Prague, Dec 23 (CTK) – Czechs take old-age pension for 24 years on average, while in 2000 it was 20 years, according to the Pension Yearbook with the latest data from 2016 that the Czech Social Security Administration (CSSZ) has released.
Women spend 27 years and seven months in retirement, men 19 years and a month.
Life expectancy has been gradually rising in the Czech Republic along with the length of years in retirement when people are drawing old-age pension.
According to the Czech Statistical Office (CSU), life expectancy was 76.2 years for men and 82.1 years for women last year.
In 1970, Czechs spent 11 years in retirement on average, while life expectancy was 66 years for men and 73 years for women.
Ten years later, retirement lasted 13 years on average, and in 1990 it rose to 16 years with men’s life expectancy of 67.6 years and women’s of 75.4 years.
In 2010, Czechs were drawing old-age pension for 22.8 years on average – men for 18.6 years and women for 26 years.
Last year,, an average retired men was taking pension for 19.1 years and a retired woman for 27.6 years. Compared with 2015, this time rose by almost four days in the case of men and by about three weeks in the case of women.
In 2015, life expectancy in the Czech Republic was 76.2 years for men and 82.1 years for women. Consequently, it rose by 4.6 years for men and 3.8 years for women from the beginning of the millennium.
The number of elderly people has been increasing in the Czech Republic with a rising life expectancy.
The retirement age has been gradually increased, due to which the number of pensioners is not rising steeply, and this also contributes to the sustainability of the pension system.
Under the communist regime, men retired at 60, women between 54 and 58 depending on the number of their children. Now, men’s retirement age is extended by two months and women’s by four months every year. This gradually deletes the difference between men and women in this respect.
According to a study by the Institute for Democracy and Economic Analysis (IDEA) of Charles University, Czechs retire mainly because they have reached retirement age even though their financial situation worsens and they are not even forced by health.
The study authors said retirement was an unnecessary loss for society. People still have enough forces, much experience as well as economic potential. Education plays an important role in people’s deciding on retirement. The higher education, the bigger motivation people have to continue working, the study found.
A pension commission of the previous government, comprised of representatives of political parties and experts, concluded that people should spend about a quarter of their lives in retirement. This principle was approved at the end of 2014.
The commission proposed to set a ceiling for the gradually rising retirement age at 65 years.
Average length of drawing old-age pension in selected years:
Year Average Length
1970 11
1980 13
1990 16
2000 19.96
2005 21.67
2010 22.79
2011 22.96
2012 23.26
2013 23.5
2014 23.55
2015 23.97
2016 23.97
Source: Pension Yearbook, Czech Social Security Administration (CSSZ).
