16th February 2016

Czech Statistical Office: 126 pensioners per 100 children below 14 years of age in Prague, Královéhradecký, Zlínský regions

The Czech Statistical Office published facts and figures related to the elderly, showing the numbers of the elderly are rising in all Czech regions. Earlier in January 2016, representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), medical staff and hospitals informed that the Czech Republic is not ready for ageing of the society and does not have a system of care for the elderly and called for a solution. Still, recent Eurostat data show that the number of newborns in the Czech Republic is rising. The Czech Republic is one of the countries in the EU with the highest increase of birth observed between 2001 and 2014, rising by 0.38 on the fertility rate to 1.53 children per woman on average, Prague Post writes.

The pension system changes with every government. The government of Bohuslav Sobotka abolished the second tier of the pension system but has not moved further. There are things that government should be praised for, but the pension system and the lack of activity of the government in this matter is a problem, said Jana Matesová, an expert in international relations and economy, in an interview for Radio Zet. View also an interview on DVTV with economist Jan Libich. More details in news by the Czech Television.

The number of people who voluntarily pay pension insurance is rising and increased from 3,600 in 2009 to 6,900 in 2015, the government social insurance authority CSSZ announced.  This figure includes specific groups of unemployed, specific groups of students of secondary schools and universities, or people who have lived abroad. But the number of self-employed and small businessmen paying pension insurance dropped by 70,000 from 746,000 in 2009. Around 50% of them pay the minimum payments set by law, the Czech News Agency informed

Also, view data on the economic activity of the elderly in individual regions of the Czech Republic.

Click on the November 2015  Proposals to reform pension schemes in the Czech Republic by the Czech expert group established within the European Social Policy Network (ESPN).

Read also the article posted on the World Economic Forum website Why the impact of ageing may not be as bad as we think?

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic