There is no money to pay widow’s pension. The government must add PLN 1 billion!
If the government does not add about a billion zlotys, the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund will not have enough funds to pay widow’s pension. How did it happen?
About 121,000 farmers receive a widow’s pension from KRUS, but this benefit can also be claimed from KRUS by people entitled to agricultural pensions and disability pensions, the number of which – according to KRUS – is difficult to determine at the budget planning stage.
That is why the Agricultural Social Insurance Fund incorrectly estimated the number of farmers and pensioners entitled to this benefit. At least PLN 400 million is missing for payments by the end of 2026.
Current regulations prevent a simple increase in budget subsidies for state earmarked funds during the year.
“Natural savings” must suffice. PLN 352 million is not enough
While the number of applications for widow’s pension submitted to ZUS has slowed down, the number of applications for widow’s pension submitted to KRUS is systematically growing. This is due to the fact that the right to apply for a widow’s pension is open – eligible farmers can submit applications at any time after meeting the statutory criteria (e.g. reaching the appropriate retirement age).
In 2026, approximately 121,000 people will receive benefits from KRUS. people and it is on average less than PLN 300. KRUS initially allocated approximately PLN 352 million for this purpose, but due to the larger number of eligible persons than expected, this amount is not sufficient.
It turns out that KRUS IT systems do not collect data that would allow automatic selection of all future applicants. With the expiry of the judicial examination period, some pensions expire, others are transformed into pensions after reaching retirement age or extended, which causes constant rotation in the registers.
KRUS will probably receive additional money. From 2027, even higher payments
As PAP reported, the funds for increased payments in KRUS are to come from redirecting the so-called “natural savings”, i.e. from money blocked under Art. 177 of the Public Finance Act. This provision enables decisions to be made to block planned budget expenditure in the case of, among others: mismanagement in specific units or excess funds.
The Senate Committee on Budget and Public Finance did not submit any amendments to the amendment to this year’s budget-related act, which is to enable additional funds to be transferred to farmers – a maximum of PLN 1 billion, for the payment of widow’s pension by KRUS. The amendment to the Act on special solutions for the implementation of the Budget Act for 2026 will now be considered by the Senate.
From January 1, 2027, KRUS – similarly to ZUS – will increase the amount of the second benefit paid as part of the widow’s pension. Currently, the lower benefit is paid at 15%, and after the change it will be 25%. In this way, the lowest additional benefit in KRUS will increase from PLN 296.77 to PLN 494.62, i.e. by PLN 197.85 per month.
