The pension depends on the number of years worked and contributions collected. People who have had breaks at work, e.g. due to raising children, caring for their loved ones or difficulty uncovering employment, frequently receive lower benefits. These gaps in professional past have a crucial impact on the final pension amount. As a result, many Poles with specified breaks fear that their future benefits will not let a comfortable life after the end of work.
RECLAMA
See video Marzena Okła-Drewnowicz: erstwhile do you quit up to PLN 5000 without tax? Work continues
Low pensions in Poland. The politician has an thought of how to solve the problem.
Mr Jarosław Sachajko was curious in the subject. He interpelled on the systemic undervalue of minimum pensions in Poland, the risks to the future of generations of workers and the request to introduce pronatalist solutions related to the taxation and pension system. She entered the Sejm on July 29, 2025. He asked Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, the minister of family, work and social policy. He informed that he was "moved by the situation of pensioners in Poland, whose dignity and material safety stay under-protected systematically". He was inspired by the communicative of Krystyna L., a well-known and valued presenter of Polish Television, who present receives a pension of approx. 1600 PLN net. In his opinion, "this is an amount which in practice is not adequate to cover the basic needs of life".
This shocking case is not an exception, but a reflection of a much broader and more serious structural problem: the Polish pension strategy does not supply minimum benefits for pensioners at a level that guarantees a decent life, nor does it give the current generation of working real prospects for pension stableness in the future.
- reads a letter published on the website sejm.gov.pl.
Jarosław SachajkoFot. Sławomir Kamiński / Wyborcza.pl Agency
Will there be a higher pension for parents? There's an answer from the ministry.
Since 1 March 2025, the lowest pension in Poland is PLN 1878.91 gross per month. After deduction of the wellness contribution "on hand" is obtained PLN 1709.81 net. According to Sakhaika "the people receiving minimum pensions live below the real minimum of dignity". He stressed that the rate of replacement of income by retirement in Poland in 2025 was 42 percent, with forecasts indicating a further decrease, below 35 percent by 2060.
This means that those working present can receive benefits in the future corresponding to only 1 3rd of the last salary. Despite successive reforms, Poland's pension model of pay-as-you-go does not, in practice, defend from poorness those who had breaks in employment (mainly women taking care of children or aged people), worked part-time or on civilian law contracts, did business and paid contributions at the lowest possible level. Nor has an effective and widely accepted capital pillar been provided to compensate for the weaknesses of the pension system
- he wrote. The MP believes that in the coming years the pension strategy will not be able to bear the burden. That is why he has a proposal, more specifically the implementation of 2 strategy mechanisms. The first is to introduce a law whereby part of the PIT taxation paid by children would go to the pension subaccount of their mothers:
10% PIT on income per first child,
20% PIT on second,
30 percent PIT on the third,
40% PIT on the fourth,
50% PIT for 5th and subsequent children.
This would be a breakthrough mechanism: more children = higher pension. This solution recognises motherhood as a socially useful work whose effects stabilise the public finances system. The mechanics does not require taxation increases, but only redirecting part of the existing taxation in a targeted and fair manner
- explained the politician. The second point is to extend the tax-free amount to children. Currently, only adults are affected.
Every kid is not only a private choice of parents, but a costly social investment. I propose to introduce a separate tax-free amount for each child, which immediately relieves the financial burden on families, reduces the taxation wedge, strengthens the pro-family stimulus in the fiscal system, confirms that children are the shared work of the full country
- informed. Deputy Minister Sebastian Gajewski responded to the interview. He admitted that the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Policy is not presently working on introducing fresh additives into the system, which does not mean that they will not be taken in the future. He confirmed that demography has been a challenge for respective years, but the PIT Act is not an component of pro-family policy. Nevertheless, it includes instruments that let families to importantly reduce, and frequently full taxation exemptions due, e.g. "Family 800+", "Active Parent", a 4+ household relief, and a taxation credit for children, which allows the deduction from the taxation of the amount stipulated in the Act for each kid being raised.
