Ukraine is currently working on changes to the solidarity pension system to make it more balanced and fair. This was stated by the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine Oksana Zholnovych during her speech at the International Ministerial Summit, UNN correspondent reports.
"10.5 million people today pay contributions, including pension contributions, to support our pensioners. We have 11 million pensioners, to whom we pay solidarity pensions. I think that each of you understands that this ratio is extremely threatening and obviously does not allow us to make a high-quality replacement for the pensions of our citizens. Unfortunately, today we can replace only 32% of their earnings, which is a very low criterion that actually puts a large number of elderly people on the brink of poverty and they need not only social services but also other types of support, including in-kind assistance, to be able to meet their basic needs," Zholnovych said.
Zholnovych noted that realizing that the demographic situation in Ukraine will not improve, it is now extremely important to develop a system of accumulative pension contributions.
"So that my generation, the younger generation, will definitely have the opportunity to cover their risks associated with old age and possible vulnerabilities at least through additional savings. So it is very important to develop best practices now, because we all understand that the funded pension system is not easy," Zholnovych said.
According to her, there have been situations when the funded pension system collapsed in many countries.
"It is very important for us to create a model and a system that would be sustainable and allow us to renew the resources invested by our people so that they can use them in their old age," Zholnovych said.
According to her, Ukraine is currently working on changes to the solidarity pension system.
"We are also working on changes to the PAYG pension system to make it more balanced and fairer. We still have a certain number of people who receive special pensions, such as law enforcement officers, judges, people affected by the Chernobyl accident, and a number of other people who have special pensions. But it is disproportionate to the total number of pensioners, and we need to balance it," Zholnovych said.
Zholnovych noted that the experience of other countries is important for Ukraine to understand how other countries balance both separate special pensions, which certainly exist, and the percentage of coverage for all people who have reached retirement age and have made lifelong contributions to solidarity pension systems.
"We are also very actively working on other types of social insurance, so that all those who suffered from accidents at work, all those who lose their ability to work temporarily or have limited functioning can quickly adapt, quickly restore such ability and be able to find employment in the labor market, even taking into account possible limitations in health and functioning. What do we need as support in this area? This is technical expertise, this is the communication component, because all these programs and processes are not simple and they require a very high-quality communication process with society," Zholnovych said.