economist at the Polish Employers’ Association, also spoke out, criticizing the new look of the benefit.

In his opinion, it is expensive. – The plan is worth it from the point of view of the financial situation. First of all, what amounts will be spent. Their revenues will amount to 4-6 billion PLN in a year. Then they will increase sharply – up to 11 billion PLN, and by 2027, the year of elections, the financial consequences of the project will be completely resolved, Because the cost will be as high as 16-17 billion zlotys – express.

An expert from the Polish Employers’ Association said that widows’ pensions in their current form are unfair on many levels.

This is a policy that is inconsistent with the so-called principle of reciprocity, which the Constitutional Court had clearly stated even before it became the subject of a political dispute. Money.pl’s interlocutor said that pensions are reciprocal, i.e. the right to a pension is exchanged for contributions and not separate from these contributions.