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Polish government backs lowering retirement age

The government has backed a bill submitted by President Andrzej Duda to return the retirement age in Poland to 65 for men and 60 for women.

Government spokesman Rafał Bochenek said on Tuesday that the Cabinet wanted the bill to be adopted this year.

“The position of the government included an additional provision, suggestion or recommendation, that this law enter into force no earlier than 1 October 2017,” said Bochenek. According to him, the national social insurance system needs this time to prepare for the change.

Asked about funding for the reform, he stressed that the funds will be there thanks to, among other things, tackling tax evasion. “We will have funds, there is money for this. We are doing everything possible to tighten the tax collection system, including VAT collection,” he said.

The former Civic Platform-led government had argued that raising the retirement age was inescapable as Poland is facing a demographic crisis, with the number of pensioners set to rise in proportion to people of working age.

It introduced a system in which the retirement age would be gradually increased to 67 years, regardless of gender, with men reaching the threshold in 2020 and women in 2040. The presidential bill would return the retirement age to its former level.

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