Pension reform for women: why 60 years is no longer a guarantee of payments

Pension reform for women: why 60 years is no longer a guarantee of payments

Starting from January 1, 2026, new pension exit rules for women will be introduced in Ukraine, under which the age of 60 will no longer be an automatic basis for receiving pension payments. The key factor for retirement will be the amount of insurance experience that women must accumulate.

New requirements for insurance experience

According to the new requirements, women planning to retire at 60 must have at least 33 years of insurance experience. If a woman does not reach this experience, she may retire at 63, but only if she has at least 25 years of experience. The minimum retirement age is 65, and in this case, women must have at least 15 years of insurance experience.

It should be noted that the experience accumulated after 2004 is automatically recorded in the personalized accounting system. This will simplify the process of checking experience for future retirees. Moreover, all employment records must be digitized by June 10, 2026, which will also contribute to greater transparency and accessibility of data on experience.

Thus, starting in 2026, the pension system will become more dependent on actual insurance experience, which may affect the financial security of women in old age. An important part of this process is also the digitization of documents, aimed at improving the accounting of insurance experience.

Changes in the pension system reflect the overall trend towards increasing citizens' responsibility for their financial security in old age. The introduction of new requirements for insurance experience may require women to take a more active approach to accumulating pension rights, which could potentially impact their financial planning today. The digitization of employment records also plays an important role, as it provides easier access to work history, which is critical for accurate calculations of future pension payments.