Polish retirement age increase

The Polish constitutional court has ruled that an increase in the retirement age from 65 to 67 for men and from 60 to 67 for women is in line with the country’s constitution.

The case that it was not was brought by the two largest union confederations in Poland, NSZZ Solidarnosc and OPZZ, as well as a group of opposition MPs.

Legislation to gradually increase the retirement age was introduced in May 2012, against the opposition of the unions.

In court, the unions argued that although life expectancy was rising, this was not true of the length of time people lived in good health.

However, the court did not see this as an adequate reason to declare the legislation unconstitutional.

OPZZ said it was “a sad day for Polish society”.