On Tuesday, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Minister Marlena Maląg and Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture Henryk Kowalczyk visited the Senior+ Club in Świercze (Mazowieckie Voivodeship).

The Prime Minister said that „this is the time for an active state that generates new income in order to be able to allocate it for seniors”. He reminded that on Tuesday the government will consider a draft act on another additional annual cash benefit for old age and disability pensioners in 2022.

- The liberals will say in a while that the fourteen pension that we are adopting today in the government is “government handouts”. And I will say that this is care for dignity. They will say we cannot afford it – in fact, that when they were in power, we could not afford it. They will say that the state should be a watchman, it should not interfere. And I will say that the state should be a state with a heart for those who need this help most – said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

Minister Marlena Maląg reminded that the government implements a number of programmes addressed to seniors. She pointed out that the current senior policy is based on two pillars: financial support and activity of seniors.

- The fourteenth pension will soon become a fact, today, we will talk about it in the government. This is another support within the framework of pursuing the policy addressed to other people, our intergenerational solidarity and responsibility for other people – said the Minister.

Minister Marlena Maląg announced that the fourteenth pensions will be paid as from August.

- Seniors do not have to submit any applications – the relevant pension authorities will pay this benefit on the date of paying of the old age and disability pension benefit. The amount of this benefit is the amount of the minimum old age pension, i.e. PLN 1,338.44 – said the Minister.

- We estimate that about 9 million of our old age and disability pensioners will receive this benefit. We are introducing an income criterion of PLN 2,900, but we are also introducing the “PLN for PLN” mechanism – this means that if the pension is higher than PLN 2,900, the fourteenth pension will be reduced accordingly – explained Minister Marlena Maląg.

The fourteenth pension – although it was to be a one-off benefit in 2021 – will also be paid this year. This is the implementation of the announcement made on 11 February by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

The cost of payment of another additional annual cash benefit in 2022 is about PLN 11.4 billion. This year, the support under the 13th and 14th pension will amount to nearly PLN 25 billion. In total, from 2019 it will be more than PLN 70 billion.