ZUS president Liwiusz Laska: Society not ready for retirement age hike, but women's average exit age hits 61.5

No appetite for raising retirement age

ZUS president Liwiusz Laska, in an interview with Rzeczpospolita published on 24 July 2026, said Polish society is not yet ready for a discussion on raising the statutory retirement age. He pointed to opinion polls he reviewed about a year and a half ago, which showed a majority of Poles want to keep the current thresholds of 60 for women and 65 for men.

As a society we are not ready today for a discussion on raising the retirement age.

Laska stressed that ZUS's role is not to lead a political debate but to show citizens the consequences of their decisions. He said the institution can clearly demonstrate how extending one's working life affects the size of a future pension.

Women already working beyond 60

Despite the statutory age of 60, women are increasingly choosing to stay in the labour market longer. Laska noted that the average age at which women actually retire has reached about 61.5 years. For men, the average exit age of 65 practically coincides with the statutory retirement age.

Women are increasingly deciding themselves to remain professionally active longer, and currently the average age of their actual retirement is about 61.5 years, even though the statutory retirement age is 60.

He said this trend shows that awareness of the economic consequences of leaving work early is gradually growing. However, he warned that women often leave the workforce at the point when they have the highest earnings and greatest professional experience, which is one reason the pension gap between women and men remains significant and has even widened in recent years.

Tools to boost future pensions

Laska encouraged Poles to regularly check their pension forecasts and to consider additional savings vehicles such as PPK (Employee Capital Plans) and IKZE (Individual Retirement Security Accounts). He said planning a longer career is one of the most effective ways to increase the size of a future benefit.

Every additional year of work means a higher benefit, and this is especially significant for women.

He pointed out that calculators already exist to show how much a pension would rise if someone worked one or two years longer. But few people use them, and interest often appears only just before reaching retirement age, when the scope to increase the benefit is much smaller. To address this, ZUS launched the Aktywni 50+ programme this year, providing information on how the pension system works and what options exist to boost retirement income.

Political context and past reforms

The interview comes amid renewed political attention on retirement age. Minister of Funds and Regional Policy Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz recently suggested that childless women should have the same retirement age as men. Poland's retirement age has been a politically sensitive topic since a 2013 reform that began gradually raising it to 67 for both sexes was reversed after a change of government, restoring the 60/65 split.

Laska acknowledged that the subject requires a very responsible debate, taking into account both social issues and the long-term effects on future pensions. For now, however, he sees no readiness for such a conversation.