“£50, not £700? My God”: the British were shocked by the size of Ukrainian pensions
1 March 2024 15:23
A video by a Ukrainian user who asked the British public about the size of the minimum pension in Ukraine is being actively shared on TikTok, Kommersant Ukrainian reports 
The opinions of the respondents were divided: some thought that the “minimum” for Ukrainian pensioners was £700, which is more than 33 and a half thousand hryvnias. Others were convinced that the minimum pension was £800, or 38,000 hryvnias. There were also those who believed that a Ukrainian’s pension was £160 (UAH 7,696 – ed.).
But the reality shocked all the respondents:
“£50? Really? My God!”, one of the respondents reacted in surprise. Another woman did not believe it and asked the Ukrainian girl again about the real amount of the pension, while the man who also answered this question rolled his eyes and, judging by his expression, was very surprised by the Ukrainian realities.
For reference
Today, pensions in Ukraine have been indexed: the average increase will be UAH 322, and the average pension will be UAH 5,717.
“The minimum wage will also increase from UAH 2,520 to UAH 2,725, so it will no longer be £52, but £56.
Pensions and social benefits: what changes from today
Pensions in Ukraine and the UK
As of 1 January 2024, the average pension in Ukraine was UAH 5385.25 or USD 141, which was even less than a year earlier, in 2022, when the average pension in Ukraine was USD 142. In 1992, immediately after the transition to market capitalism, the average pension in Ukraine was less than USD 5. Since then, average pensions have mostly increased, with sharp drops caused by financial and economic crises and the depreciation of the national currency. In particular, the last collapse of pensions in dollar terms occurred in 2015, when the average pension almost halved from USD 190 to USD 100. US DOLLARS.
In 2011, Ukraine implemented a pension reform that, among other things, raised the retirement age and the length of pensionable service. Thus, these changes objectively contributed to a decrease in the number of pensioners in the country. After 2012, when the share of pensioners in society reached a record 30.29%, this figure has been declining steadily and in sync with the annual growth of the pensionable service record. In 2022, the share of pensioners was 26.07%.
Currently, the minimum retirement age in Ukraine is 60 years (for men and women), and the insurance period is 30 years. According to the government, there are about 10.2 million pensioners in Ukraine. According to the Institute for the Future, 9.3 million people work in Ukraine. Thus, one taxpayer, under the PAYG pension system, on average already supports more than one pensioner.
In the UK, people retire at the age of 66. Since 2016, there has been a so-called“state pension“, the full amount of which is £203.85 per week. This rate applies only if you have 35 years of service. In addition, more than 70% of pensioners have additional pension savings derived from optional contributions to private or other pension funds.
