Ukrainian MP Danylo Hetmantsev, who criticizes the pension calculation formula in Ukraine, also notes the low level of pension payments to Ukrainian women. According to him, the amount of the payment is approximately 700 hryvnias less than for men, and suggests using the EU's experience to improve the situation.
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Thus, as the politician writes in his column for the Glavkom website, as of October 2025, the average old-age pension in Ukraine is 6,117 hryvnias, but women receive an average of 700 hryvnias less — only 5,416 hryvnias. Moreover, up to 70% of women who retire today have a basic amount of payments lower than the subsistence minimum.
Moreover, a significant part of the structure of women's pensions is occupied by age-related increases – after 75 and 80 years, which partially even out the situation, but only with age. For men, such increases play a smaller role, because their basic pension is usually higher.
According to Danylo Getmantsev, the difference in pensions dates back to working life: women more often work in lower-paid fields – education, medicine, social work, while men predominate in management positions and in industries with higher added value.
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In addition, caring for children and the family mostly falls on the shoulders of women, and it is they who most often take long parental leave. Although the time spent caring for a child is counted towards the insurance period, the single social contribution (SSC) for this period is paid from the state budget at the level of the minimum contribution. The more children a woman has given birth to and raised, the less chance she has of receiving a decent pension. This is especially painful for mothers with many children who have devoted 15 or more years to raising children.
The war has added to the problem, as thousands of Ukrainian women with children have left for abroad or safer regions. There is not always an opportunity to work officially, and therefore to earn insurance experience. In the future, this may deprive some of them of the right to retire at 60 years of age.
According to the politician, there are similar problems in the EU, so:
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- EU directives have introduced minimum standards: at least 4 months of parental leave, of which at least 2 months are non-transferable between parents – this is aimed at encouraging a more equal sharing of childcare between women and men.
- European initiatives offer “care credits” – that is, periods of caring for a child or a disabled relative are recognized when calculating pension rights.
- In Germany and Austria, the minimum contribution for the period of childcare is not calculated, but an amount corresponding to the average salary in the country or the salary that the mother (or father) received before the leave. This allows parents not to drop out of the pension system.
If the Ukrainian pension system takes into account the EU experience, according to the politician, this will help:
- reduce the gender pension gap, when women will have decent old-age pensions, not just additional payments to the minimum.
- to support mothers and fathers who temporarily leave work or reduce their employment due to childcare.
- reduce the risks of poverty among pensioners who have low pensions due to career breaks.
Meanwhile, people with disabilities will receive a new allowance of up to 6,500 hryvnias.
