According to the Active Ageing Index (AAI), which measures elderly people’s capacity and contribution to the society and economy, the Polish population aged 55-74 is one of the least active in the EU. In 2020, the countries which performed poorer than Poland in this regard were Romania, Croatia and Greece; a decade earlier it was Slovakia and Hungary.

In Poland, in the years 2010-2020, the total AAI, which takes the values from 0 to 100 (the higher the value, the better the use of older people’s potential), increased from 27 to 31 points (from 32 points to 37 points on average in the EU). In 2020, the gap between Polish men and women in terms of their capacity and contribution to the society was smaller than 10 years earlier (among women, the score increased from 25 to 30 and among men, from 30 to 33). In the case of the EU average, the capacity and contribution to the society increased to a similar degree among men and women over the same decade.

Among the areas monitored by the AAI, women age less actively than men in terms of employment, health and sense of security (both physical and material), as well as independence (e.g. relating to independent living and managing a household). This means that among those aged 55-74, Polish women were less active on the labour market and more prone to poverty than Polish men; additionally, women’s income was lower than that of men. More men than women in Poland felt secure and lived independently.

On the other hand, Polish women age more actively than men in the social sphere; women tend to engage more in activities like e.g. caregiving provided to younger or older family members, and volunteer work. Additionally, certain conditions facilitating active ageing tend to be in favour of women, e.g. their life expectancy is longer and their social ties are in better condition.

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Poland, like most countries in the region, is facing the problem of an aging population. In 2010, one in five people in Poland was 60 or older, while in 2022, it was one in four. Most of them are women (nearly 60% of all people in this age group). For comparison, women constitute more than half of the total population of Poland.

A growing population of elderly people and a simultaneous drop in the number of those of working (and pre-working) age pose several challenges, including difficulties for the pension system. In 2010, for every 100 working-age women (aged 18-59), there were 38 women of retirement age (60 and over). A decade later, the situation declined: in 2022, there were 55 female senior citizens for every 100 working-age women. A comparable situation is observed among men: the number of retirement-age (65 and over) for every 100 working-age men (18-64) increased from 15 to 25 over a decade. Similar trends are observed in all EU countries.

The advancement of medicine, the improvement in living conditions and the growing public awareness of a healthy lifestyle currently allow Polish residents to live on average longer than in previous decades. These positive trends were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which entailed an increase in the number of deaths: in the years 2020-2021, the average life expectancy at birth fell to the level recorded in 2010. In 2022, the average life expectancy began to increase again, reaching 81 years for women and 73 years for men. Also, a woman in her 60s has, on average, more years to live (about 24 years) than her male counterpart (less than 20 years). These results are still below the EU average: 60-year-old European women still have an average of 25 years to live, while 60-year-old European men more than 20.

Women in Poland not only live longer than men, but they also stay in good health for longer. A woman born in 2021 has an average of 65 years to live in good health, while for a man it is 61 years (in each case about two years longer than in 2010). A woman who exceeded the age of 65 in 2021 has an average of 9 more years to live in good health (her male counterpart nearly 8 years).

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Senior residents of Poland (aged 60 and over) are generally slightly less at risk of poverty or social exclusion than their EU counterparts. Since 2015, the range of 17 to 20 out of 100 surveyed elderly people have been threatened with poverty in Poland (compared to 20–21 in the EU). As in the whole EU, it was female seniors who were more likely to face poverty than elderly men. Out of 100 Polish women aged 60 and over, 18 to 22 faced that risk, while in the case of men from that same age group, it was 15 to 17 out of 100. The increase in poverty risk faced by women during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a slight improvement in this regard among men, resulted in the poverty gap between senior men and women to widen.

One of the factors causing women to face a greater risk of poverty than men is the significant disparity in average pension benefits between the sexes (slightly over 30%). This gap has been widening over time to the disadvantage of women; in the period of 2011-2022, the average pension benefit increased by 63% for women and 64% for men. As a result, since 2020, a woman’s average pension has been over PLN 1,000 lower than that of a man. Women’s longer life expectancy, lower retirement age and the wage gap are some of the reasons why female seniors receive lower retirement benefits than elderly men.

In 2018, senior women rated their financial situation as worse than did their male peers. According to the Social Cohesion Survey, 34 out of 100 women (aged 65 and older) were satisfied with their financial situation, while in the case of men from the same age group, it was 43 out of 100. Also, fewer female seniors (60 out of a 100) than male seniors (65 out of a 100) were content with their living conditions.

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The results of the National Population and Housing Census conducted in 2021 in Poland show that over a decade, the number of people with disabilities (aged 15 and over) increased by 15% (reaching 5.2 million in 2021). This means that in 2021, one in six Polish residents aged 15 and over was affected by some kind of disability (10 years ago, it was one in seven). During this period, the number of biologically disabled people, i.e. those experiencing limitations in basic life activities relevant to their age, rose to a greater degree (by 28%) than the number of those holding a legal confirmation of their disability (an increase of 8%). Among elderly people (aged 60 and over), the number of biologically disabled people grew by 45% compared to 2011 (by 40% among women and by 55% among men), and the number of people with disability certificate increased by 32% (by 33% among women and by 31% among men).

In 2021, seniors accounted for more than half of all people with disabilities aged 15 and over; within a decade, this percentage increased from 55% to 66%. The same as a decade ago, one in three seniors struggled with a disability (both men and women). In Poland, more than half of the people with disabilities (aged 15 and over) are women (56% in 2021 compared to 54% in 2011); they accounted for nearly 60% of all people with disabilities in the 60 years and over age group. Older women tended to hold a legal confirmation of disability more often than men (56% of women and 44% of men in 2021) and they were far more likely than men to declare a biological disability (64% compared to 36% of men). The 2011 census showed similar differences between men and women.

As the population of elderly people, including those with disabilities, grows, so does the number of residents in long term care facilities (which provide a 24-hour access to nursing, rehabilitation and care services). In 2022, the number of residents of such facilities aged 61 and over increased by 49% compared to 2012 (from 21 thous. to 32 thous.). Seniors, who constituted the majority of patients in long term care facilities (87% in 2022 compared to 81% in 2012), were at the same time the only group whose number of members increased. Women account for approximately 65% of the total number of patients (aged 19 and over) of such facilities; additionally, the older the age group, the higher the share of females. Women accounted for 69% of senior-age patients in 2022 (compared to 73% in 2012). Although women treated in long term care facilities have for years outnumbered men, the number of older male patients in these institutions increased to a greater extent (by 73%) than that of older women (by 41%).

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