In the context of rapid population ageing, providing older people with better work incentives and choices is tremendously important, both in order to promote economic growth and to help sustain public social expenditures. Therefore, in 2011 the OECD Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee decided to carry out a fresh series of policy reviews to encourage greater labour market participation at an older age, through the fostering of employability, job mobility and labour demand. It builds upon previous work that the OECD has conducted in this area in the Ageing and Employment Policies series, summarised in the Organisation’s major cross-country report, Live Longer, Work Longer, published in 2006.

Poland is facing a more pronounced ageing of the population than many other countries. It is therefore encouraging that the employment rate for older workers in Poland increased substantially over the past decade. A number of policy measures are being implemented to support this development. A number of early retirement schemes have been closed, and reforms have been implemented to reduce inflows to the disability scheme. In addition, the statutory retirement age will be raised gradually to 67 for both genders – with the target date of 2020 for men and 2040 for women.

Poland is facing more pronounced population ageing than many other countries. The population above age 65 as a ratio of the population aged 20-64 is projected to nearly triple: from about 0.2 in 2012 to about 0.6 in 2050. Today, Poland belongs to the group of OECD countries with a relatively low proportion of elderly, which is to say a ratio below the OECD average of close to 0.3. But it is projected that by 2050, Poland will have moved to the group of countries with a ratio higher than the projected OECD average of 0.5.

The population in Poland is ageing rapidly. As a consequence, it is projected that in 2050 the country will join the group of nations with an old-age dependency ratio higher than the OECD average. This chapter conveys the magnitude of the demographic challenges, and provides an overview of recent reforms in ageing and employment policies.

Employment rates for older workers in Poland have increased significantly over the past decade. Nevertheless, these rates are still among the lowest within the OECD area. Most of the high employment growth pertains to the 55-59 age group, while growth rates for older groups remain modest. Gender gaps in employment remain higher than the OECD average. This chapter examines developments following the country’s recent reforms in ageing and employment policies.

A major pension reform was launched in 1999, with the previous pay-asyou- go, defined benefit scheme replaced by a notional defined contribution system. The previous, extensive early retirement schemes in Poland were to a large extent closed from 2009, even if there are notable exceptions. In addition, inflow to disability pension is reduced and the statutory pension age is being gradually increased. The aim is to improve economic incentives to work. This chapter assesses the impacts of these reforms, and identifies the remaining challenges and further reforms that may be required to meet them.

While a significant pension and welfare reform process has undoubtedly strengthened incentives to continue working at an older age, further action is still required on the demand side to ensure that those older workers who wish to work longer can do so. This chapter analyses the extent to which there are employment barriers in firms – such as age discrimination, seniority rules in wage setting, insufficient investment in training, and inappropriate employment protection rules. The evidence suggests that older workers encounter major difficulties in changing jobs or in finding a new one when unemployed while retention in their job after the age of 60 has increased.

To make longer working careers possible, policy makers must ensure that older people have the skills required in today’s labour market, and health conditions that allow them to continue working. Traditional family models can present a hindrance to professional activity, especially for older women. And older people must have the same access to and priority for public and private employment services as other age groups. This chapter assesses the Polish situation in these areas, and shows that greater efforts are needed to enhance the employability of both older men and women.