Most Ukrainian Pensioners Are Destitute: MP Hetmantsev Acknowledged the Obvious

While Ukraine is preparing a large-scale pension reform to raise the minimum pension to 6 000 hryvnias, most pensioners live below the poverty line. The reason is that their pension payments are lower than the threshold set by the World Bank. This was written by People's Deputy of Ukraine Danylo Hetmantsev on his Telegram channel. He calculated that even the average pension size reported by the Pension Fund of Ukraine (PFU) is lower than the level the World Bank methodology considers to be the poverty threshold. Thus, according to PFU data as of 1 July, the average pension in Ukraine is 7 273 UAH (≈ $ 162 or $ 5,2 per day), but for an objective policy assessment he also determined the median — the value that splits all pension recipients in half: 50% of pensioners receive more than this amount, and 50% receive less. By calculation, the median pension size is about 5 300 UAH (≈ $ 118 or $ 3,8 per day). This means that almost 5 million pensioners receive less than this amount. At the same time, 2,7 million people receive a pension that does not exceed 4 000 UAH (≈ $ 89 or $ 2,9 per day). “This is a verdict for the system. A huge number of our people are on the brink of poverty (by the World Bank methodology — 8,3 dollars per day). In addition, by international standards, the normal deviation of the median from the mean is 10−20%, whereas in Ukraine the difference between the average and median pension is about 27%. This indicates egregious inequality in pension provision due to the existence of clan-based pensions. Pension reform is an urgent priority of the Government!!!” — summarizes Danylo Hetmantsev. Previously, parliament supported a large-scale social assistance reform, and Hetmantsev himself proposes increasing social standards for Ukrainians starting in 2027.