Average length of Czech retirement spans 24.5 years

Retirees in the Czech Republic live an average of 24.5 years as old-age pensioners and the length of time they spend in retirement is gradually becoming longer, according to 2020 data from the annual report on pensions released by the Czech Social Security Administration.

Ten years ago, people spent about 22.5 years in retirement, and 50 years ago they were retired for only for 11 years. The primary reason is an increase in life expectancy.

On average, men receive an old-age pension for 19.5 years, and women for 28.5 years. Compared to 2019, the time increased by nearly two months for men and nearly three months for women within one year.

In 2000, women in the Czech Republic were paid old-age pensions for 22.7 years on average, and men for 16.8 years.

The annual report says that the average life expectancy has become 1.5 years longer for men and almost 2.5 years longer for women over the past ten years.

The minimum retirement age is increased every year, for men by two months and for women usually by four months. Men can now retire when they are nearly 64 years old and women typically sooner, based on the number of children they have raised.

Over the next decade, the retirement age will reach 65, which the outgoing Czech government set as a ceiling. The Labor Ministry prepares a report on the development of the pension system and on life expectancy once every five years. Based on this report, the government may propose modifications.

The outgoing government of Andrej Babiš last received this report in 2019. This report said that life expectancy is becoming longer, pensions are not sustainable in their current form, and people who are in their twenties or thirties now should retire later than at 65 years. The government has postponed a decision on this issue until 2024, when the next report will be submitted.

The new coalition with a majority in Czech parliament, which is likely to form the next Czech government this year, have pension reform on their agenda.

The SPOLU (Together) movement says it will gradually set a new retirement age limit by 2030. The STAN and Pirate parties say that retirement age should be only indicative, and people should keep working if they want to. Both coalitions also want to deal with a separate retirement age for demanding professions.

The Institute for Democracy & Economic Analysis of Charles University in Prague has written that Czechs usually retire once they reach the official pension age, and that society loses out as people at this age have a lot of experience and still have economic potential.

Among countries in Western Europe, the number of people working throughout their sixties tends to gradually decrease with age. In the Czech Republic, this number sharply decreases once the minimum retirement age is reached.