The Pension reform, prepared by the second government of GERB provides for gradual increase and gradual convergence of the standard retirement age for women and men on 65 years. This should happen in 2037 and after this period an automatic mechanism linked to the change in the length of life will be introduced.
The draft version of the pension reform provides for:
- Retirement age – the retirement age for women and men will grow differentiated as follows:
- for women – the retirement age for women will be increased by two months each year until 2029, and from 2030 to 2037 – with three months per year.
- for men – the retirement age for men will grow by two months in 2016 and 2017 and after that from 2018 to 2029 will grow by one month per year.
- Social security length of service – the reform envisages increase in the length of service for retirement under normal working conditions with two months per year to reach 37 years for women and 40 years for men in 2027.
- Social security contributions – in the next 12 years the social security burden in Bulgaria will be increased by a total of 4.5%. The contribution for Pensions fund will be increased by 0.5% every second year and in the next year (again over a year) the contribution for Unemployment fund will be increased by 0.2%.
The Pension reform provides for changes in the field of disability pensions and early retirement of the military and police. Pension reform is expected to be finally adopted in May 2015.