If you are strong and working – move to a country that cares
about the people. If you are retired and in poor health, use your vote to force
out of power all politicians, who don’t care about pensions. All the people who do
experiments with our tax money (we spend more money per unit of GDP for arms
than anybody in NATO) should go away. This money doesn’t buy security: Our
military is a tiny puppet theater. This money demonstrates only the
ruthlessness of our politicians. In reality nobody in the world cares about
them and they retire to Greece, like Gabrielius Landsbergis using spouse's money.
"State pensions, compared to the cost of living, are
very different in European countries, and pensions in 20 countries are not
enough to live on. Lithuania is on the list of these countries, but this does
not surprise the professor - it shows political determination and the real
situation of pensioners.
In Northern and Western Europe, pensions usually cover or
exceed essential expenses, but in Eastern Europe and the Balkans, pensions fall
short of basic necessities.
Such conclusions can be drawn as a result of a salary study
carried out by Moorepay, which was published by Euronews Business.
Economist Romas Lazutka explained this difference to Delfi
not by economic, but by political decisions. True, this may be the result of
history.
"Let's say, if we take 36 years after independence and
take Western Europe - France, Germany, Belgium, Austria - then they eliminated
the poverty of pensioners, which existed in 1970, 20-25 years after the war.
They put everything in order, because there was an appropriate policy and
recognized that people are people - no matter what age and whether they have
savings, there are state pensions and they must act," he compared.
In 39 European countries, including EU countries, candidate
countries, EFTA countries and the UK, the cost of living share of pensions
ranges from 22% in Georgia to 225% in Luxembourg.
Moorepay has compiled data on average pensions, living
standards data is taken from Numbeo and reflects the national average.
Therefore, they emphasize that the actual situation may differ depending on the
city. The results reflect the cost of living of one person and the pension of
one person for October 2025.
In several countries (Iceland, Norway, Germany, Belgium,
Austria, France, the Netherlands and Sweden), the pension in relation to the
cost of living is 150% - 180%.
In six countries this figure is 100% - 150%. The state
pension is enough to cover one person's expenses (without rent) in Switzerland,
Ireland, Great Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic and Greece.
In 20 of 39 European countries, the state pension is not
enough. It is important that the cost of living does not include rental costs.
If they were included, the situation would change.
In 2026, the average old-age pension in Lithuania is 750
euros, for people with mandatory service – 810 euros.
The list includes Lithuania (85%), Estonia (91%), Slovenia,
Slovakia, Portugal, Montenegro, Croatia and Hungary.
In other countries, the situation is even worse; in some
countries, pensions cover only 65% of the subsistence level (Ukraine,
Albania, Moldova, Georgia).
53% of the subsistence level is covered by pensions in
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 58% in Cyprus, 61% in North Macedonia, 64% in Turkey
and 65% in Latvia.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development, 2/3 of people aged 65 and over in Europe receive state pensions.
Economist Romas Lazutka shared these statistics on the
social network Facebook. He shared his reasoning about why in some countries
pensioners live well, but in most countries the pension is not enough to live
on.
According to the professor, such statistics, without taking
into account rental costs, give a clear and accurate picture, because rental
prices are very different even within the same country (it all depends on the
city). In addition, most pensioners have their own housing, especially in
Lithuania.
"It's good that they compare with the cost of living,
because they usually start from the average salary. But if prices in a country
are high, for example, in Ireland. The level of development of this country,
like in Luxembourg, is higher than in other European countries, because they
count the money of American corporations operating in the country due to lower
taxes. As a result, prices in the country are high, and pensions are not very
large," Lazutka explained.
What matters is not how much less the pension is than the
salary, but whether it is enough to live on.
When asked why the pension in Lithuania is 85% of the
subsistence level and why there are such large differences in Europe, he shared
his ideas.
Lazutka noticed that people immediately began writing on
social networks that there were not enough pensions to live on in
post-communist countries. But, for example, everything is fine in Poland, but
not anymore in Lithuania.
“However, if we consider GDP, then Lithuania is ahead of
post-communist countries, with the exception of the Czech Republic, Slovenia,
we are even ahead of Portugal, Greece, and our pensions are lower,” said the
economist.
"We know that in Lithuania pensions are small compared
to the average salary, we see a high level of poverty among pensioners - about
40%, in other countries it is less than the poverty level of working people. We
know this, but there is another angle - whether a person can pay for all the
essentials in retirement.
It’s not good if a person cannot live on that kind of
money,” the professor said, noting that the study deals specifically with state
pensions.
“And we have enthusiasm for private pensions and their
absence is explained by the poverty of our pensioners and small pensions for
old age. Allegedly, because we lived in
Soviet times, we did not save for old age, but we had to, because supposedly
people travel around the world on private pensions - but this is not so. The
graph shows that in many countries you can live on a state pension,” the
economist noted.
There are private pensions in different countries: from
Great Britain, Holland to Denmark. But in these countries, pensioners live well
not only because they save for old age themselves, but also because state
pensions are higher there. Politics provides them.
So, the situation of pensioners is not necessarily related
to historical circumstances. For example, in Spain the pension is almost twice
the subsistence level. Spain, according to Lazutka, has long been an
undemocratic and poor country, but pensioners there live better than in
Lithuania.
"We are breathing down Spain's neck, but pensioners are
breathing lower. This means that the pension policy in post-communist countries
creates great inequality and does not take into account the weaker ones - that
is, pensioners," the economist believes. Not only this is noted, but also
the cult of youth, a young person is considered the future, and those who have
more power in society do not want to finance state pensions, which is why they
are low.
What needs to be done to make pensioners in Lithuania live
better?
If the average take-home salary in Lithuania, according to
rough estimates, is 1,400 euros, and the pension is about 700 euros, then
working people must pay 100 euros more in taxes so that this money ends up in
the pockets of pensioners. There are twice as many pensioners as workers, so if
two people pay 100 euros each, then the pension of one pensioner will already
be 900 euros. This is already enough for life.
"But, of course, this is 100 euros - the average
amount, if the salary is less, then maybe 20, 30 euros for some, and 200 euros
for others. Workers will not go hungry or become poor because of this.
According to Eurostat, the poverty rate among workers in Lithuania is 7%, and
among pensioners - 40%. Why should this be so?
They write to me that I can only take and divide, but those
countries with large pensions do this; working people pay the most taxes,”
Lazutka said.
He recalled that Sodra’s budget is in surplus (it has a
billion and a few more on top - this is a reserve, but no one uses the
reserve).”
Komentarų nėra:
Rašyti komentarą