Low Salary Ruins Pension: Even After 40 Years of Service, One Can Receive the Minimum.

According to ТСН: Even with 40 years of service, a person's pension may be low due to a low level of official salary. In Ukraine, both service and salary are taken into account when calculating the pension, but their impact on the overall result is uneven.

Pension Calculation Formula

The retirement pension in Ukraine is determined by the following formula:

• P = Sp x Kz x Ks.

Where P is the pension, Sp is the average salary in Ukraine for the last three years. Kz is the personal salary coefficient, which shows how much a person's earnings during their career exceeded, were lower than, or equal to the average salary in the country in each month. Ks is the service coefficient, for example, it is 0.4 for 40 years of service.

Calculation Example

Let's consider an unfavorable option: if the average salary equals the minimum — 8,000 UAH, and the service is 44 years (the person started working at 16). In this case, the pension is calculated as follows: 15,057 (average salary for the last three years) x 0.53 (Kz) x 0.44 (Ks) = 3,511 UAH.

Taking into account the payment for overtime service, which is 9 years for men (44–35 years) and 14 years for women (44–30 years), the additional payments will be 212 UAH and 330 UAH, respectively.

Thus, the "male" pension will amount to 3,723 UAH, while the "female" will be 3,841 UAH.

Why the Pension is So Low

Despite a long service, the amount of the pension is significantly reduced by the low official salary. In the pension calculation formula, service and salary are not equal, and a significant part of the low income is due to low earnings.

It was previously reported that pensions in Ukraine will significantly increase in 2026.

This situation raises concern among citizens, as many people with many years of service face the reality of low pensions. In this regard, the planned increase in pensions in 2026 may be an important step in addressing this problem. Whether changes in the pension system will improve the situation can only be shown by time.