Only 13 Years of Experience: Is It Possible to Receive a Pension and What Payments to Expect
Having only 13 years of insurance experience, a person cannot claim an old-age pension. The Pension Fund reminds that the right to retire depends not only on reaching the appropriate age but also on the number of years of officially acquired insurance experience.
In 2026, the following requirements will apply for pension assignment:
- at 60 years old, at least 33 years of insurance experience are required;
- at 63 years old — at least 23 years;
- at 65 years old — at least 15 years of experience.
Thus, citizens who have only 13 years of experience will not be able to arrange an old-age pension even after reaching 65 years of age, as they do not meet the established minimum. At the same time, the requirements for retirement at 60 and 63 years will gradually increase until 2028, while for 65-year-old Ukrainians the minimum threshold will remain at 15 years.
What assistance can people without the required experience receive
For persons who have not accumulated the minimum required 15 years of insurance experience, the legislation provides another mechanism of social support. This concerns temporary state assistance, which unemployed citizens can apply for after reaching 65 years of age.
The amount of such payment is determined individually. When calculating, the difference between the subsistence minimum for incapacitated persons and the average family income per member over the last six months is taken into account. At the same time, the amount of assistance cannot be lower than the established subsistence minimum for persons who lost their ability to work. Currently, it is 2,595 hryvnias.
What you need to know about payments
Temporary assistance is not paid indefinitely. It is provided until the person acquires the right to a pension. In addition, social protection authorities review the payment amount every six months, taking into account changes in the family’s income or the recipient’s property status.
The Pension Fund also emphasizes that only those periods of work for which the employer or the person themselves paid a unified social contribution of no less than the established minimum are counted towards the insurance experience.
Therefore, with only 13 years of insurance experience, it is impossible to receive a regular old-age pension. At the same time, after reaching 65 years, unemployed citizens can count on temporary state assistance, the minimum amount of which currently is 2,595 hryvnias. Such support is intended to provide basic social protection to people who have not acquired sufficient experience to be assigned a pension.
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